Student perceptions and attitudes towards the use of Facebook to support the acquisition of Japanese as a second language

Abstract

Linking Second Language Acquisition theories with a theoretically-grounded socio-constructivist pedagogical approach, this paper documents the attitudes and perceptions of first year language learners using social media (Facebook) as part of their core language module in an Irish university. Results from this study would indicate that while students acknowledge that it can support the acquisition of language, particularly grammatical and lexical knowledge, this does not necessarily mean students like it as a learning tool. Student attitudes are analysed to see if there is evidence of the major tenets of a socio-constructivist pedagogy. The analyis suggest that it supports some such tenets, namely peer-learning, student engagement, collaborative and contextualised learning. There is little evidence that it supports the tenets of motivation, self and peer assessment and a learner-centred approach.