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In the last 30 years, computer assisted language learning has gone through significant changes, as illustrated in Warschauer's taxonomy of structural, communicative and integrative CALL (Warschauer, 2000). Computer technology itself has greatly influenced these developments and prompted innovative applications. It seems that yet again new opportunities for CALL are emerging in what is labelled Web 2.0 in the computer world (O'Reilly, 2005).

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.

This chapter discusses the use of blogs for foreign and second language (L2) learning. It first outlines the suitability of blogs for language education and shows the value of blogging beyond technical features. Blogging has been described as a social activity (Nardi, Schiano & Gumbrecht, 2004), which puts the writer in a central position. It will be argued that this centrality of the writer needs to be maintained in an educational context. The shift from teacher to learner orientation is seen as a significant change in language education. With reference to self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002) the pedagogical principles that support L2 learner autonomy in a Web 2.0 learning environment will be discussed. Using blogs as L2 learner journals, it will be shown that Web 2.0 informs and supports language learning environments which foster L2 learner autonomy. The study indicates that blog-based reflective writing increases the learners’ sense of autonomy and that it has a positive impact on L2 learners’ perception of language awareness and development.

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