Social Networking for Language Learning Participation in Relation to Task Value and L2 Writing Anxiety

Abstract

Differences in student characteristics such as motivation and ability create high variations in writing performance for activities like Social Networking for Language Learning (SNLL). In order to address the need to increase SNLL participation among low participating students, this study first identified the relationships among task value, second language (L2) proficiency, writing anxiety (i.e., cognitive and behavioral) and participation. Because L2 proficiency is a predictor of SNLL participation (Bailey, Park & Haji, 2017), this study also investigated the levels of task value and anxiety across high, medium and low SNLL participation groups when controlling for L2 proficiency. For a more holistic understanding, an adjective-description checklist compared positive and negative perceptions to SNLL held by high, medium and low participation groups. Seventy-eight South Korean university students were parsed into participation groups according to Facebook contributions over a six-week period. Findings revealed high participating students reported greater task value towards SNLL and less behavioral anxiety (i.e., avoidance to writing in English) than lower participating ones. Cognitive anxiety did not vary across participation groups when controlling for L2 proficiency while behavioral anxiety and task value did, indicating writing apprehension related to mental anguish did not influence SNLL participation.