The peer interaction process on Facebook: a social network analysis of learners' online conversations

With the increasing prominence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education, the number of programmes and studies integrating online peer interaction opportunities on social media, likewise, has surged. Nevertheless, little quantitative research has been performed on the ways in which learners interact with one another via these platforms for academic purposes. As a result, little is known about how learners develop a network of peers and how they interact with this peer group through social media tools. This paper analyses the peer interaction process in a Facebook environment, integrated into the foreign language curriculum at university level. In two consecutive years, two groups of Belgian first-year foreign language learners of English (N = 119, N = 112) were invited to consult with a community of learners about their learning trajectory via the platform. Through social network analysis, it is determined which topics, challenges and personal experiences students discuss on Facebook and how these are embedded in the peer interaction process overall. While the two learner groups have different approaches to addressing learning challenges and needs, certain topics and activities consistently co-occur in interaction sequences, exemplifying how learners tend to provide scaffolded support and co-construct knowledge online. This study shows how learners can develop both their learning and language ability as a scaffolded, dialogic process within an online social networking environment when having access to a combination of information and learning resources.