Paper short abstract:

This paper will report on findings from a survey on the use of social media technologies by university students in the UK, for learning Japanese. I will report on the factors that contribute to the learning of Japanese by university students, and the role technology plays in this learning process.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will report on the findings from an ongoing survey on the use of social media technologies by students at university level in the UK, for learning Japanese as a foreign language.

This survey looks at three stages of learning - 1) prior to study in Japan, where students begin to use social media to create networks in Japanese to gather information on study abroad 2) during study abroad, where students deepen their learning of Japanese by elaborating their social networks and 3) on return to the UK, where they are able to maintain their Japanese language learning using the networks they have created during study abroad.

This study focuses particularly on the social media platforms that students choose to create personal learning environments (PLEs), and how they use them to increase their exposure to the target language at these different stages of learning.

The study is based on the theory of learner contributions to language learning put forward by Breen (2001) and a framework of second language acquisition and individuality proposed by Hayashi (2006). Together, they provide a means to describe and analyze a variety of individual factors that contribute to second language acquisition, which take into account the learner, teacher, second language learning processes and contexts.

The findings will report on the factors that contribute to the learning of Japanese by university students at these three stages, and the role technology plays in this learning process.

Breen, M. (Ed.) (2001) LEARNER CONTRIBUTIONS TO LANGUAGE LEARNING: NEW DIRECTIONS IN RESEARCH. Pearson Education, Harlow, UK

Hayashi, S. (1997) A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING JAPANESE/ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE, Tsuda College, Tokyo