Social Media Vs Online Communication

In a study abroad context, a cellphone or a laptop could be both one of educational tools and an important way to have social connections, particularly outside the classroom. Indeed, Nozomi mentioned that she exchanged her Facebook account with her roommate in the host country before she moved to Canada. Her host university gave her information of her roommate on an email so that they were able to introduce each other before the first encounter. Furthermore, it was found that six out of seven interviewees realized that social media was effective for learning their L2/L3. By utilizing social media and social networking service (SNS) appropriately while studying abroad, student’s experience in a host country would be more meaningful since this

Meanwhile, Susan Pinker (2014) pointed out that face-to-face communication is more effective than online communication for both learning and happiness. The actions such as high-five and handshake allow us to release a certain hormone which can relieve stress and it allows us trust people easily Additionally, it was found that the correlation between screen time and negative outcomes for learning (Pinker, 2014). However, Nozomi sometimes preferred online communication since she was able to construct sentences carefully and it gave her plenty of time for expressing what she actually wanted to say. In fact, online communication provides language contact in terms of reading and writing

Blended learning is defined as an instruction method combined face-to-face learning and computer-mediated instruction as shown in Figure 7 (Graham, 2006 and Inoue, 2017). According to a study by Dermot (2017), most of the students had good impressions with blended learning, and they mentioned they were willing to use blended learning not only English class but other subjects. Furthermore, Inoue (2017) referred “blended learning…helps students enhance their motivation for autonomous learning in/out of class” (p.148). Because some studies confirmed the benefits of blended learning, this learning style might be effective in a study abroad context. Not only blended learning but “blended language contact” which combines face-to-face and online conversation might play an important role in points of ensuring maximum language contact during studying abroad and learning L2/L3 effectively and enthusiastically. Having online conversation allows students to expose their target language while reading and writing it, and building a close relationship by online communication leads to create social connection: someone with whom can talk in