Redefining call: Social networking as a vehicle for cross-cultural communication

Rebecca Lynn Medley, Purdue University

Abstract

This study examined the interaction patterns of written communication that took place between two cohorts of Net Generation students: international students from Asian countries and native speakers of American English. The communication took place within the discussion area of a social networking site (Facebook). The study was designed using a quasi-experimental, multiple-case study approach, offers a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the communication using Loban's communication units within a social constructivist epistemology. The findings indicate that the students' membership in a Web 2.0 discourse community such as Facebook had a clear impact on the communication. Free of a traditional academic environment, international students were more open, aware of, and willing to discuss their language competencies with native speakers. The findings also suggest that for both the international and native speakers, their schemas had an influence on their communication; however, membership in the Facebook discourse community helped bridge cultural and linguistic differences. Moreover, the desire to belong to a peer group within a discourse community to which the students already belonged contributed significantly to the amount of and type of communication between the two diverse cohorts.

Degree

M.A.

Advisors

Mabrito, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Linguistics|Foreign Language|Social structure

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