The dialogical conception of beginning L2 writing via social networking and telecollaboration

Recent research has shown that using social networking sites (SNSs) in second language (L2) teaching and learning enhances digital and writing skills and develops communication skills. However, there have been few studies on using SNSs at the low-beginner level. Drawing on a conversational analysis of students’ writing from a telecollaboration project conducted in elementary Russian language classes, we show that low-level learners can demonstrate syntactic and communicative complexity in writing significantly above the beginner level when they are using an SNS. To explain the results of the study, we draw on the dialogical process-based conception of L1 and L2 writing, Cultural-Historical Action Theory, and the holistic model of the digital environment for L2 learning. The structural and semiotic characteristics of SNSs and their dialogical semantic architecture support the teaching of L2 writing through other-directed languaging and provide the potential for developing writing skills as they can be perceived by learners as a natural scaffolding mechanism for writing in non-institutional digital settings.