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Facebook is, in most countries, a very popular Social Network Service (SNS). Since the launch of its service in Japan in 2008, it has been growing rapidly. As a platform for a link to the world, Facebook can also be used effectively for language learning in English as a foreign language (EFL) environments. The purpose of this project was to investigate how Facebook can help Japanese university students to improve their English by integrating Facebook activities into English lessons, and examine whether it could facilitate student interaction and self-motivation for learning English. The Facebook project was conducted over the course of one academic year in two parts. A previous study reported on the results of the first semester (????Hamada, 2012). In the second semester, the students were given an opportunity to exchange opinions with American university students. A writing task on Facebook was assigned to both Japanese and American students every week. In this study, I will present the results of the second semester based on a survey and feedback from the students. I will also discuss how the Facebook exchange with the American students can facilitate not only the language learning of the Japanese students, but also the interactions between students and inter-cultural understanding. [For full proceedings, see ED565044.]

Facebook is the most popular social network service (SNS) in the world and a great platform for a link to the world. It can also be used effectively for language learning in EFL environments. However, that is not the case in Japan. The number of Facebook users accounts for less than 6% of the population. This is partly because the most popular SNS in Japan is MIXI, which is available only in the Japanese language. This study examined the potential of Facebook for Japanese university students to develop their English skills as well as student interaction and learner autonomy. It describes how to introduce and integrate Facebook into a freshmen English course in a Japanese university. The survey conducted at the beginning of the semester revealed that only 15% of the students had a Facebook account. In order to habituate the students to using Facebook and improve their English skills, a writing task on Facebook was assigned every week. The results of the project, based on the feedback from the students and two surveys conducted at the beginning and the end of the semester, will be presented. I will also discuss how Facebook can facilitate not only the language learning of students, but also the interaction between the students, and access to the outer world. [For the complete volume, see ED574893.]