COLLABORATIVE AND INFORMAL LEARNING OF SPANISH – FOREIGN LANGUAGE (SFL) IN SOCIAL NETWORKS: THE CASE OF THE FACEBOOK GROUP «ALUNOS DE ESPANHOL (RC)»

ABSTRACT

This practical project presents a study about the use of social networks as a mean to the collaborative and informal learning of Spanish - Foreign Language (SFL).

From the analysis of a private group on Facebook, named “Alunos de Espanhol (RC)”, we try to understand what are the advantages of informal and collaborative learning in social networks and to what extent these may benefit learners, serving as a complement, or even an alternative, to the formal learning of a foreign language. We try, in the same way, to obtain information that may help us understand the perception learners have about the role of the tutor/moderator in groups of informal and collaborative learning in social networks; what is the reality of this group in particular; and how to improve the learning of Spanish in its Facebook page.

This work follows the case study methodology and a mixed method approach of research design, in which the quantitative and, above all, qualitative approaches combine.

The analysis of the results show the reality of the studied group, inclusively in what concerns to the informal and collaborative learning in social networks, indicating means to solve some problems that can affect learning, in this group, in a negative manner, and clearly shows the need to conduct further studies, especially in what concerns to language learning and to the analysis of the tutor/moderator figure in similar groups.

KEYWORDS: Social Networks, FacebooK, Informal Learning, Collaborative Learning, Foreign Languages Learning.