| This study examined the interaction patterns of written communication that took place between two cohorts of Net Generation students: international students from Asian countries and native speakers of American English. The communication took place within the discussion area of a social networking site (Facebook). The study was designed using a quasi-experimental, multiple-case study approach, offers a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the communication using Loban's communication units within a social constructivist epistemology. The findings indicate that the students' membership in a Web 2.0 discourse community such as Facebook had a clear impact on the communication. Free of a traditional academic environment, international students were more open, aware of, and willing to discuss their language competencies with native speakers.;The findings also suggest that for both the international and native speakers, their schemas had an influence on their communication; however, membership in the Facebook discourse community helped bridge cultural and linguistic differences. Moreover, the desire to belong to a peer group within a discourse community to which the students already belonged contributed significantly to the amount of and type of communication between the two diverse cohorts. |
