Computer‐Mediated Communication and Second Language Use

Abstract

Since its introduction into foreign and second language ( L2 ) teaching, CMC has been hailed for yielding lexically and grammatically richer language when compared with learners' output during face‐to‐face interactions and for increasing their motivation to interact in the L2 . Arguably even more importantly, however, CMC appears not only to affect the language produced but also to revolutionize the way learners use the L2 . Over the past two decades research on this topic has broadened in paradigmatic focus and methodological approach. Accordingly, Blyth groups studies of CMC into four categories: (a) technological (analyzing language development as a result of CMC ), (b) psycholinguistic (applying interactionist theories of second language acquisition to CMC ), (c) sociocultural (understanding learning as a socially constructed process), and (d) ecological (examining situated language learning). Studies from each category have contributed to our understanding of L2 use in CMC .

Use of Social Media for Informal Language Learning by Malaysian University Students

“…In these social spaces, the focus of language use is more on meaning making and negotiation of meaning than on the form or structures of the language. Thus, the language is not the object to achieve but rather the medium through which other interpersonal goals are pursued (Abrams 2013). Kabilan et al (2010, p. 184) borrowing from Wenger's (1998) understanding of learning suggested that students are somewhat successful in learning languages in SNSs because in these social sites "they are focused on the experience of meaning making rather than on the mechanics of language learning".…”