'Facebook' for Informal Language Learning: Perspectives from Tertiary Language Students

This paper investigates the use of "Facebook" for out-of-class, informal language learning. 190 New Zealand university language students (Chinese, German, French, Japanese and Spanish) completed an anonymous online questionnaire on (1) their perceptions of "Facebook" as a multilingual environment, (2) their online writing practices and (3) their views on the educational value of their experiences. Findings indicate that language students are using a range of "Facebook" features to expose themselves to the languages they study (L2) and to communicate in their L2 with native speaker "Facebook" friends. The use of the social networking site varied according to proficiency-levels of the participants (beginner, intermediate and advanced levels), strength of social ties with native speaker "Facebook" friends and personal attitudes towards the site. Learning experiences on "Facebook" were not perceived as useful for the formal language learning context which suggests the need for bridging strategies between informal and formal learning environments.