TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Presence and Identity
T2 - Facebook in an English Language Classroom
AU - Vanek, Jenifer
AU - King, Kendall A
AU - Bigelow, Martha
PY - 2018/7/4
Y1 - 2018/7/4
N2 - While social media is widely used by youth around the world, research is only beginning to document how transnational students employ these technologies. This study investigated how English-learning adolescents in the United States use social media to engage in social, academic, and identity work. Data were collected during a four-day social media unit in a high school English as a Second Language class of mostly recently arrived East African youth. Data sources included Facebook posts, video recordings of class interactions, student presentations, and interviews. These data were analyzed through post-structuralist identity frames (e.g., Norton, 2010) and the social semiotic construct of modality (van Leeuwen, 2005). Analyses indicated that through the process of building social presence (SP), learners asserted identities, which were affirmed by classmates, and legitimated their contributions. This legitimation resulted in rich, interactive learning experiences in the group. This finding has implications for using social media in classes with transnational newcomers.
AB - While social media is widely used by youth around the world, research is only beginning to document how transnational students employ these technologies. This study investigated how English-learning adolescents in the United States use social media to engage in social, academic, and identity work. Data were collected during a four-day social media unit in a high school English as a Second Language class of mostly recently arrived East African youth. Data sources included Facebook posts, video recordings of class interactions, student presentations, and interviews. These data were analyzed through post-structuralist identity frames (e.g., Norton, 2010) and the social semiotic construct of modality (van Leeuwen, 2005). Analyses indicated that through the process of building social presence (SP), learners asserted identities, which were affirmed by classmates, and legitimated their contributions. This legitimation resulted in rich, interactive learning experiences in the group. This finding has implications for using social media in classes with transnational newcomers.
KW - Adolescent refugees
KW - English language learner
KW - identity
KW - peer interaction
KW - social media
KW - social presence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046438394&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046438394&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15348458.2018.1442223
DO - 10.1080/15348458.2018.1442223
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046438394
SN - 1534-8458
VL - 17
SP - 236
EP - 254
JO - Journal of Language, Identity and Education
JF - Journal of Language, Identity and Education
IS - 4
ER -