MEGUMI YOSHIEDA (AICHI SHUKUTOKU UNIVERSITY)

INSTAGRAM FOR LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN NATIONS WITH LIMITED EXPOSURE: A PLURALISTIC APPROACH : PLURILINGUALISM AND TRANSLANGUAGING

In so-called 'monolingual' nations, students have limited opportunities to notice and compare languages (Oyama & Yamamoto, 2020). In Japan, exposure to multiple languages is undervalued (Morizumi et al., 2016). However, in this era, the role of language education is crucial in nurturing students' competence in managing linguistic and cultural communication among diverse peoples (Kramsch, 2014). To address this need, mobile-assisted language learning was combined with plurilingual education, i.e., Instagram was examined as a tool for a pluralistic approach for Japanese university students. Instagram, a popular social media platform with a global user base, serves as a language learning tool (Yoshieda, 2023). The pluralistic approach aims to provide learners with easier access to a specific language by developing knowledge, attitudes, and skills, as outlined in the descriptors called FREPA (Candelier et al., 2012). In this study, students from a private university in Japan (N=42) participated over a semester for 15 weeks. They were encouraged to find new languages on Instagram and exposed to diverse Instagram accounts. They used English to discuss the content in class. Qualitative analysis of student surveys, based on the FREPA descriptors, revealed development in attitudes such as attention and curiosity to persons as well as languages and cultures. The KH coder analysis indicated the co-occurrence between noticing new languages and metalinguistic skills development. Finally, this study implied Instagram to enable such pluralistic activities to supplement limited exposure to multiple languages and enhance students' competence in managing linguistic and cultural communication among diverse peoples.

Megumi Yoshieda teaches university students as a full-time English lecturer at Aichi Shukutoku University in Japan. She also teaches children with Filipino backgrounds. She finds Instagram and online news effective in developing students' language learning. Her research topics are associated with intercultural competencies, global competencies, and MALL: mobile-assisted language learning.