Using Facebook Data to Analyze Learner Interaction During Study Abroad

Abstract: Although study abroad is viewed as an ideal environment for interaction in the target language, research in this area has relied mostly upon self-reported data, which pose challenges regarding recall bias and participant commitment. This article shows how Facebook data can be used to analyze naturally occurring learner interactions during study abroad. Drawing from a 10-month, Web-based ethnography of three learners, findings indicate an overall increase in Portuguese use during study abroad, as well as acquisition of computer-mediated communication--relevant terms in Portuguese. Comparisons to Language Contact Profile data show the advantages of using social media data to gain a detailed view of learner interactions while abroad. Implications for language instructors and the use of social media in the classroom setting are also discussed.Key words: interaction, multilingualism, Portuguese, social media, study abroadIntroductionMost theories in second language acquisition (SLA) emphasize the importance of interaction in the target language for language learning. Cognitivists and sociocultural theorists alike see study abroad as a unique opportunity that offers rich and varied sources of authentic input and frequent opportunities for interaction with native speakers. Magnan and Lafford's (2011) comprehensive summary on the subject noted that the immersion-type experience potentially offered by study abroad "has been considered the ideal context for language learning" (p. 525).Given the importance of interaction for language learning and given that study abroad offers the "ideal context" for this interaction, it is curious that an analysis of students' interactions with native speakers while abroad has not, until very recently, been at the forefront of study abroad research. As Stewart (2010) argued, study abroad research has often treated the period abroad as a "black hole" in which at-home educators, and usually researchers, lose contact with their learners "just when their language and personal identity as an L2 [second language] speaker are undergoing the greatest change" (p. 141). Moreover, many of the studies that do discuss interaction in the target language rely on self-reported data from the Language Contact Profile (LCP; Freed, Dewey, Segalowitz, & Halter, 2004) or from similar instruments. Although these data have granted researchers some insight into the types of interactions that take place during study abroad, self-reported data may not provide the sufficiently rich or detailed information needed to fully understand students' interactions.This study was undertaken to determine the extent to which data from Facebook provide a viable alternative to self-reported data regarding students' target language use during study abroad. Because Facebook is a frequently used social media site among college-age youth, it allows researchers to observe extensive, naturally occurring interactions that would be difficult to analyze using existing methods. Facebook thus provides an essential window into how these individuals interact while abroad.Review of LiteratureStudy abroad continues to be a popular subject in SLA research, and many articles were published between 2010 and 2012 on this topic. A number of these studies are summarized in Table 1.As shown in Column 1, many of these studies reported changes in students' language proficiency using pre-and post-program assessments. Another large group of studies, listed in Column 2, presented students' self-reported estimates of the amount of exposure to the target language in particular contexts or addressed the type of interaction students perceived to be most beneficial. Although these studies have confirmed the belief that contact with the target language can assist in acquisition (e.g., Hernandez, 2010), results are sometimes problematic because students who reported similar levels of contact in a particular context often had very different gains in proficiency as a result of their time abroad. …