Preliminary Results from a Telecollaborative Exchange between Japan and Taiwan using Facebook Groups

Abstract

According to David Crystal[1], a British linguist, nearly 3 out of 4 English users are "non-natives". From a sociolinguistic perspective this means that English is no longer the language of the few, but the lingua franca of the many[2][3][4]. Mutual ownership of English as a lingua franca comes with the shared responsibility of intercultural communication[5][6]; however, this can be particularly challenging for those from a homogeneous society like Japan[7]. And yet, the Japanese Ministry of Education[8] has decided that exchanges between Japanese students and East Asian students are vital to Japan's HUMANITIES