(Dis)Engagement in internet linguistic practices among sojourners in China

This chapter reports on a longitudinal study that investigates two American students' engagement in a local Social-Networking Site (SNS), Weibo, at a study abroad program in China. SNSs are often thought to hold great potential for L2 teaching. However, engagement in SNS activities not only requires cultural orientation towards social media but also knowledge about how to communicate on SNSs. Drawing from language socialization and community of practice frameworks, this chapter examines how two American students participated in networking activities on Weibo and to what extent they engaged in the use of Chinese Internet Language (CIL). The findings show that the incorporation of the local SNS in instruction seemed to help the students become aware of CIL, but their participation in Weibo remained peripheral. In addition, compared to the student who did home stay, the student living in the dorm seemed to have more opportunities to be socialized into CIL.