A discussion about how to use and implement Language Learning Social Networks (LLSNs) into the curriculum, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of these spaces.

1. Language Learning Social Networks (LLSNs):
Playing tennis with the net down?
Gabriel Guillén
Brown Bag Series
Custom Language Services (CLS)
3/30/2015

2. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
Thesis about blogs and
tandem learning (2008)
Dissertation: Expanding the language
classroom: linguistic gains and learning
opportunities through e-tandems and
social networks (December, 2014)
500 words abstract: http://www.gaguillen.com
1) Assessed students’ knowledge and attitudes in regards to
tandem learning and LLSNs, by means of a survey administered
to 155 students and a preliminary experiment with e-tandems.
The results encourage instructors and institutions to
implement tandem projects and the use of LLSNs at the
curricular level.
2) Measured and described proficiency development through a
10 week hybrid Spanish course with an e-tandem requirement,
in contrast with a traditional course. The study found that both
groups improved in the overall proficiency score. Furthermore,
the hybrid learners outperformed the traditional course
participants in regards to vocabulary, an indicator of fluency
potential. A closer examination of the tandem recordings from a
qualitative perspective showed that tandem participants
increased language learning awareness and autonomy over
time. In particular, learners who are more engaged and
inquisitive from the first encounter seemed to progress at a
faster rate.
3) Gave recommendations for using and developing LLSNs and
explained the state of the art of what I called social Computer
Assisted Language Learning (sCALL), an overarching term that
includes not only LLSNs but tellecolaboration platforms and
networks that connect instructors and learners.
LLSNs should focus on strengthening the longevity of tandems,
ensuring that users find the most appropriate partners in terms of
language level, interests, and location (connecting language
learners in the same town). They should enhance feedback,
translation tools, rating of users, tasks and projects, recordings,
asynchronous and synchronous audiovisual features, and overall
usability. The ideal LLSNs could be seen as an extension of the
classroom, allowing learners to develop life-long learning skills.
The dialogue between developers and the language profession
should flow naturally from the core of the common interests.

3. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
http://go.miis.edu/tandem
Name? Student, teacher, what do you
teach? Have you used language
learning social networks? How was
your experience?
MOODLE
WORDPRESS
DRUPAL
Naked Classroom
Peggy (English pronunciation) APC
Craig (English for diplomats)
Thor (Linguistics)
Steve (Korean)
Sean (Spanish and English)
Jamie (English, Spanish)
Annick (several hats: French,
interpreter)
Anita (English)
Lisa: CLS
GOOD
BAD
Busuu (lack of content,
personalization)
Security concerns
UGLY

4. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
“as challenging as this task may
seem, it potentially enables L2
speakers to free themselves
from the role of language
learner and assume another
role of language user,
projecting new selves through
their language and discourse in
virtual social spaces”
(Klimanova & Dembovskaya,
2013, p. 70).
“an interactive, authentic, and meaningful
language learning environment that many
traditional language instruction contexts cannot
provide” (Liaw 2011, p. 39).
CANVAS (video forums)
GOOGLE DRIVE
Communities of practice
Feedback
Personalization
Critical Languages
Autonomy
Facebook
Whatsapp

5. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
NOT

6. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
“Writing free verse is like playing
tennis with the net down” (Robert Frost)
We need the net
We need scaffolding

7. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
● Train students or train yourself
1. Pay attention: what they say,
how they say it.
2. Ask for clarification! Ask for corrections.
3. Correct if your partner is ok with it. . But
don’t overcorrect! Let the conversation flow.
4. Elicitation is better than explicit
correction. Let the other person self-correct…
5. Finish your sentences!
6. Ask questions in your target language!
7. Rephrase, if you are not understood or you
don’t find the right word.
8. Use comprehension checks.
9. Use examples…
10. Repeat what the other person says.
Repeat what you say.
http://www.gaguillen.com/2013/03/tandem-rules

8. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
● Create weekly tasks that are relevant
for your goals or the goals of your
language course. Also, create tasks or
projects that trigger collaboration and
intercultural understanding. Be specific!
Personalize your tasks. Get inspired here
(intercultural projects):
http://cultura.mit.edu
http://unicollaboration.eu

9. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
Ask your students to write weekly
reports or keep a journal. “You will write
a brief paragraph with your findings (no
more than 8 lines) for each conversation…”
What happens if they never meet up with their partners, if they don’t hand in
their dossiers, if they do not attend the final examination? Remember that after
the early meetings, there is no more face-to-face contact with tutors. We had
to learn to trust the students, to relinquish our control and to hand
over responsibility. And we have been rewarded in our trust. Out of the
several hundred students who have now participated in the scheme [tandem
project], only a handful have not met the challenge – and they would probably
have proved problematic in the more conservative class-based course unit as
well. (Truscott & Morley, 2004, p. 157).

10. WHO > WHAT > WHY > HOW > QUESTIONS
References, feedback, materials
gaguillen@miis.edu
This presentation
www.go.miis.edu/llsns
Next talk: April 20
Intercultural
Communication, Cultural
Relativism, and the
Language Classroom
(Professor Netta Avineri)
How to encourage reciprocity
Starting in the classroom as an model
exchange activity