Learning Through Computer Mediated Communication .
Abstract
In these times of technology, the social media is advancing
rapidly. The purpose of this piece of research is to look into
the possibilities, for the utility of the computer mediated
communication tools, the social media and various applications
for linguistic learning and and the urge to accept the
innovations in language.
Key Words: Digital accent, Social media, Computer Mediated
Communication, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Social
Networking Sites, Digital natives, Digital immigrants.
Introduction:
This article will discuss what the social media is and its
contribution in evolution and enrichment in learning English.
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Social media has reached all the corners of the world, and its
advancement since 1990’s is giving birth to the digital
generation, which is known as, “iGeneration” and “Net
Generation”(Mills, 2011) . Here we pay attention to the CMC,
CALL, Social media applications like Facebook and Twitter and
their possible contribution in the enrichment of the learning in
general, English in particular.
1. The Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants:
Technology has brought a lots of advancement in society, in
fact among all the technologies, the internet has been the
fastest in its development. Its use by the help of
computers and other computer gadgets has transformed the
generation into a technologically advance one, who speak
and think differently as compared to their elders . Prensky
(2000) coined the two terms as ‘Digital Natives’ and
‘Digital Immigrants’, because today’s learners speak the
digital language with a native accent, hence their language
is named as digital accent . Meanwhile the adult ones in
order to bridge the generation gap are trying to assimilate3
themselves into the digital world. They might be seen
sending an email and then confirming it on the phone call
or using the message service but unwilling to adopt slang
language of internet, considering it being unfair to
English. He claims that:
Today’s average college grads have spent less than
5,000
hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000
hours playing
video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching
TV).
Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones
and instant messaging are integral parts of their
lives.
2. The Computer Mediated Communication
When we take a look at the media being introduced in the classes
or in our lives on the whole, we technically call the social
media as the Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). The internet
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and the computer have made the society and the classroom two
tools one for the transferring the information processing and the
other display of the information processing and communication (Li
& Dan, 2006) . It is the process of interaction between humans
via the computers or the digital tools (Norris 2012). Alexender
et.al. as quoted by Norris (2012) say, CMC is the interaction
“occurring via a computer terminal and a communication network
such as the Internet” .It effectively coordinates a variety of
communication situations. Li & Dun (2006) quote Warschauer and
Healey who opine the same as: “It is the rise of computer-
mediated communication and the Internet, more than anything else,
which has reshaped the uses of computers for language learning at
the end of the 20th century”. “In addition to the ability to
communicate on an international level, CMC has the ability to
gather information and connect on an intercontinental level, a
concept more specifically referred to as ‘globalization’ ”
(Norris, 2012). Hence, the CMC is one of the features of
globalization, it nonetheless boosts the spread and evolution of
linguistic developments of English, which maintains hegemony on
the internet.
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Globalization as referred to , in the above paragraph means, the
process with which one can reach anywhere in the world at any
time. World is reduced to the touch system . McLuhan as quoted
by Li & Dann (2006 ), in 1962 coined the term ‘Global village’,
as he correctly thought that the electronic communication has the
potential to bring the world closer . McLuhan says, “The medium
is the message”. The CMC has given a path to the introduction to
the message of the technological pedagogy , by the means of
Computer Assisted Language Learning.
.
3.Computer Assisted Language Learning:
Computer Assisted Language, usually recognized as CALL, is
another technological phenomenon . The CALL is the offshoot of
the PLATO system, launched at the University of Illinois being
introduced on the main frame computers in years 1950’s and 60’s
with an intention to provide students with the material and
practice to their level of understanding of Foreign language, it
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would generate the feedback and remediation if required .
(Hubbard)
Roughly it has been 25 years, since the introduction of the CALL
. It is a pedagogical concept to teach English to learners as a
second language. The lessons are designed through computer
applications using various softwares. One has to be equipped
with the peripheral audio-visual devices along with the online
networks. The focus is to improve linguistic features which
include phonetics, syntax, semantics, lexicography, phonology and
writing skills for English for academic purpose (EAP) e.tc.
websites like www.lingro.com, www.penzu.com, www.ello.com,
www.posterous.com , www.youtube.com and a wide range of websites
are working effectively. One may not deny the role of a teacher
as an instructor in the process of learning but in CALL ,there is
less dependence on him. Hubbard points out that it’s not only
improvement in learning but also the traditional classroom is
transforming into digital class. Since the CALL is a CMC activity
, there are some advantages worth mentioning here. It has open-
ended pedagogy. Chapelle et.al., (1986) and Gelenter (2009),
mention that the CALL can benefit an individual as well as a
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group equally . Likewise, it isn’t confined to classroom
wall ,any one at any time can take online course and be the
beneficiary of this module.
Unlike other CMC applications, while taking courses of the
language, one may observe that the CALL’s approach towards
language is purely formal. Little or no space may be given to
slangs, which will be discussed in latter part of this work . It
is the teaching of English Language ,therefore it has to keep the
language in its original form because the CMC tests like
International Testing Systems, are considered to be the
parameters of the language proficiency do not endorse the non-
academic approach towards the language.
4. The Social Media:
The Social media and the social networking have brought the
people near and easy to connect and exchange the information
globally within seconds. It is just the internet connectivity
required and the information across the world is at one’s hands
quickly and economically. “Social media has exploded as a
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category of online discourse where people create content, share,
bookmark and network at a prodigious rate (Asur et.al., 2010).
It is a vast field, and there is a wide range of the technology
applications being introduced daily. Some details of the
Facebook and Twitter as applications of the social media are
given below. The prime feature involved in the social media is
the interactivity, people of all age groups and all professions
interact. They share, exchange, upload, download, blog, chat
e.t.c. and hence can use the platform for trade, propagate, teach
and learn. It is an institute in itself, playing its part in
shaping our lives . However, its impacts can be good or
otherwise, worth liking or not, that’s an independent topic of
debate .(Baden,2014).
4.1 Facebook:
Facebook is relatively a new application when compared to the
CALL. It is a web.2 0 technology which aims to create two way
communication with simple computer literacy .(Goertler,2009). It
is a popular website having over 845 million users Aydin(2013)
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quotes, Protalinski as saying. Primarily the purpose of the
launch of such a program was to create communication between the
students of the Harvard in year 2006 . The working mechanism is
not very different from other social Networking Sites(SNS) .
Users make their public profiles, add their school and
professional information , set the privacy and security settings
as they desire and add friends of their interest, they share
graphics, exchange comments and keep their friend circle updated
with what they are up to. Out of each twelfth person, one will
necessarily have a Facebook account Andersons et. al.,(2013)
refer to Sieleg 2011. Pempek et. al., cited by Andersson et.al.,
(2013)found that college students use Facebook approximately 30
min throughout the day. Finally, social networking includes
communication between administrators, parents, and other
community members Butler referred by Andersson et.al., (2013).
However, English being the global language is the internet
language too, so it is the language of Facebook simultaneously.
People use the internet English but there is a growing concern
about the changes being introduced in it . Hence, there is a
section of people who think it’s a danger for the language’s
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survival , for it is moving away from its traditional shape, “The
purists argue that the prioritization of speed , and word economy
inspired by quick and compact communication methods are
corrupting English speaker’s command on their own language”
(Newman, 2013), while there are people who think it to be
innovative. A language has to change , in order to survive.
A conversation between two friends has been observed on the
instant messenger, the same scenario can be perfectly replicated
with the face book messenger. A friend asks another: The comments
of best friends included the following: "Why are you typing
grammatically correct?" "Why are you writing in caps ... first
letter?" "Why are you writing all proper?" "Why are you using
CAPS?" (Jacobson) . A single example of a changing approach
towards language, which one may reasonably call as internet
discourse.
When one thinks of taking such a SNS for formal education,
underlying the use of the SNS , there is already a constant
enrichment of the language learning , because it is more of
self-directed and creative , than the traditional language
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teaching. Drotner 2008 is quoted by Anderssons et.al.2013. One
gets a chance to coin and use the semantics with an open ended
limit. So, it is desired to change the orthodox opinion about
language, which carried only a single feature, of being a formal
tool for communication. But there are various other
characteristics of a language. “Language learners today should,
thus, be prepared to develop an awareness of other approaches to
learning, which are based on viewing language as hybrid, as
context trans forming, as representational” Anderssons et.al.,
2013 p.296 quote Canagarajah.
Moreover Facebook has a dynamic role to play for interaction ,
communication and learning. Students create groups, where
fellows of the same course, without giving access to personal
profiles can still exchange ideas , create questions, share class
lectures, teachers remain aware of the progress of the class and
the process of learning goes on successfully. However, If it is
used as a SNS application , it can play with the language
structures. One must understand the approach towards language,
the internet is not as harmful as apprehended , it’s the users
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activity’s demand to remain academic and pure or to play with it,
create it or distort it .“We argue that instead of comparing the
interaction in these boundary activities with the interaction in
students’ everyday use in SNSs, the interaction here needs to be
regarded as communication and language learning activities with
values of their own”(Aydin, 2013)
When one thinks of Facebook; Apple, Blackberry, and Tablet,
instantly click one’s mind, these are not only the name of fruits
or a medical term alone , but the devices of the SNS with
facebook application installed by default, and addition of the
words in the dictionary at the same time. (Akunna, 2012)
4.2 Twitter:
Twitter has over 200 million (Dun, 2011). It was launched in
2006, and a very popular micro blogging. It has the limitation
of words to 140 characters. Twitter is likely to be most
important factor to bring about the neologism of the internet.
And systematically there is expansion of the vocabulary; the aim
is to convey the message in possible minimum characters or
words. “For example: 2 b r nt 2 b, (to be or not to be) R u ok?
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(Are you okay?) , LOL (Laughing out loud), OMG (oh my God), IMHO
(In my humble opinion), e.t.c . Coinage of new words lie
“selfie” , “blog”, “googling ” , “like”, “tweeting”, e.t.c the
most contribution lies on the shoulder of the twitter .It is
surveyed that “A total of 0.56 per cent of words posted on the
micro-blogging site are either misspelled or unofficial, although
it has been suggested that this might be down to its strict 140-
character limit. Taking up second place is Google+ with 0.42 per
cent of misspelled words, followed by Facebook with 0.31 per
cent” (Furze 2013) . The point arises is this, that it is not the
misspelling, this approach towards language has to be changed.
But the linguists , who do not fear the experimenting with
English, they have another approach, Crystal (2005) is very
optimistic, he believes that Internet will bring greatest trends
in the language.( Anderssonet.al., 2009)
Many linguists are trying to clarify this as a process of
evolution of the language. It is a well known fact that
immigration, colonalisation, economics, culture and there are
various factors involved in language evolution ,and its pretty
useless to specify the Social Media to be an enemy of the English
14
language (Newman 2013). To the faction who showed the concern
about contracting the words, David Crystal as quoted by Mcnabb
(2014), defended the use of the acronyms suggesting that the
acronyms date back to the ancient times that was not a new
phenomenon. “All the popular beliefs about texting are wrong and
that texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its
long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster.” ( Mcnabb,
2014) . Giving the example of ‘haha’, he believes that it dates
back to Alferic’s Grammar some 1000 A.D. Some contractions, short
forms and acronyms are dated back the Latin and Medieval English
too. “Abbreviations and fragments are a language's normal
response to stress. Medieval language is dense with
abbreviations, because writing material was expensive and books
could be published only by copying. Today the stresses are
different but the response is familiar.” (Gelenter,2009) “When
you are forced to compress your message into fewer words, each
word works harder, carries more meaning on its shoulders and,
accordingly, becomes more important and interesting. Digital
English is no good for poetry or novels, but on balance it's
refreshing”.
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Discussion:
The new generation since the 90’s is heavily influenced by the
internet. It has transformed the living styles and the process of
the technological advancement continues. Various technologies
and applications are introduced for both the digital natives as
well as the digital immigrants to enhance learning . However, it
is an individual’s attitude towards technology either to learn
and accept it or to remain a traditionalist and be a
nonconformist. Linguistic variations are inevitable, digital
English is also hard to be refuted , one must understand that
contractions and squeezing of words into characters still carry
a message , which makes a language interesting to understand. It
is also noteworthy that it is a temporary charm of language for
the purpose of text-based communication merely to fulfill the
requirement of the spoken language . Once an individual is
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offline , the language gets back to its real shape. Things will
keep on changing, the academic and formal writing will remain
unaffected, but it can imbibe the slangs in itself, only after
those are approved of as the officially recognized vocabulary in
English . It is noteworthy to mention , that the collaboration
and interaction is not the target, but beneath it is to discover
the gaps and the niche in the pedagogical studies that are yet to
be researched. The CMC , CALL and SNS are showing a path in the
field of pedagogy to investigate and research , much can be
contributed because the process of transferring of knowledge
goes along
Conclusion:
The topic revolves around the effectiveness of the CMC and Social
media in language learning. Social media for learning purpose is
itself a direction for research and explore further avenues . The
applications have two ways of playing with the languages if the
students remain restricted to academic use of the technology,
there is no harm to language . The concept of the damage to the
language is vague and short termed, likewise when the social
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media applications are taken for interaction outside studies ,
the users feel free to play and experiment with the language,
even then they are moving to the innovations in the language. One
must not forget nature of the language itself, which is fluid
and is ready to accept new terms and words and its unnatural to
resist any changes.
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