Social Networking Sites for Language Learning


The January 2009 issue of The Language Educator has an interesting section about social networking and language learning. (See my previous post about social networking and Spanish community service learning.)

In the articles, two language instructors detail their experiences using Facebook and Ning. But those two sites do not specifically target language learners. These sites compiled by The Language Educator, do:

I'd love to check these all out, but I'm facing a huge deadline for tomorrow, another one for Friday, and another one around the corner. So I'd like to leverage the energy and smarts of our Spanish honors students to use and evaluate these sites.

Here's what students who want to do a James Scholar Learning Agreement for SPAN 208 or 228 can do:

  1. Choose one of the sites from the bulleted list above.
  2. Join and use the site for at least one hour a week for a total of at least ten hours.
  3. Go to this wiki, log your time on the site and briefly comment on what you did and what you thought about it.
  4. OJO: if you are unhappy with the site you chose, switch! Just note that on your log.
  5. By the last day of classes for the semester, write a tw0-page analysis of your experiences on the site(s) and upload it to the wiki.
I'm looking forward to getting students' perspectives about these sites and how they might help them strengthen their Spanish and learn more about Hispanic cultures.

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