Do Non-Native Speakers Have the Floor? - A Case Study of Cross-Cultural Communication via WeChat

Abstract

Smart phone applications (apps) are new tools for cross-cultural communication. WeChat as a popular app that is being used by more than 963 million people around the world, connecting English language learners in China and native speakers of English, who, otherwise, would not be able to speak directly. Language learners are unwilling to communicate orally with native speakers because of a lack of communication competence, introversion, self-esteem, and communication apprehension (Modirkhameneh & Firouzmand, 2014). In an attempt to understand whether language learners are willing to initiate and maintain conversations with native speakers via smart phone apps, this study investigated whether Chinese learners and native speakers have equal amount of conversational floors in WeChat communication; the characteristics of non-native speakers' floor management; and the effects of WeChat on foreign language learners' floor management. The study was conducted at a college in Beijing, China. A class of English language majors used WeChat to communicate with a class at a university in Australia to discuss culture-related topics. WeChat scripts were downloaded and analyzed. The results show that WeChat can create a comfortable environment and give non-native speakers equal floor time and inspire confident participation. Non-native speakers, though able to comply with social conventions, still possess unique characteristics when communicating with native speakers via WeChat. WeChat as a communication tool is able to promote active and conductive participation in conversations between non-native and native speakers.