Title: Sense of community among mobile language learners: can blogs support this?

Authors: Sobah Abbas Petersen, Monica Divitini, George Chabert

Addresses: Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. ' Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. ' Department of Modern Foreign Languages, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

Abstract: Language learners have a need to complement their classroom learning activities with experiences outside the classroom and interact with other speakers and learners of the language to practice it. Communities play a major role in supporting language learners. A class of university students studying French is, as such, a community of language learners. A mobile community blog was used to establish and support a sense of community among the students in the classroom as well as outside, particularly when some of the students travel to France as part of their studies. The blog was intended to facilitate active participation, social interaction and collaboration among the members of the community. This paper evaluates the use of the blog and analyses the results to identify the issues that are important in supporting a community of mobile language learners.

Keywords: mobile communities; blogs; weblogs; mobile language learning; learning community; collaborative learning; social constructionism; m-learning; mobile learning; virtual communities; online communities; web based communities; French; e-learning; electronic learning; online learning; active participation; social interaction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2009.025217

International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2009 Vol.5 No.3, pp.428 - 445

Published online: 16 May 2009 *

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