Intro | English homework help
Social Media and Language Learning 1
Important Factors to Consider When Creating Social Media Content for Language
Learning
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Johns Hopkins University
AS.480.600.87: Research & Writing Methods
Professor Michael Bayer
September 28, 2021
Social Media and Language Learning 2
Important Factors to Consider When Creating Social Media Content for Language
Learning
Language is one of the most essential and basic forms of communication. Often times,
after we have matured to a certain age, we don’t even consciously think about it while using it.
But there does comes a time when we are reminded about the absolute struggle that is learning a
whole new, intricate, complicated form of communication and that is when we start learning a
new language. Unfortunately, even if one is able to make time for standard second language
courses the U.S. has seen a decline in language course offerings at universities and other higher
education institutions (Inside Higher Ed, 2019), but not everyone has the time to take those
regularly scheduled classes. So, self-study has increasingly become common. However, that can
be extremely difficult as learning a new language is much easier when it is used in context,
usually with other people in social settings (Verga & Kotz, 2013). Therefore, self-study learners
might give up before making much progress. Still, having the skill of a foreign language can be
an important requirement for a job or just a hobby that helps you watch anime without subtitles,
so it is important to develop content to encourage and help language learning.
Luckily, the internet is an amazing tool that has allowed the world to more easily share
cultures and languages. There are even social media platforms (e.g., FluentU, HelloTalk, Teuida,
hilokal, Duolingo, HiNative) specifically designed to give learners at home social situations, live
and prerecorded, to put their target language in context. These platforms are designed by teams
specifically focused on language learning. However, there has also been a trend of content
creators using other social media platforms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, YouTube) to help with
language learning at home. For example, user “My Korean Dic” uses TikTok to make short skits
showcasing both phrases and words Korean people commonly use and encourages watcher
Social Media and Language Learning 3
participation by stitching his videos (My Korean Dic, n.d.). Instagram user “koreanhooon”
creates #66daykoreanchallenge videos in which he encourages watchers to respond with a video
practicing their Korean pronunciation (KoreanHoon I Learn Korean, n.d.). There are many other
creators just like them, trying to help those learning a new language, even if they are not
formally trained in teaching a language. When you consider average amount of time Americans
spend on social media, over 1,300 hours in 2020 (Suciu, 2021), it seems reasonable to find ways
to use those platforms for educational purposes as well.
The exploration within this research brief strives to look at the trends in social media
aimed at helping language learning and determine what practices are helpful for language
learners. It is the hope that communication practitioners (e.g., content creators) will use this brief
to explore and innovate new ways to encourage language learning for those who are self-
studying. Also, that communication researchers might use this brief as a starting point to fill in
the gaps of empirical research dealing with the viability of social media platforms as possible
important language learning tools.
References
Inside Higher Ed. (2019, January 24). Research documents decline in languages offered over
three-year period. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/24/research-
documents-decline-languages-offered-over-three-year-period
KoreanHoon I Learn Korean [koreanhooon]. (n.d.). 4th challenge [Highlight]. Instagram.
Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17858018098815335/
My Korean Dic. [@mykoreandic]. (n.d.). [TikTok profile]. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
@mykoreandic
Social Media and Language Learning 4
Suciu, P. (2021, June 24). Americans spent on average more than 1,300 hours on social media
last year. Forbes. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2021/06/24/americans-spent-more-than-1300-
hours-on-social-media/?sh=11f14b902547.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2017, March 22). Department of state: Foreign
language proficiency has improved, but efforts to reduce gaps need evaluation.
GAO@100. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-17-318
Verga, L., & Kotz, S. A. (2013). How relevant is social interaction in second language
learning?. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 7, 550.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00550
Al Jahromi, D. (2020). A quantitative study of the perceived impact of social media networks on
Bahrain users’ English language learning. Teaching English with Technology: A Journal
for Teachers of English, 20(4), 23–40.
Abstract
The various facets and networks of social media have had significantly phenomenal influence on
the individual life and on the societal, economic, and political status of their users. The linguistic
discourse of interlocutors on social media has also been influenced. The current study aims at
measuring how the English language learning process of non-native Bahrainis has been affected
by the use of social media. To explore such effects, a quantitative methodological measure was
used in the form of an online questionnaire administered to a random sample of L2 Bahrainis.
Responses from 330 respondents from different age groups and gender types were analyzed
using measures of central tendency and other statistical measures such as t-tests and ANOVA
using SPSS. Findings have revealed that the utilization of social media has been perceived to
have positively impacted interlocutors’ lexical variation, writing style, reading skills, and
communication skills. These findings were subjective to variables related to gender, age, and the
multimodality of particular social media facets. Accordingly, some significant implications and
recommendations are drawn, the most important of which is the provision of mechanisms to
Social Media and Language Learning 5
ensure the effective utilization and employment of social media in the pedagogical practices in
L2 contexts.
Combe, C., & Codreanu, T. (2016). Vlogging: A new channel for language learning and
intercultural exchanges. In S. Papadima-Sophocleous, L. Bradley & S. Thouësny (Eds),
CALL communities and culture – short papers fromEUROCALL 2016 (pp. 119-124).
Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2016.eurocall2016.548
Abstract
The potential for computer-supported learning in educational contexts
has opened up the possibilities for learners to interact in informal contexts
outside the classroom. The context of the present research is a young American
individual’s vlog on YouTube sharing his experiences as a learner of French. This
paper focuses on the potential use of vlogs for developing language speaking
skills and intercultural exchanges between users. The aim of the study is to
describe and analyses informal learning communication using a vlog between one
American French Language learner posting his learning experiences on YouTube
and his audience. We highlight learner’s opportunities in terms of speaking and
intercultural skills in a vlog environment. This study is based on an empirical
method of collecting ecological data on the web. The qualitative data analysis
method is based on the description of the online conversation (Develotte, Kern,
& Lamy, 2011) in addition to interaction analysis and techno discursive analysis
(Paveau, 2015). We discuss the qualitative findings of the research conducted on
this multimodal corpus in order to highlight the vlog’s potential for supporting
informal language learning, speaking and intercultural exchanges between
YouTube users in a globalized world.
Lee, S. (2021). Translating YouTube vlogs for a global audience: Innovative subtitling and
community-building. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 24(5), 767–790.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877920979717
Abstract
Increasingly, YouTubers are translating their self-produced videos in order to reach out to a
global viewership. Those YouTubers’ translations often incorporate innovative practices that
prioritize displaying affinity with their audience. Non-representational subtitling is one such
translation apparatus. It does not seek to reproduce speech in another language accurately
but contains additional information that is not otherwise included in the content. I examine
non-representational subtitles deployed in culture-brokering YouTube vlogs, as well as viewers’
Social Media and Language Learning 6
reactions to those subtitles. The key argument of this article is that non-representational
subtitling can be utilized as a means both of expressing YouTubers’ voices outside of filmed
space during the translating process and of manipulating ways to address viewers’ different
language constituencies. I also argue that translation-driven communities are interactive
transnational networks in which viewers develop a sense of community by amplifying
translation-mediated information, suggesting alternative translations, and expressing their
feelings.
Mondahl, M. & Razmerita, L. (2014). Social media, collaboration and social learning – a case-
study of foreign language learning. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning 12(4), 339-352.
Abstract
Social media has created new possibilities for digitally native students to engage, interact and
collaborate in learning tasks that foster learning processes and the overall learning experience.
Using both qualitative and quantitative data, this article discusses experiences and challenges of
using a social media-enhanced collaborative learning environment in case-based teaching of
foreign languages. Based on social constructivismwe argue that foreign language learning is an
individual as well as collaborative process and cognitive processes underlying learning and in
particular foreign language learning are facilitated by means of social media and especially for
new generation of students. This article contributes to understanding of how best to make use of
social media in an educational setting and how learning may be fostered in social, collaborative
knowledge construction, sharing and building. The case-study findings indicate that collaborative
learning processes that are embedded in a social media enhanced learning platform are
supportive and conducive to successful problem-solving which leads to successful adult foreign
language learning. Furthermore, the study reports on some of the challenges in using social
media and collaborative group work for teaching and learning at university level.