Ivan Banov Dongping Zheng University of Hawai'i at Mānoa - nflrc
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Ivan Banov
Dongping Zheng
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
How do educational enskillment, event, and ecology converge to sustain human and community becoming?
What is Reddit?
What is Reddit?
Reddit is a “social bookmarking website”
1. Find content on the internet
2. Post and share it on reddit
3. Others can see it
• Upvote
• Downvote
• Comment
What is Reddit?
Reddit is a “social bookmarking website”
1. Find content on the internet
2. Post and share it on reddit
3. Others can see it
• Upvote
• Downvote
• Comment
Is currently the 5th most visited website in the US and the 8th most visited
website in the world (Alexa, 2018)
Over 330 M registered users from 217 countries
14 B page views per month
What is Reddit?
Reddit is composed of many different topics
Subreddits
853,824 alive subreddits as of this morning
≈138,000 active subreddits
News, Funny, Videos, Aww, TIL, WritingPrompt
Invisible Bicycles, Jellybean Toes, Children’s Pictures of Dinosaurs, Home Servers,
Crocheting, TOEFL, ESL, GetStudying, ChineseLanguage
Examples of Reddit
Examples of Reddit
Examples of Reddit
Examples of Reddit
Examples of Reddit
Examples of Reddit
Background
As I used Reddit, my attitudes and language began to change.
What influences the way we write in online settings?
Does this influence work the same in language learners?
Can social media have a positive impact on language learning? If so, how?Theoretical Background
Distributed Language Theory
Language goes beyond individual brains to co-construction via dialogue,
manipulating objects, gesture, body movement (Järvilehto, 2009).
Language is a heterogeneous phenomenon, spread across diverse spatiotemporal
and sociocultural scales, and requires complex interactions between phenomena in
these scales (Thibault, 2011).Theoretical Background
Ecological Linguistics
Language is a meaning-making activity that takes place in a complex network of
complex systems that are interwoven amongst themselves as well as with all
aspects of physical, social, and symbolic worlds (van Lier, 2004, p. 60, italics added).
Language is constrained by ecosystemic values (Hodges, 2007, 2009) and both
virtual and historical structures (Steffensen, 2011).
It is co-authored through dialogue with others—animate agents, inanimate objects,
and abstract concepts (Linell, 2009).Theoretical Background
Affinity Spaces (Gee, 2005)
Communities built around content or common interest
Emergent external grammar
Emergent internal grammar
PortalsTheoretical Background
Affinity Spaces (Gee, 2005)
Communities built around content or common interest
Emergent external grammar
Emergent internal grammar
PortalsTheoretical Background
Affinity Spaces (Gee, 2005)
Communities built around content or common interest
Emergent external grammar
Emergent internal grammar
Portals
External grammar impacts internal grammar and vice versa. Neither one of the
two systems is independent of the other.Research Questions
1. What changes in internal grammar do language learners show after
participating on Reddit for an extended period of time?
2. What changes in external grammar do language learners show after
participating on Reddit for an extended period of time?
3. How does the interplay between Reddit’s internal and external grammars
connect to human and community becoming?Study Design
Participants
Eight English Language Learners
Learners of English
Lived abroad
Actively posted on Reddit for at least six monthsParticipants
Country of Age Months as Registered
Participant Gender L1 Residence Range Reddit User
AwesomeFly Female German Germany 35–40 57
JimZoo Male Arabic Egypt 18–25 41
LeopardMan Male Polish Germany 20–25 9
RealAero N/A Spanish Spain 25–30 10
Southern Male Georgian Georgia 20–25 13
SwissKicks Male Mandarin China 20–25 22
TibrinCarlac Male Russian Russia N/A 32
ZhiWeiGao N/A Mandarin China N/A 14Data
External Grammar
Semi-structured interviews conducted through the Reddit interface
Public data on each profile gathered from the Reddit APIData
External Grammar
Semi-structured interviews conducted through the Reddit interface
Public data on each profile gathered from the Reddit API
Internal Grammar
All comments and posts made on Reddit (N = 3,197)
Public data on each profile gathered from the Reddit APIResults
Posting Behavior
(Previous Study)
Coordinating External Grammar
SwissKicks Interview:
If I learned anything, I'd say it's more of a western cultural thing I grew more
familiar with through [being an active member on Reddit].
However it's still undeniable that my English is far from perfect and I have
learned something from this habit, and that is the way native English speakers
comment on different things such as comedy posts and general suggestions or
complaints. I have studied the word choices native speakers would use when
making comments or composing threads to improve my ability to speak
English the way a native speaker would rather than as a non-native learner.Coordinating External Grammar
SwissKicks Interview:
With the number of [upvotes and downvotes] visually displayed it was hard
for me to not want to choose my words carefully in order to not make an
unimpressive or even embarrassing comment. This led me to refrain from
posting very often at the beginning due to how unfamiliar I was with western
online communities, and I tried to study what kind of content is most welcome
by reading a lot of reddit. So… I had been reading posts made by others for
quite some time before feeling comfortable enough to make my own.Coordinating External Grammar
TibrinCarlac, February 12, 2017:
Maybe we can help.
[link to a person’s GoFundMe website]
Sorry if I broke the rules of the sub. I don't even know her but I feel bad for her.
I saw this request for help in the Stephen C. Smith's twitter. I'm also not so
good with English and worried a little now, so please don't judge hard.Coordinating External Grammar
JimZoo, May 11, 2017:
Start small maybe? Don't ask yourself for too much cause you'll eventually get
disappointed, for example do 4 pomos reward yourself with a movie or
something and after a week or so you'll develop the discipline , maybe study
with a friend or join the study hall so that you waste less time on the Internet
too..sorry if this is too generic :DExternal Grammar Influence
RealAero, March 27, 2017:
Im a bit disappointed with monero. First I was like, wow, its the definitive
cryptocoin, etc... However after some day of thinking, I think i was wrong
investing 1000USD.
We are in an altocin bubble (including monero), relative to that bitcoin "fork",
i think nothing strange will happen with bitcoin, and after all the panic,
everybody will return to bitcoin, leaving monero and all the other altcoins
totally unworthy.External Grammar Influence
RealAero, April 28, 2017:
So any idea of the motives behind yesterdays pump? Be aware that we havent
even reached our max price yet. I think we still have good place to grow. In my
opinion yesterday a whale with inside information bought to be prepared for
the future that is coming. My guess? 30USD 20-30 MayExternal Grammar Influence
RealAero, June 26, 2017:
Mcap falling to 60-80B levels IMO.
That means 50% drops ore more.
After that a huge bull will come, 10 times bigger than the last one.
XMR will pump a lot, it has a lot of whales behind, the price is being
manipulated (botnets) and doesnt let it pump properly.
Just look longterm.... dont worry guysExternal Grammar Influence
SwissKicks, June 26, 2017:
A more specific example (maybe) would be the thread I started 3 months ago
in which I analyzed a glaring issue with the game design in an online game I
play, and received lots of praises from the community. Though not the first
time I've created something that went viral in online communities, it was the
first time I did so fully in English, and I think that's all thanks to the time I
spent on Reddit which has improved my writing skills in terms of the ability to
make analysis and summaries, as well as the ability to utilize the western style
of humor to blend in with western communities better, in real life even.Internal Grammar
AwesomeFly Interview:
Mostly I learnt very informal English, i. e. slang and swearwords, and "meme-
English" (Ermagerd, Doge-speak, silly puns etc.) My favourite is most likely
"cropdusting". …
Funny enough, some of my "higher register" DID come from Reddit. I learnt
that one "keeps their composure", not "contenance". I also learnt a few
technical terms on DIY and Artisanvideos: Caulking. Deburr. Chuck and lathe.
Also many "SJW" terms: Mansplaining, ableism etc.Internal Grammar
AwesomeFly Interview:
It's quite unusual to learn "good" English in online communities, but the
exception are many of the more specialized subreddits about art(isan) and
scientific subjects, such as DIY, artisanvideos, science, and subreddits where
people don't just comment for ze lulz, but explain more or less complex things
to their fellow redditors or have discussions with a spoonful of depth. The odd
askreddit post with a SERIOUS tag can be quite fruitful, too.Internal Grammar
Leonard Interview:
I learned many vocabularies, watched videos posted here and my listening
comprehension improved a lot. I feel more confident it talking in English.Internal Grammar
Southern Interview:
I sometimes mess phrases and idioms up, such as "killing two rabbits with one
stone" instead of "killing two birds with one stone" (the first thing I got off the
top of my head, and another example would be the correct usage of "off the
top of my head" itself, which I had to Google. At first, I wrote it as "on top of
my head"), and, if I can't find anything on this on the web, I ask on Reddit.
There are other questions that are too specific to find on Google (at least, for
me), such as usage of commas and/or "had" in certain sentences (or the
"a"/"the" articles, for instance, and so on), and that, too, I like to ask on
Reddit.Conclusions
Internal Grammar
The internal grammar of social media users changes over time to approximate
or imitate the internal grammar found within the affinity space.
In the case of language learners, gains can be seen in the word, phrase, and
discourse levels of the L2.External Grammar
One key part of lurking, or legitimate peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger,
1999), is to align or coordinate external grammars.
The external grammar guiding any subreddit is shaped by previously
encountered user posts, upvotes and downvotes, and community reactions
(Linell, 2009).
This emergent external grammar then guides and constrains future action (i.e.,
composing future posts).
Organisms, societies, and ecosystems limit activities to uphold a sound and
healthy existence for both human and non-human life on species, group, and
population levels (Steffensen & Fill, 2014).Therefore…
Language form (e.g., grammar, vocab, etc.) is inseparable from the external
grammar that constrains it.
Cultural norms
Situational constraints
Previously established practices
Ways of perceiving and understanding the worldTherefore…
Given that external grammar influences internal grammar (and vice versa), it is
important for teachers to provide students both the opportunity and the
freedom to experiment with the language.
Personal experience has a strong influence on external grammar, so encourage
your students to try, possibly fail, and then try again (Zheng, Bischoff, &
Gilliland, 2015).Questions?
References
Alexa Information. (2018). Reddit.com site overview. Retrieved July 26, 2018 from
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/reddit.com
Järvilehto, T. (2009). The theory of the organism-environment system as a basis of experimental work in
psychology. Ecological Psychology, 21(2), 112–120.
Hodges, B. H. (2007). Values define fields: The intentional dynamics of driving, carrying, leading,
negotiating, and conversing. Ecological Psychology, 19, 153–178.
Hodges, B. H. (2009). Ecological pragmatics: Values, dialogical arrays, complexity, and caring.
Pragmatics & Cognition, 17, 628–652.
Linell, P. (2009). Rethinking language, mind, and world dialogically. Charlotte, NC: Information Age
Publishing.
Smith, C. (2018). By the numbers: 50+ amazing Reddit statistics. Retrieved from
http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/reddit-stats/References
Steffensen, S. V. (2011). Beyond mind: An extended ecology of languaging. In S. J. Cowley (Ed.),
Distributed language (pp. 185–210). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Steffensen, S. V., & Fill, A. (2014). Ecolinguistics: The state of the art and future horizons. Language
Sciences, 41, 6–25.
Thibault, P. J. (2011). First-order languaging dynamics and second-order language: the distributed
language view. Ecological Psychology, 23(3), 210–245.
van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective. Boston,
MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Zheng, D., Bischoff, M., & Gilliland, B. (2015). Vocabulary learning in massively multiplayer online
games: Context and action before words. Educational Technology Research and
Development, 63(5), 771–790.Questions?
Examples of First Posts
Examples of First Posts
Examples of Later Posts
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