Social Networking Sites for Language Learning: Examining Learning Theories in Nested Semiotic Spaces

José Aldemar Álvarez Valencia

doi:10.11144/javeriana.syp35-68.snsl

Abstract

Las redes sociales para el aprendizaje de lenguas (resal) han creado nuevos modelos de aprendizaje, de interacción social y de experiencias de aprendizaje. Este estudio se centra en Busuu —una resal bastante conocida— y examina las perspectivas de aprendizaje que subyacen al diseño semiótico del mismo. El artículo parte de la premisa según la cual la composición semiótica de cualquier medio de comunicación posiciona y promulga ciertas formas de tratamiento, adquisición y aprendizaje de los contenidos, y se basa en fundamentos teóricos y metodológicos de la investigación etnográfica y la semiótica social multimodal para analizar el sitio web. Una de las principales conclusiones del estudio indica que Busuu constituye un sistema ecológico de espacios semióticos entretejidos, donde los elementos y principios pedagógicos de las diferentes teorías del aprendizaje de lenguas —conductista, cognitiva, constructivista— se amalgaman de manera conflictiva y, al mismo tiempo, complementaria.

Highlights

Language teaching and learning have not been immune to the new patterns of mobility and immigration that have become more fluid and complex in the era of social media
As Richards and Rodgers (2001) have insisted, the assumptions and beliefs about learning should be the point of departure for language curriculum and should be consistent with the type of syllabus, the objectives of the instructional method, the roles of the students and teachers, materials, and teaching procedures. Following this line of argument, this case study focuses on Busuu, one of the most well-known social networking sites for language learning (SNSLL), and intends to answer the following research question: What are the views of learning that underlie the semiotic design of Busuu? we present the theoretical and methodological frameworks adopted, followed by the methods and the results, with interpretation and discussion interspersed
Busuu constitutes the case under study and the aim is to understand the workings of SNSLLs and the processes of meaning making enacted through their semiotic design and their affordances

Summary

Introduction

Language teaching and learning have not been immune to the new patterns of mobility and immigration that have become more fluid and complex in the era of social media. Social media has given birth to several participatory online environments that generate new patterns of learning languages and varied learning experiences Most of these digital environments rely heavily on social networking affordances (Boyd & Ellison, 2008; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008; Lomicka & Lord, 2009; McBride, 2009; Blake, 2013), as is the case of sites for language learning such as Busuu, Livemocha, Palabea, Lang-8, and Voxswap. Busuu assumes a linear organization of linguistic content in which language learning appears as the acquisition of rules distributed from simple to more complex structures This hierarchical way of organizing language in terms of rules echoes the cognitive view of SLA. The interface of the Vocabulary Area places a panel at the bottom containing a sentence example (“Mon père s’appelle Paul”) and its translation (My father’s name is Paul) that contextualizes the word or phrase introduced

Methods

Results

Conclusion