Asynchronous Online Written Communication Employing Social Networking Sites for EFL Learning: Achievements and Challenges

This practical report describes the design and implementation of an asynchronous online written communication activity connecting EFL students in Japan with JFL (Japanese as a Foreign Language) students in the UK through an educational social networking site. The achievements and issues of the activity are assessed based on the qualitative perceptions of the EFL students. It was found that this form of authentic communication with the JFL students contributed to the motivation of the EFL students to learn and that the online activity helped them understand the importance of the careful usage of grammar, vocabulary, and writing for successful interaction. On the other hand, the findings concerning student understanding of a different culture indicated that the EFL students tended to gain only a surface-level understanding of popular cultural events from their JFL counterparts, which might lead to the formation of cultural stereotypes. It is evident that advanced cultural information exchange that inspires critical awareness and avoids promoting stereotypes is challenging when the communicating with novice language learners.