ERIC Number: EJ1040188
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Nov
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-8756-3894
EISSN: N/A
Facebook-Induced Motivation Shifts in a French Online Course
Aubry, James
TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, v57 n6 p81-87 Nov 2013
This study explores the effects of instructor's self-disclosure using the Facebook social networking online platform on students' motivation types in an online language course. The participants were 104 beginning French students enrolled in an online French course at a major research university in the southeast U.S. The participants were divided into a Facebook group, where they could access the instructor's Facebook profile throughout the semester, and a control group. The Academic Motivation Scale (Noels, Pelletier, Clement, & Vallerand, 2003) was used for determining whether the participants were intrinsically or extrinsically motivated, anchoring this research within the Self-Determination Theory model (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Post-treatment results indicated that participants assigned to the Facebook group experienced a significant shift in motivation type that research has determined as being beneficial for language learning (Gardner, 1985). No such shift occurred in students assigned to the control group. This shift is of particular importance in an online course environment where the instructor's Facebook profile was the only means of teacher's self-disclosure unlike a face-to-face environment where teacher self-disclosure can occur spontaneously.
Descriptors: Online Courses, Motivation, Self Disclosure (Individuals), Social Networks, Web 2.0 Technologies, French, Second Language Learning, Second Language Programs, Profiles, Experimental Groups, Control Groups, Teacher Behavior, College Students, Intermode Differences, Computer Mediated Communication
Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A