Unveiling argumentation and debate tactics on facebook used by upper intermediate EFL learners

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(1)UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 1. Unveiling argumentation and debate tactics on Facebook used by Upper Intermediate EFL Learners.. Faber Mauricio Quintero Barrera. Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas Facultad de Ciencias y Educación Licenciatura en Educación Básica con Énfasis en Inglés Bogotá, Colombia 2018.

(2) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 2. Unveiling argumentation and debate tactics on Facebook used by Upper Intermediate EFL Learners.. Faber Mauricio Quintero Barrera. Director: Yeraldine Aldana. This report is submitted as a requirement to obtain the degree of B.A in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas Facultad de Ciencias y Educación Licenciatura en Educación Básica con Énfasis en Inglés Bogotá, Colombia 2018.

(3) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 3. Note of Acceptance: _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________. Director: _______________________________ Yeraldine Aldana. Juror: ______________________________.

(4) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 4. Acuerdo 19 de 1988 del Consejo Superior Universitario Artículo 177: “La Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas no será responsable por las ideas expuestas en esta tesis”..

(5) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 5. Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to those who directly or indirectly contributed to the elaboration of this investigation since without their interest and professionalism this work would have never materialized. Mainly, I would like to thank my colleague Lina Rozo for her tireless and unconditional support in achieving this goal. Also, special thanks to this project’s tutor Professor Yeraldine Aldana, who always believed this project was worth advising and whose advice was highly essential to carry out this endeavor..

(6) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 6. Abstract This report presents a research study conducted with a group of pre-service EFL teachers at a university in Bogotá. It characterizes participants’ language resources and their viewpoints in a Facebook discussion group. Participants were 17 students of a TEFL program who interacted and exchanged viewpoints about three taboo topics (homosexuality, children murderers and addictions). In this qualitative case study, students’ artifacts and a questionnaire were the data collection methods. Data analysis processes led me to two categories, namely participants expressing personal views on taboo topics and participants’ debate as actors rather than spectators. Findings suggest that participants had a personal style that built on others’ comments as the basis for their further contributions. Additionally, these results showed that participants expressed their viewpoints through prior knowledge on taboo topics. Furthermore, they employed four language mechanisms: Participants’ borrowed arguments, Participants’ specialized language use to debate, Participants resort to translanguaging and Reacting to murders by children to convey viewpoints. Discussion among participants allowed them to build shared understanding and work collaboratively as a community.. Keywords: Computer-mediated communication, Constructivism, Facebook, Production strategies, taboo topics discussions..

(7) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 7. Resumen El presente reporte discute un estudio realizado con un grupo de profesores de inglés en formación de la licenciatura en inglés como lengua extranjera de una universidad pública en Bogotá. El estudio caracterizó los recursos lingüísticos de los participantes y sus puntos de vista en un grupo de discusión de Facebook. Los participantes fueron 18 estudiantes de la licenciatura mencionada que interactuaron e intercambiaron puntos de vista en torno a tres temas tabú (homosexualidad, menores asesinos y adicciones). En este estudio de caso cualitativo, los artefactos de los estudiantes y un cuestionario fueron los métodos de recolección de datos. Los procesos de análisis de datos condujeron al planteamiento de dos categorías, a saber: participants expressing personal views on taboo topics and participants’ debate as actors rather than spectators. Los hallazgos mostraron que los participantes tenían un estilo personal que se apoyaba en los comentarios de los demás como base de sus contribuciones posteriores. Además de esto, estos resultados permitieron identificar que los participantes expresaban sus puntos de vista a través de su conocimiento previo ya aprendido sobre temas tabú. Al unísono, estos participantes emplearon cuatro mecanismos de lenguaje para transmitir puntos de vista: argumentos prestados de participantes; su uso de lenguaje especializado para debatir; el acto de acudir a la práctica de Translanguaging y las reacciones hacia temas tabú como niños asesinos. La discusión entre los participantes les permitió construir un entendimiento común y trabajar colaborativamente como parte de una comunidad. Palabras clave: Estrategias de producción, Facebook, discusiones sobre temas tabú, comunicación mediada por computadora y constructivismo..

(8) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 8. Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 11 Justification........................................................................................................................... 13 Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 Literature Review ................................................................................................................ 20 . Constructing viewpoints through social networks .................................................. 20. . Conveying Meaning in the Written Medium ........................................................... 23. . Computer-Mediated Communication in EFL ......................................................... 28. Chapter 3 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 31 Type of Study ...................................................................................................................... 31 Context and Participants ...................................................................................................... 32 Role of the Researcher ......................................................................................................... 34 Data Collection Instruments and Procedures ....................................................................... 34 Type of Data ........................................................................................................................ 35 Validity ................................................................................................................................. 36 Ethical Considerations ......................................................................................................... 37. Chapter 4 Pedagogical Intervention ..................................................................................................... 38.

(9) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 9. Instructional objectives ................................................................................................... 39 Activities ......................................................................................................................... 40. Chapter 5 Data Analysis and procedures ............................................................................................. 44 Findings ............................................................................................................................... 47 Participants debate as actors rather than spectators ............................................................... 47 . Reacting to murders by children ............................................................................ 48. . Employing L1-like forms Participants resort to translanguaging ........................... 52. . Participants use specialized language to debate .................................................... 55. . Participants borrowed arguments.................................................................. 57. Participants expressing personal views on taboo topics ...................................................... 59 . Participants habituate some behaviors ................................................................... 61. . Proposing solutions to issues .................................................................................. 71. . Emphasizing on a particular aspect .................................................................. 73. Chapter 6 Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications ......................................................................... 75 Limitations and suggestions for further research ................................................................ 79 References ........................................................................................................................... 81 Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 90 Appendix A ...................................................................................................................... 90 Appendix B ...................................................................................................................... 91 Appendix C ...................................................................................................................... 92 Appendix D ...................................................................................................................... 93.

(10) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 10. Appendix E ...................................................................................................................... 94 Appendix F ...................................................................................................................... 95 Appendix G ...................................................................................................................... 97 Appendix H ...................................................................................................................... 98 List of figures Figure 1. Percentage of use social networks usage ............................................................. 16 Figure 2. Frequency of use of social networks .................................................................... 17 Figure 3. Frequency of access and amount of time on Facebook ....................................... 18 Figure 4. Stages of the pedagogical implementation ........................................................... 40 Figure 5. A participant revealing knowledge ..................................................................... 60. List of tables Table 1. Description of the pedagogical implementation steps and activities .................... 43.

(11) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 11. Chapter 1. Introduction This work is the result of my interest in social networks and their effect when using one of them: Facebook (FB from now on) to implement a discussion group in English. Furthermore, this research aims to gain insights on the role of FB in giving an account on how participants expressed points of view and what these points of view unveil about their understanding of language use. More specifically, based on the implementation of a discussion group on FB, I focused my attention on what production strategies participants used during a discussion in a group. Also, this inquiry attempted to characterize participants’ language use when discussing taboo topics in English. In general, people consider FB as an entertainment scenario whereas others consider it a compelling alternative to traditional forms of language teaching that appeal young people to whom learning may turn monotonous in conventional classrooms. Therefore, it is paramount that those involved directly or indirectly in the proposal of alternative approaches teach and deliver instruction that respond to the challenges that a globalized and interconnected world are setting out. Integrating Facebook in education is an alternative means to supply education based on the interactionist and constructivist model of language learning courses, syllabi, and programs. By providing instruction with social networks, teachers focus on students’ interests and likeness is covered up with activities that foster the collaborative efforts in learning (Selwyn, 2009). When choosing an appropriate option to teach, social networks are a valuable option because they “mirror much of what we know to be good models of.

(12) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 12. learning, in that they are collaborative and encourage active participatory role for users” (Maloney, 2007 as cited in Selwyn, 2009, p. 158). As a result, implementing Facebook as a pedagogical tool is regarded as being convenient to facilitate a collaborative environment where students participate freely. A teacher who implements any activity, application or device aims to prioritize a constructivist environment where students undertake collaborative interactions, and these teachers are talented teachers (Blake, 2013). To this respect, Limbu (2011) described the impact of Facebook in writing classes as a breakthrough from traditional teaching resources where the instructor gives students the opportunities to create contents typical to all the members of a group. This study aimed at characterizing participants’ strategies in terms of language when they discussed three taboo topics on a group on FB. I focused on identifying strategies used when using English to compensate for the lack of language structures to convey meaning. Traditionally, studies on strategies to communicate meaning (communication strategies) concentrate on spoken strategies when interacting in real time. For instance, Spromberg (2011) conducted a project with high school students who, although had different linguistic backgrounds, interacted in the same classroom. Its objective was to evidence what CSs a group of multilingual students used to interact in diverse language environments. However, a few studies have centered their attention on studying strategies at the written level. Xhaferi (2012), aimed at studying the appearance of communication strategies when students produce written texts. As part of communication strategies introduced to students, they were asked to write a composition about the influence of media (including TV, radio, and newspapers) on the younger generation. This trend to switch to.

(13) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 13. the written part of language is necessary and it was carried out to contribute to understand people’s strategies when discussing by means of written comments. Thus, this research attempted to contribute to the literature on strategies in communication of written language in digital scenarios. Even though there are some research projects around the employment of those linguistic resources for purposes of communication using written texts, more research in EFL education that considers contexts such as social networks in learning seems necessary.. Justification The possibilities ICTs offers are numerous and now technology can be applied in many aspects of life. There are new ways of communicating that emerge from the technological field; the growing amount of information leads us to the reconstruction of mental concepts, mind structures with which people build the reality and the shared imaginary (Sanchez, 2008). Besides, humans’ every day social practices have been highly mediated by technology including the digital ones (Blake, 2013). This inquiry attempts to explore how discussions on taboo topics unfold in a nonconventional setting that is employed with learning purposes. The technological spaces provide an extension to the typical places in which interactions take place. The current technological environments allow us more spaces to produce interactions and this could either approach or make us distant from our field of knowledge. In addition, this project attempts to understand how pre-service teachers manage to use English when debating issues. Interactions that commonly occur in education among learners-educator and learners-learners are usually constrained in terms of time and space. The physical space.

(14) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 14. binds the interactions to the classrooms while schedules, timetables, calendars and class programming restrict them in time. Furthermore, the role of digital technologies as mediators between users’ interactions through changes applied to language and created within the technological spaces is an issue recently studied (Aldana, Baquero and Rivero, 2014). Constant communication in social networks has provoked changes in the language style people use on the web, and it is related to the concept of collective intelligence (Lévy, 1997; Aldana, Baquero and Rivero, 2014) which emerged from the multiplicity of connections on the web where people share common ideas upon different issues and through multiple or diverse patterns of language. Also, after concluding the project, more understanding on the strategies of communication at the written level will be uncovered. Additionally, other teacher-researchers could benefit from this project at the implementation process which could be developed within other settings. In particular, these settings refer to social media platforms that are not usually considered convenient to develop learning activities. Moreover, this study may contribute to justify the application of social networks to develop activities directed to the development of writing and foreign language argumentation. As participants of this project were pre-service teachers of English as a foreign language, this project suggests a different perspective contextually situated on the use of ICTs and technological tools. To be specific, they do not only work as a personal means to socialize and have fun with others but also as a tool to integrate it into learning purposes and projects related to English teaching mediated by technology. For example, creating a debate around taboo topics on an FB group prompted the production of written statements that participants contextualize according to their knowledge of the world.

(15) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 15. immediately around them. This is of great value to them, since the discussion enables them to have a voice. Based on the fact that this research study focuses on examining the language mechanisms that English learners use at the written level, this inquiry provides insights into the manifestation of these devices when viewpoints are expressed by means of typed comments on an FB group rather than expressing them orally. Strategies to communicate effectively at the oral level have been studied sufficiently and literature about it can be found in many sources. Thus, this investigation may build up knowledge within current studies on communication and production strategies. Studying language mechanisms (production strategies) throughout a discussion group on a non-conventional platform (FB social network) emerges as an alternative manner to approach the communication phenomenon from the English learning perspective. This investigation seeks for understanding those difficulties research participants may find when expressing viewpoints in the foreign language. Implementing a discussion in this setting gives teacher-researchers advantages over other contexts in order to gather data easily, since it is a friendly environment participants seem to enjoy plus the chance of time and space breaking. Also, due to social networks’ popularity, participants’ contributions appeared to be more attainable and successful. In sum, ICTs mediation directly related to language is one of the impacts of this project, because it complements insights by other scholars about language transformation in technology and taboo topics re-elaboration through that language. Future research can be figured out based on these research results..

(16) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 16. Statement of the Problem Since youngsters I guided used social networks daily, I applied a survey to explore some of their social network’s habits, activities, amount of time spent, and type(s) of social network(s) used. The results of this survey helped me to narrow the scope. Being immersed at a university context where young students use the internet and social networks (Facebook), led me to design a survey to gather information on the use of social networks by university students. To carry out the survey, a group of fourth-semester students (17 students) of a Bachelor in Teaching English at a university in Bogotá accepted to participate. These participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 25 years. Further, the same group of students accepted to participate in the study. The following figures depict the results of the survey:.

(17) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 17. Results showed that students highly used Facebook (Figure 1) with a percentage of 100%. Additionally, YouTube, as well as the WhatsApp application had a high percentage of use with 42, 9% and 50% respectively. In contrast, Twitter and Instagram showed both a 7, 1%. Below this figure presents the frequency of use of social networks:. The frequency of use (see Figure 2) and time spent demonstrated that 78% of the survey participants spent between one to three hours in each Facebook session and the frequency on the social network was seven times a week. This result confirmed the extended use young people made of social networks and showed that Facebook is considered one of the most popular and used social networks. The following figure (Figure 3) summarizes the amount of time and frequency devoted to social networks weekly:.

(18) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 18. As previous evidence show, one particular characteristic of social networks such as Facebook or, Twitter is the capacity that students have to connect, share and interact with others without barriers of time or space (Aldana, Baquero and Rivero, 2012); generally this interaction takes place in the written language, in the case of these examples, on Blogs and Facebook. For this reason, they can be used to evidence what strategies students use and what the students’ points of view on the taboo topics elucidate about them in discussions using social networks. By designing and implementing a pedagogical intervention in the group of university students who participated in the initial survey. This study explores how the production strategies employed in group discussions are reflected when a social network (Facebook) is.

(19) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 19. the means for the language exchanges of points of view. The research questions and objectives framing this study are: Research questions . How does an FB group reflect the construction of fourth-semester students’ language production strategies and viewpoints on taboo topics when interacting in a digital environment?. Sub-questions . What production strategies do fourth semester students use in a FB discussion group on taboo topics?. . What do fourth-semester undergraduates’ points of view on taboo topics reveal when constructing them in a Facebook discussion group?. Research objectives General . To analyze fourth semester students’ production strategies and points of view about taboo topics when interacting in a FB discussion group.. Specific . To analyze the language patterns employed during the discussion of taboo topics in a Facebook group.. . To identify the characteristics of fourth-semester students’ viewpoints on taboo topics when interacting in a FB discussion group..

(20) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 20. Chapter 2. Literature Review In this chapter, readers will find the discussion of existing literature around three main constructs. These are: Constructing viewpoints, conveying meaning in the written medium and computer-mediated communication in EFL. Moreover, a revision of recent studies on the mentioned issues is given together with those methodologies followed to study them. Constructing viewpoints through social networks Constructivism holds the principle about an existing individual process where learners play an active role in building up knowledge. According to constructivism, the learner is in the center of the process where the goal of the constructivist learning is not to encourage the transmission and reception of information but to interpret external stimuli, social and cognitive aspects mediate this process in which the learner is uncontrollably immersed and from which much of someone’s knowledge will depend on. Similarly, from the constructivist point of view, human cognition has its roots in different processes where the individual engage in their learning process. Wheatley (as cited in Matthews, 2002) proposed that leaners do not receive knowledge passively, but each active learning subject frames the knowledge. Fox (2001), asserted that constructivism, as a learning theory, views knowledge as something gained via a process that people construct actively. Duffy and Cunningham (1996) expressed that “learning is an active process of constructing rather than acquiring knowledge” (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996, p. 2). Moreover, learning is viewed as opposed to passively taking in information; indeed, students actively build up knowledge and meaning (Bhattacharjee, 2015). Phillips.

(21) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 21. (1995), claimed that after individuals view an operating procedure from the scope of social, political or individual cognition, the construction of knowledge takes place. Additionally, the role of the environment as the basis of learning stands for an essential condition for learning to be possible. Taber (2011) claimed that the environment provides the external experience from which learners make sense, producing knowledge in a meaningful way. By the same token, Jonassen (1991), assumed that previous elaborations of experiences, intellectual arrangements and assumptions constitute the elements learners use to construct knowledge from external objects and events. Wangpipatwong and Papasratorn (2007) investigated the learning outcomes when implementing an E-learning system based on the constructivist approach. The researchers employed questionnaires to ask a group of 600 random students from which 77.7% responded. Results showed that learning outcomes were significantly high as well as positive. Also, it showed that students who used the system in face-to-face interactions obtained better results than those who did not. Participants in the constructivist E-learning environment had a better knowledge development than those who learned in traditional classrooms. Thus, the social surrounding of learners as the means by which learning has its genesis takes a predominant position here. For Duffy and Cunningham (1996) authors such as (Kuhn, 1970; Wittgenstein in Malcomb, 1986 and Rorty, 1991) considered that learning depends on the environment (social context) of each as opposed to a representation of a real-world external to the learner. Therefore, they indicated that cognition exists within a socio-cultural context, this is contrary to Von Glaserfeld’s and Piaget’s views on individual constructions..

(22) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 22. Concerning this project, social constructivism can be reflected in today’s technology (On the Internet and Web 2.0) in processes of collaboration, group work and active participation which are characteristics of the Web 2.0. The use of the Internet and Web 2.0 for educative purposes seems to take advantage of the characteristics of social constructivism. These media portray social constructivism since students are not passive takers of information (Hernandez, 2008), and throughout the mediation of the internet and the interactivity that takes place among them they build up their knowledge based on subjects that are meaningful. Sultan, Woods and Koo (2011) carried out a study to inquire into the influence of constructivist learning environments (CLEs) mediated by the use of laptops. Methods for collecting data included a questionnaire about a CLE developed by the researcher. Similarly to Wangpipatwong and Papasratorn (2007), the authors concluded that learning outcomes were highly related to the constructivist learning environment. In the same way, the social networks are not far behind from the task of widening the interactive spaces for education where the collaboration from the constructivist perspective has a determinant role. According to Hernandez (2008), social networks are virtual spaces that extend the reach of the classroom triggering a space that allows the interaction and communication of the members throughout other media, as a result teachers could benefit from the use of technology (Web 2.0) within the classroom. Murphy, Mahoney, Chen, Mendoza-Diaz, and Yang (2005), studied the characteristics of the messages that the instructor, two teacher assistants, and 21 students produced when they participated in an online discussion. The discussions were recorded, and the transcripts were analyzed. The method for data collection and analysis were observation and.

(23) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 23. triangulation. Results are similar to Bryant and Bates (2015), who explored the potential of some online tools to facilitate a social constructivist approach to prepare teachers virtually. In their study, they found that the constructivist approach, accompanied by the use of technology, facilitated the construction of knowledge by providing scaffolding. Also, it revealed these two factors increased students’ interest in the process. In sum, constructivism sets the learner in the center of the learning process where each subject plays an active role in the establishment of individual knowledge. People interpret external stimuli which generate a personal and symbolic view of the world, particular to each as a result of making sense of the world from previous unique concepts and experiences. In the previous paragraphs I went over concepts such as constructivism and social constructivism. These concepts and their discussion allowed me to choose a setting where collaboration and co-construction of knowledge could develop plainly. As a result, I decided to implement activities on a social network, in this case FB because of its social nature and its characteristics such as the possibility to include different members, to connect with others, the capacity to send messages and post written comments. Similarly, Facebook’s popularity among teenagers made it convenient to encourage participation and to maintain their interest in the activities. Conveying Meaning in the Written Medium The concept of strategies of second language communication is defined as the manners learners of different languages from the mother tongue solve the communication drawbacks emerging at the moment of a spoken interaction that are provoked by the absence of language tools or when these tools are not suitable for a specific communicative exchange.

(24) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 24. (Doqaruni and Najjari, 2015). These approximations to the issue paved the way for later theoretical works and practical studies on CSs. One of the central issues of CS theory and research lies on the problems that second or foreign language learners have when using their interlanguage in oral interactions in the second language (L2). Regarding learner’s competence at a linguistic level, deficiency is an inherent aspect which augments problems when there is an intention to communicate in an L2, and the users of the linguistic system have language barriers that limit them (Kasper and Kellerman, 2014). Within this perspective, it was natural to think that the focus of CS was on the mistake production area of language in interactions between two speakers. Consequently, some see CSs as tools to repair a fundamental lack at a linguistic level considering what a learner uses to communicate (Tarone, 1981). Dörnyei and Scott (1997) provided an early definition of CS from Tarone (1977). In her own words, Tarone poses the CSs traditionally as “Conscious communication strategies are used by an individual to overcome the crisis which occurs when language structures are inadequate to convey the individual’s thought.” (Tarone, 1997 as cited in Dörnyei and Scott, 1997, p. 177). Notwithstanding, a CS is also “a conscious attempt to communicate the learner’s thought when the interlanguage structures are inadequate to communicate that thought” (Váradi 1973, Tarone 1978, Galván and Campbell 1979 as cited in Tarone, 1981, p. 287). This second definition is problematic as well due to its mental basis. If one sees consciousness/unconsciousness as having different levels, thus the definition makes no sense and we ought to obviate it (Tarone, 1981). These definitions are problematic and do not offer an apparent distinction between the term communication strategy and other related terms..

(25) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 25. Spromberg (2011) conducted a study with a group of 430 high school students who, although had different linguistic backgrounds, interacted in the same classroom. The objective of the study was to evidence what CSs, a group of multilingual students, used to interact in diverse language environments. Results of this study indicate that participants used a large number of communication strategies. The subcategory of interactional coping devices and, therefore strategies such as confirming, asking for clarification and rephrasing had the most significant number of uses. The reason for this result is likely to be prompted by the distinctive languages participants acquired as the mother tongue. In a similar study, Smith (2000) investigated the relationship between CMC, communication strategy use and communicative task type. This study included a group of 18 learners of English with an intermediate-low level of English that interacted by means of chat while completing assigned tasks during class meetings. The researcher found that a large and varied number of communication strategies were used by the learners to convey meaning in interactions. It also indicates that they had two preferences when confronting unknown words: They either attempted to find out the sense of the word by negotiating or employed a communication strategy to comprehend the problematic item. In another study, Xhaferi (2012) aimed at studying the appearance of communication strategies when students produce written texts. The research question were: What are the communication strategies used by students of English in writing argumentative essays? And, are there any differences in the use of strategies among female and male students? From students’ answers, the researcher made an analysis based on Dörnyei and Scott (1995), and subsequent results demonstrated that the most useful communication strategy was circumlocution (Dörnyei and Scott, 1995), the second most useful strategy was.

(26) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 26. approximation and immediately after, appeal for help both with 42 %. The methodology to rate the usefulness of each communication strategy consisted of allowing students to choose which strategies were most useful according to their experience. Omar, Embi and Yunus (2012), investigated how learners dealt with lacks in language performance and the role of communication strategies to improve online discussion on Facebook groups. The participants of this study were 28 communication students who took the course at the National University of Malaysia. Results showed four specific types of communication strategies (direct, digital media, paralinguistic and interactional strategies). The authors reported that the study evidenced high occurrences of literal translation which reflected a dependence on the L1 to compensate for their deficiencies in L2. Digital media was also a relevant and widespread strategy as well as the use of some Facebook features that made the discussion among learners more dynamic. This study addresses communication strategies as the specific manners (the mechanisms and particularities) that make up foreign language learners’ style when they communicate or transmit a message to express opinions, personal points of view and positions about different topics. However, researchers have traditionally studied communication strategies that derived from oral interactions between learners; this prompts the spontaneity of their utterances and obliges them to execute maneuvers to convey and build plain meaning to have a clear and understandable communication. As the discussion took the form of written comments on Facebook, it was necessary to discard a high number of definitions that consider communication strategies as speakers’ actions to solve communication problems between a native speaker and a learner of that L2..

(27) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 27. These perspectives include the interactional view (Tarone, 1981) of communication strategies when the interactions take place in the oral language production that, unlike the discussion group on Facebook were solely in written comments. The previous statement mismatches Tarone’s view: “Communication strategies, viewed from this perspective may be seen as attempts to bridge the gap between the linguistic knowledge of the secondlanguage learner and the linguistic knowledge of the target language interlocutor in real communication situation” (Tarone, 1981, p. 288). The former definition does not give an account of the strategies produced within online discussion since the interactions there are usually asynchronous, no-place situated, social network-based and occurred between learners of English as a foreign language who, in contrast to the methodology of other studies, have time to think and build their responses in the group online. The focus should be on another concept which may explain the phenomena that occurred in this study and defined this category. When participants used their linguistic system, in this case, an interlanguage system efficiently and productively without much effort, it resulted in the employment of production strategies (Tarone, 1981). According to Tarone, production strategies resemble communication strategies, but there is a difference in that both “…are attempts to use one’s linguistic system, but production strategies differ in that they lack the interactional focus on the negotiation of meaning” (Tarone, 1981, p. 289). Thus, as the discussion was not a real-time event and participants had time to construct their comments they utilized production strategies in their written comments. After revising the existent literature on strategies to communicate effectively, I could determine that these are studied from the oral production in language exchanges. Therefore,.

(28) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 28. I decided to implement the discussion activities in order to study such strategies at written English. The previous literature revision helped me narrow my study and enable me to conveniently design the implementation. Computer-Mediated Communication in EFL The technological media are offering new spaces for communicating and interacting by digital devices and platforms on the Internet such as Blogs, Social Networks, Web Pages, among others. This interaction impacts and influences the way people communicate or use the language. In words of Crystal “The Internet has come to dominate our lives” (Crystal, 2006, p. 3). This change is an important factor that deserves investigation; within the literature about this phenomenon, the concept is called computer-mediated communication and is defined by Bodomo as “Interaction and transfer of information through the medium of the computer or digital devices” (Bodomo, 2010, p. 17). His extended definition is “CMC is defined as the coding and decoding of linguistic and other symbolic systems between sender and receiver for information processing in multiple formats through the medium of the computer and allied technologies …” (p. 27). As a result, scholars have focused on how people use these novel ways of interaction in each of the socio-technological environments, including the popular social networking systems (MSN, YouTube, and Facebook) (Bodomo, 2010). New technologies often require new forms of language and literacy to express new concepts that emerge along with these new media and tools. Sevingil and Bayyurt (2010), examined the perceptions of non-native Turkish speakers of English concerning asynchronous modes of communication. They exchanged online E-.

(29) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 29. mail messages with native speakers in English on preset topics from February to May in 2008. They conducted the study with nine discussion topics from a total number of seventeen. The most popular topics were friendship/friends, education, sports, leisure and work, nature, eating and food customs, music, movies, and holidays. All participants were asked to discuss these topics each week without any instructor intervention in their e-mail exchanges. By way of pre and post surveys some perceptions were found when the participants considered the use of e-mail and the Internet to be an excellent way to learn about people and other cultures. The researchers showed that the development of a pedagogical intervention based on discussion topics was as an essential stimulus to communication. The participants strongly agreed that participating in the study was a positive experience for them and that the exchanges contributed to their writing skills. Also, they asserted that the exchanges improved their English regarding word choice, grammar, and e-mail conventions. Meskill and Anthony (2005) studied online teaching strategies and learner responses in a class that integrated computer-mediated Communication (CMC) as a pedagogical intent for widespread language practice used to support and supplement tool in-class work. Six participants were involved in asynchronous discussion forums in Russian. They implemented a discussion feature on Blackboard in a beginning level Russian Language course. The forum demonstrated that real-time communication could take place through a set of affordances that the medium offers to foreign language learners and teachers. They suggested that CMC affords both instructors and students the time and opportunity that they.

(30) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 30. may lack in the face-to-face classroom to work on the negotiation of meaning with a focus on learning essential positive elements. Nowadays, researchers have sharply defined the relationship between technology and education; the medium defines that relation. The focus is on the technological tools used to implement different projects with specific objectives, most of the institutions and teacher observe in the technology a high potential to enhance the motivation and participation of the students as several studies manifest (Bodomo, 2010). Therefore, is essential to take into account the language changes in the virtual media and how it can be implemented in education to develop the literacy. The concepts and results displayed in this research such as the use of CMC perspective in the education field within a channel or tool to enhance and promote the development of production strategies in a foreign language context are following some aspects that this project explores. Results of the previous discussion provided me with a perspective in which ICTs and, more specifically the social network FB, functions as means to communicate meaning in language exchanges. Taking into account this characteristic I designed the activities to be developed in a closed group..

(31) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 31. Chapter 3. Research Design This chapter contains the research design and methodology to answer the following questions: How does an FB group reflect the construction of fourth-semester students’ language production strategies and viewpoints on taboo topics when interacting in a digital environment? . What production strategies do fourth semester students use in a FB discussion group on taboo topics?. . What do fourth-semester undergraduates’ points of view on taboo topics reveal when constructing them in a Facebook discussion group?. Firstly, I describe the research paradigm. After that the type of study, the context, participants and the role of the researcher. Finally, the data collection techniques and instruments, unit of analysis, ethical considerations of the study as well as its validity and reliability. Type of Study Considering that the general purposes, a qualitative case study approach was selected to develop the study since it offered the possibility to portray thoroughly a specific case respecting a social phenomenon. The phenomenon has to do with the employment of social networks within a defined context and number of participants. In social sciences, and mainly for the educational field, a case study is as an approach which can display a complete and unique portrayal of a particular entity (cultures, groups, schools, individuals) (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2007)..

(32) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 32. Case studies are descriptive and heuristic and rely on inductive reasoning in handling multiple data sources. Nunan (1992) stated that: “In a case study, the researcher observes the characteristics of an individual unit. The purpose of such observation is to probe deeply and to analyze the intensity of the phenomena with a view to establishing generalizations about the wider population to which the unit belongs” (Nunan, 1992. As cited in Bustos, 2015, p. 26). By the same token, Creswell (2007) defined a case study as the examination of one or more instances of a phenomenon in an enclosed scheme. It means studying certain exemplification derived from a particular incident by designing a parallel frame, under specific circumstances, that exemplifies empirically what a more theoretical work has already done. In this approach, the researchers study the examples by selecting particular cases whose aim is to visualize the phenomenon by grounding it in a specific milieu. Context and Participants This research included 17 fourth-semester students whose ages ranged from 18 to 25 who accepted to participate after I informed about the study and its process. They granted their permission by accepting and signing a written consent where I presented details about the study (see Appendices A and B). As a result, five male participants and 12 female participants accepted to participate. All of them, at that moment, were students of an undergraduate TEFL program. The rationale behind my participants selection followed Patton’s purposeful sampling. This sampling is defined as a nonprobability method for choosing samples in research where specific cases are involved as much as they can to provide significant information.

(33) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 33. and fit some requirements established by the researcher to fulfill the objectives of a study (Patton, 1990). In the case of the present inquiry, the sample I selected met a set of characteristics that were designed by considering research question and objectives. As there were different courses at the university that met those requirements in my project, I finally included only those preservice teachers involved in the research group to guarantee their participation during the whole process. Besides, I gave them the consent forms (Appendices A and B) for informing these subjects about this research and the use of their information to strengthen their involvement. Particularly, those tenets that characterized my participants were the following: . Age between 18 and 25. . Intermediate/ upper intermediate level of English. . Frequent users of Facebook. . Facebook account availability. As participants were enrolled in a face-to-face program, the majority of the classes had a significant amount of contact with the professor. However, there was a lack of virtual spaces that would allow them to express their points of view on different topics freely using their writing skills in English. Role of the Researcher The qualitative approach framed this study. I followed the steps of this approach, and my role was active during this process by giving the necessary instructions to students for them to perform the activity in an organized way. Also, participants received constant support and monitoring. Despite this, my direct involvement could be characterized as a.

(34) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 34. participant observer in the development of the activities (Cohen et al., 2007), as the home professor allowed me to apply it in her classes. Data Collection Instruments and Procedures In order to conduct this research project, data collection methods were an open-ended questionnaire and participants’ artifacts. These methods allowed me to gather precise data for a further and thorough analysis that would be the axis to answer the research question of this study. In this research, the purpose of the artifacts was to obtain insights on participants’ viewpoints around taboo topics. Data for this research project originated from activities participants developed on a Facebook group. The next paragraphs outline the methods and procedures for data analysis. In relation to the first data collection method, I applied a structured questionnaire composed by open-ended questions. Participants answered the questionnaire about their social networks habits such as the time spent on social networks, the activities they usually engaged in and social networks frequency. According to Freeman (1998), document collection consists on the set of documents which are related to the research, such as course overview, lesson plans, students’ writing, classroom materials/texts, assessment tasks/texts, student profiles and student records. For this research, the election as one of the techniques to obtain the students’ comments during three activities was the collection of documents that reflected the comments that participants posted on the discussion group on Facebook. Document collection emphasizes collecting pertinent “traces”, “props”, or “products” used or made by research participants, or that are relevant to the studied problem or area. Artifacts come in many different forms, including texts, list of objects, photographs,.

(35) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 35. drawings. They help to construct contextualized data for a study. Also, artifacts filled in additional details and answer many research questions after analyzing documents and artifacts. Artifacts are also an unobtrusive type of data in which there is no direct contact with the participants because the obtained evidence is analyzed with different techniques. This method has an advantage over other types due to the amount of information that can be gathered, and the time to collect it is less than other types, avoiding possible inconveniences that may weaken the research process. Type of Data Various types of data were collected to answer the research question. According to the purpose and design of this study, the type of data is qualitative. Merriam (as cited in Bustos, 2015), explained that “these data consist of a detailed description of situations, events, people, interactions, as well observed behaviors, experiences, attitudes, beliefs, thoughts and excerpts or entire passages from documents, correspondence, records and case histories” (p. 29). The first unit of analysis was participants’ comments typed into the discussion Facebook group. From these comments, a type of data that is categorized as first-order data was the basis of the data analysis process. First order data consists of words or phrases reflected during the discussion. According to Freeman (1998), first order data generates from the participants’ actions that are the observable and systematically collected, processed and organized. On the other hand, the pre-questionnaire collected second-order data. This type of data is explained by Freeman (1998), as the information contained inside participants’ comments as what students thought about a particular topic..

(36) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 36. Validity To ensure that data analysis process and resulting outcomes comply with validity and reliability requirements, I implemented data triangulation. Among the types of data triangulation a researcher is able to employ, I chose methodological triangulation in which more than one method to collect data is utilized. Gathered data is then compared and intertwined to facilitate its validation. Also, by applying methodological triangulation, I aimed at enriching my perspective of the study prior to interpreting data and presenting results. For the development of data triangulation, I designed manual tables to cross information during the analysis to compare data from two instruments: a questionnaire and artifacts. This process allowed me to conclude that data from the mentioned instruments shared patterns and secured validity of the analysis. Likewise, some strategies helped to make this study trustworthy. First of all, I applied strategies to avoid personal perspectives and views (researcher bias) from interfering with the research results, reflections played a significant role. During the process of data analysis, researcher's biases were monitored and controlled by self-reflecting on them. Reflections took the form of grids I designed in which questions, set as indicators, serve the purpose of determining the appropriate direction of this investigation. Besides, strategies such as participants’ feedback, and low-inference descriptors gave interpretative validity to this research, that is to say, to assure that this study's report fits the.

(37) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 37. actual participants’ experiences, viewpoints, feelings and thoughts (Campbell and Stanley, 1967). Ethical considerations Based on (Patton, 2002. As cited in Bustos, 2015) ethical issues checklist, as a researcher, I ensured that: • The participants and the institution were informed about the purpose of the research that they were asked to participate in (see Appendices A, B – consent forms). • They understood the risks they may have faced as a result of being part of the research. • They understood the benefits they may have got as a result of participating. • Confidentiality was guaranteed. Chapter 4. Pedagogical Intervention In this section I present the pedagogical intervention implemented in an FB group with university students. Firstly, I describe the pedagogical implementation globally to offer an outlook of this process. Secondly, I offer an account of the employed activities so readers gain understanding of how I designed the lesson to move on to subsequent research stages. Finally, this chapter includes a table that portrays detailed information of aspects such as duration of each activity, their names and accurate activities descriptions. This study has the purpose of giving an account for the participants’ opinions of three taboo topics (Homosexuality, Children murderers, and addictions) with the help of.

(38) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 38. linguistic resources employed when participants discussed those topics. Furthermore, another purpose was to outline the traits and production strategies that participants employed when debating in a Facebook group created to elicit the production of written comments in English. As part of the activities designed in the pedagogical intervention, 17 students participated in a six-week process during which they discussed three taboo topics (Homosexuality, Children Who Kill and Addictions). The level of written English had to be intermediate-advanced to be able to perform successfully in the proposed tasks. Sampling technique The pedagogical intervention was carried out based on Henning’s (2008) discussionbased approach. This one in turn aims at involving students in a meaningful discussion led by a teacher to fulfill a set of objectives (Henning, 2008). As this project objectives dealt with how a group of students of a TEFL program displayed their points of view about different topics while discussing them on a group on Facebook, the discussion-based approach was an appropriate choice to accomplish that objective. In a discussion-based approach, the role of the instructor as well as that of the correct implementation of the approach was to promote students’ thinking based on social interaction. I directed and monitored the interactions, first, by asking open-ended questions that are relevant to students. Later, students interacted in multiple forms by creating an environment where they could exchange ideas and opinions on different topics. The initial proof of this type of social cognition came from the trade of ideas that occurred in the classroom, and it included the reading, writing, and what is said around them (Applebee, Langer, Nystrand, and Gamoran, 2003)..

(39) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 39. Consequently, the integration of Facebook was justified since it has brought about striking effects on diverse aspects of life just like the internet, computers, radio, and television. This interest awoke after evidence of features of language wielded by social network users are exclusive to that medium. These features possessed peculiar singularities and may vary to a large extent in some cases and to a small extent from one individual to another. The following picture summarizes the main steps of the pedagogical intervention:. Activities The activities were designed for an environment that included specific elements such as asynchronous interactions, commenting tools, approving or disapproving buttons, allowance to use different languages, and embedding external sources tools to increase the potential for meaningful and deep learning by the participants. These activities involved a.

(40) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 40. difference in beliefs or opinions which are those that involve a particular kind of experience, situation or action that can profit or injure other people or ourselves. As a result, these topics created an environment for debate and motivated the participation. The components of the Facebook group-discussion approach contributed to this research project by engaging students in meaningful debates where they appraised, judge other students’ ideas and justify and defend their own ones. Based on the activities, the data collection process was carried out uncomplicatedly, and the collected information was reliable. The activities on Facebook served as an external scenario of interaction different from the classroom and contributed to motivating students to participate with written comments in the discussions. For this phase of the research, I selected three topics that are regarded as taboo topics by MacAndrew and Martinez (2002) to engage the students to participate in the discussion. With these topics in mind I planned a lesson in which the topics could be tackled based on a learning objective. As a result the activities were headed as: Develop and share personal opinions about homosexuality, analyze drug addiction and react to children murderers. These activities aided students developed positive interdependence where cooperation was necessary for them to succeed. Additionally, they were able to participate and learn together in the group as they received the vocabulary and the elements to develop the discussion on the Facebook group. I divided the implementation of the activities in three stages: Pre-response, response and post-response taking into account the tasks the participants had to do at different moments. Below, the steps of each activity are presented: 1. Presentation 2. Visualization of the multimedia material.

(41) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 41. 3. Development of the task 4. Sharing participants’ opinions on the discussion group 5. Participation in the Facebook group and responding to others’ comments At the pre-response stage, I introduced the topic by outlining its purpose and the steps to follow. I asked participants to read the material and the methodology for participating successfully. I proposed some questions about the topic and provided the directions to participants. The importance of the video lies on the fact that it gave other views about homosexuality that enriched the discussion and the processing stage participants went through by providing participants with prompters or ideas to further discuss the topic. Later, at the response stage I guided the participants to follow and watch the video related to homosexuality where a lecturer provided an initial outlook. Students accessed to the video resource previously chosen for the discussion, and they engaged in the process of comprehending and reacting to the topic and the content of the video. This stage’s objective is to explore students’ personal opinions about homosexuality topic before initiating a discussion. Finally, at the last stage, post-response, students completed the activity according to the directions given at the initial stage (pre-response). They posted their opinions and later these generated different responses from other members of the group that sometimes agreed with others’ comments or refuted them creating a discussion environment. I kept track of how the discussion in the social network developed to make sure students accomplish the objectives proposed and to address the activity correctly. I guided each of the activities but did not intervene directly, this allowed the activity to be unbiased, and students could express their opinions freely..

(42) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 42. In my role as the teacher, I gave students the necessary instructions to perform the activity in an organized way. I provided accompaniment and constant monitoring to the students so they could develop the activities making them successful and relevant for students’ learning. My role also involved evaluating the activities and outcomes of the students in each step so to know the improvements and how successful the activities were. Students participated actively in the activities proposed in class and could ask questions about the content of the class, the development of the activity or about the use of the Facebook group or any of its components. Students shared personal opinions, ideas, experiences, anecdotes. Table 1 Description of the pedagogical implementation steps and activities. WEEK. TABOO TOPIC. ACTIVITY. DESCRIPTION T presented the activity, objectives, and tasks to do. Ss completed the activity by reading the. Pre-response. overall instructions and prepared to carry it out. At this point, the objectives, steps, and procedure of the activity must have been. Week 1. clear. In this stage, Ss watched the video related to Homosexuality. homosexuality, and they comprehended and Response. understood the topic. The objective was to elicit Ss’ reactions to the topic so the next. Week 2. stage could be covered smoothly. Ss completed the activity that was presented Post-response. at the pre-response stage. Ss posted their opinions related to the topic in written comments in the discussion group on.

(43) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 43 Facebook. I encouraged them to respond to others’ comments to initiate the debate. I presented the activity, objectives, and tasks Pre-response. to do. At this point, the objectives, steps, and procedure of the activity must be clear.. Week 3 Ss watched a video related to children who Response. have committed murders. The objective was to elicit Ss’ reactions to the topic.. Children. Ss completed the activity. T asked Ss to post. murderers. their opinions in the discussion group on FB. Post-response. Week 4. Ss reacted to other’s comments to initiate the debate.. T presented the activity, objectives, and tasks Pre-response. to do. Also, T gave directions At this point, the objectives, steps, and procedure of the activity must be clear. Ss viewed the video related to addictions.. Week 5. Comprehension and understanding of the Response. topic were relevant. The objective was to elicit students’ reactions to further the topic so other contributions could occur.. Addictions. Ss completed the activity that was presented at the beginning. Ss posted their opinions Week 6. Post-response. related to the topic in written comments in the discussion group on Facebook. T encouraged Ss to respond to other’s comments to promote the debate among Ss..

(44) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 44. Chapter 5 Data Analysis This chapter deals with the data analysis. Firstly, I present the research questions to remind the reader what this investigation aimed to answer. Afterwards, I explain data management strategies, including procedures and steps to organize, label and interpret all collected data. Later, I revisit data analysis stages to specify data treatment and interpretation from qualitative lens. This description elucidates vital information to be understood afterwards. Also, I provide examples from the collected data along with its explanation and theoretical support to enlighten the results section. The questions framing this study were the following: Research question How does an FB group reflect the construction of fourth-semester students’ production strategies and viewpoints on taboo topics when interacting in a digital environment? Research sub-questions What production strategies do fourth-. What do fourth-semester undergraduates’. semester students use in an FB discussion. points of view on taboo topics reveal when. group on taboo topics?. constructing them in an FB discussion group?. Data Management The source of data was the discussion group on Facebook from which artifacts were collected periodically for six weeks (see Appendix D). Participants’ artifacts that were collected from the discussion group on Facebook consisted of comments on some questions.

(45) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 45. proposed in discussion activities based on three different taboo topics. The first step was to identify the publication date of the comments to sort them out chronologically. Subsequently, to portray specific instances of comments, screenshots of the discussion were taken as displayed on the Facebook group page; they were organized independently in a document in Word according to the topic. Later, the comments were copied to an Excel document to have a better and more organized layout. In this document, the research questions were placed as a headline to guide the following procedures (see Appendix E). Data Analysis Procedures In general for data analysis, I followed Freeman’s (1998) steps in data analysis for qualitative studies: naming, grouping, finding relationships and displaying. The researcher gives names to data by means of codes established previously or codes that emerge from data, known as grounded codes, and to which the units of analysis integrate (Freeman, 1998). For this study, I did not create codes to apply to data, I rather let the codes emerge after reading the excel document. For the analysis step, after having organized the data in an excel sheet, I read the comments to have a general grasp and to think about possible emerging categories. Afterward, I coded with two methods proposed by Saldana (2009), these were Descriptive Coding and In Vivo Coding. In Descriptive Coding, researchers label data by assigning names to have a list of items whose topic is clear (see Appendix E). In Vivo Coding requires to generate codes from the actual words or sentences used in the data that is analyzed (Saldana, 2009). From this process, 250 codes appeared. Following, in the grouping stage researchers assemble and categorize codes that are isolated to start building a frame that gives form and meaning to the collected information..

(46) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 46. These categories, as in the naming process, can form directly from data (grounded categories) (Freeman, 1998). I grouped the codes and put names to these preliminary sets which generated 60 preliminary patterns. Thereafter, as the number of initial patterns was high, I continued grouping them to produce a reduced number of categories. For this reduction process, I shifted the type of coding method since categories represented actions. To code words, Process Coding serves to give an account of the actions reflected in the data by using gerunds (-ing) (Saldana, 2009). As a result, I grouped the patterns and generated 20 categories (see Appendix F). Finally, I checked the produced categories to find relationships among them and to be able to have a more solid analysis and discard what did not belong (Freeman, 1998). This process helped reduced the 20 categories previously mentioned to two final categories; Voicing personal views on taboo topics and using language strategically to discuss taboo topics. Thus, the former was composed of five subcategories while the latter contained four (see Appendix H). Findings This section encompasses the report of findings from the data analysis process. Two main categories with their respective subcategories emerged: participants debate as actors rather than spectators and participants expressing personal views on taboo topics. The former category groups four subcategories while the latter one comprises only three sub items. As I discuss the categories and subcategories I also offer samples taken directly from the data I collected..

(47) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 47. Participants debate as actors rather than spectators When acting socially, even on social networks, participants aimed at accomplishing diverse objectives such as expressing a point of view and influencing other members. In this study, participants commented on diverse topics considering their context and sometimes considering other participants’ opinions. These features, expressed by means of language, made them actors instead of spectators (Van Dijk, 1992). Adopting and influencing roles prompted comments that provoked and effect of assuming or funneling certain opinions. The following sample (Excerpt 1) demonstrates how a participant referred to other participant’s previous comment to support her opinion on this issue: Excerpt 1. “As Guillo said i disagree too because although perhaps it could be a reason or it could have been influenced by it.” [Ss comment on FB. Activity 1 (homosexuality), April 22nd, 2015]. Each participant’s style, when commenting, reflected repeated patterns concerning the use of language and determined that the discussion on Facebook promoted the use of shared expressions that some participants used in previous comments in the group. When this occurs, the strategies become a routine as they are utilized anytime a problem comes up. Consequently, they turned into a high-frequency aspect which is central to language use (Gass and Selinker, as cited in Dörnyei and Scott, 1997). As a result, this category reflects each participant’s way to express themselves by noticing some language features and patterns that they were aware of and used strategically. Participants drew on four production strategies which facilitated the display of comments and opinions on the FB.

(48) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 48. group, the strategies were: Reacting to content, employing L1-like forms, using specific language to debate, building opinions from other’s or own stance. Reacting to murders by children. Expressiveness was markedly present in some comments due to the impact that information caused on participants during the discussion on the FB group. More specifically, some participants used emotive words to show their reaction to the information presented on the videos. The words included examples such as: “wow”, “it’s surprising”, “it’s shocking” and “it’s incredible”. The emotive language conveyed inner feelings upon the contents of the videos and participants used these words to convince people to follow a specific course of action or to change his/her mind which is to suggest ideas using emotional language chunks. Below, I present an example in which a participant expressed a personal reaction to the video with the word “wow” which attracts attention since it refers to an emotional response: Excerpt 2. “Wow, It is really incredible to think that a kid, a little kid can kill someone of that way, I really do not know what is going on with education that it is supposed to be taught in schools and also in home.” [Ss comment on FB. Activity 2 (children who kill), May 9th, 2015]. In this sense, emotions lead people to follow ideas or change them. For Aristotle one factor to persuade people deals with “putting the audience into a certain frame of mind” (Aristotle, trans. 2004, p. 8). However, if emotions, conveyed with words, make people feel disgusted, disappointment, failure or anger, they will reject those ideas. Emotional participants who employed language chunks to react to content altered others’ behaviors by.

(49) UNVEILING LANGUAGE PRACTICES ON FACEBOOK 49. a series of actions such as demonstrations of emotiveness or by showing willingness to participate (Faraj et al., 2011). These demonstrations may reflect students’ natural display of emotions naturally which they may find difficult in an academic setting such as this comment. This participant attributed the motivations of murders to children’s social and cultural reason from his/her context: Excerpt 3. “It's impresive to see how these kids are able to commit those murders, how a person who are just starting to live, can became so agresive and dangerous…Here in Colombia the reason could be a sociocultural deal, the enviroment where most of these kids grew up could be the most influence reason to do that, just to survive or be respect.” [Ss comment on FB. Activity 2 (children who kill), May 9th, 2015]. Participants’ performance and the production of comments on the discussion group revealed that each commenting style was particular. The way they commented was unique in specific contexts where each identity displayed and developed within boundaries (Buck, 2012). Employing a particular style to raise people’s emotions through the repetitive use of words that evoke emotional reactions is an example of a learned strategy that for the receivers of these emotional reactions is merely a matter of developing specific mechanisms that enable them to perform within definite situations (Fairclough, 1989). In the example provided below, a participant responded individually to the video and made emphasis on her reaction in two expressions: “it is surprising” and “shocking”. Also, her.