Using Facebook as a Platform in Foreign Language Teaching

Vera Leier

Senior Tutor in German

History of Social Network sites (SNS)

Background

• Authentic German environment• German as part of students’ private sphere>> natural relationship to target language

(German)

“By inviting learners to extend their use of familiar technologies to L2 settings, we are empowering them and giving them the opportunity to develop their sense of agency and authorship, as well as to construct their identities as competent speakers of the target language” (Lafford, 2009, p. 690).

Choice of Social Network Site (SNS)

Ning• Only creator of site can

invite• Closed group, password

protected• Unfamiliar platform• Up to 150 members / $45

year

Facebook• Creator + group members

can invite> native speakers invited by

members, as interlocutors• Closed group, accessible

through private FB site*• Group function> by

invitation only• Familiar to students• Free of charge> Challenge of open platform

Projects

2010: Grmn252 Intermediate Learners: Film competition and Facebook

2011: Grmn152 Beginners:Youtube Video and Facebook

Grmn252: Facebook and the film competition

• Annual Goethe Institut film competition as part of the overall assessment (10%).

• B1 – proficiency level• 28 Students• Duration: 2 months (8 weeks)

Assignment

• Students get together in groups of 3-4. They choose an original name.

• Each group has to make a 5-minute long film, with the topic: “Die Nachbarn” (The Neighbours).

• The half finished videos are loaded onto FB.• Students have to comment.• Films get taken off again and finished.• The finished films are shown in an in-house film

competition and the best three films are chosen and sent to the Goethe Institut in Wellington.

Features on the FB group

List of members:Students make each other ‘administrators’

Features on FB group used for assessment

• “Kommentieren”: comments up to 50 words.• “Gefällt mir”: positive ticks were counted and

added to the final mark of the entry.

Examples of film postings

One of the winning entries:

Assessment

A. Group assessment: all the finished films were judged by a committee of two teaching staff.

B. Individual mark: group interview, diary.

Unsere Film war ursprünglich ueber zwei Pärchen sie hatten probleme mit einander. Aber mit der Erbeben ist alles anders gelaufen.

Tages Buch:22.7.10 – Ich habe das Thema ‘Nachbarn ‘ bekommen und meine Gruppe auch bekommen.

Alex und Jen.11.8.10 – Heute war unsere erste Versammlung. Wir hatten ein paar Ideen gesammelt, und

wir viel hatten! Aber wir konnen uns nicht entscheiden.13.8.10 – Heute haben wir die idee bekommen und wir haben angefangen zu schreiben. So

fur die Idée haben wir zwei Parchen und eins von den Parchen ist troubled und mit den anderen ist alles in Ordnung . Wir filmen den Film vielleicht in einem Restaurant.

23.8.10 – Ich habe mein Freund Travis gefragt, ob wir in seinem Restaurant filmen konnnen. Und Travis hat ‘ja klar’ gesagt. Guter Mann!

Ferien – Wir hatten ueber was wir anziehen und nochmal ein bisschen euber den Script gesprochen. Aber wir hatten nicht so viel gemacht, weil wir zu viel zutun mit anderen Sachen hatten.

4.9.10 – Erdbeben. Unfreundlich.6.9.10 – Heute haben wir gehort dass das Restaurant wo Travis arbeitet beschaedigt ist .13.9.10 – Heute haben wir ein meeting gehabt. Und jetzt machen wir einen neuen Film.

Einen Zahnbursten Fillm.17.9.10 – Ich habe heute den neuen Film geschrieben. Es ist ein bisschen anders aber

hoffenlich es ist ok. War schnell und einfach.18.9.10 – Heute haben wir den Film gedreht. Es ist gut gelaufen aber es hat ein paar

krauftausdrucke dabei. Das ist nicht so gut. Vielleicht der editing will beep them…??19-20.9.10 - So an diesen Tagen hat Jen den Film geedited.20.9.10 – Die ganze Klasse hat unseren Film gesehen… Was lustig.! For some.

Student Feedback

Pre-survey: Q6: Would you like to be a member on Facebook?

• “I don’t hate it, but I don’t want to join”• “I don’t enjoy working in a group” Post-survey: Q5: Did you find Facebook useful for the

film project?• “FB worked really well as reminders as opposed to

Learn or student email”.• “I liked the project a lot, it helped me to interact with

other students”.

UC surveys

• “Use of technologies like podcasts and Facebook was really good”.

• “Use of Facebook was good”.• “I liked the multimedia in class, variety of

material.”

Grmn152: Facebook and Youtube videos

We set up a FB group.Students become administrators, they had to invite one additional German friend.Students had to find a German video clip (Youtube*) and post it to FB group.They had to write 3 complete sentences in German about the chosen film.They also had to make 2 more comments about the entries of fellow students.

Archiving: Webarchiving function in Safari or screenshot

Favourite German music videos (5%)A1/A2 – proficiency level26 StudentsDuration: one semester (12 weeks)

Features on the FB group

For enhanced authenticity and immersion: interface features: Kommentieren, Gefällt mir

Outcome: Improved writing skills

11to15 16to20 21to25 26to300

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Performance Check 2010 vs 2011Written part of end-of-year exam

20102011

Outcome: Enhanced Motivation

Student comments:Based on post- survey created by instructor: Q1: did you enjoy using FB as a platform

to present your German video clip?

• “I think it’s an excellent idea”• “It’s a good idea to establish links with more people in your class”• “Was fun and entertaining aspect of course”• “Fun”• “Assignment helped to stimulate interest in German, daily exposure helped with

new grammar structures”• “Helped me making friends in class, that meant I enjoyed it more”

• No negative comments

Considerations

• Balance of percentage in overall assessment and workload

• Task needs careful adjustment to learners’ proficiency level.

• Choice of multimedia needs to be familiar to students or easy to use.

• In future: SNSs used for collaborative or individual assignments.

Discussion

• What level of proficiency would profit the most from SNSs?

• How much interaction should the instructor/moderator have?

• What other activities are useful for SNSs?