Group Communication and Interaction in project-based Learning: The Use of Facebook in a Taiwanese EFL Context

Abstract. This study shows how Facebook and its interactive and collaborative features can help English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduates to process and reconstruct knowledge regarding project-based learning. The research questions included: What types of communication interaction behaviors do participants exhibit? How do participants behave at various stages? How do student collaborations on Facebook help them to process and reconstruct knowledge regarding the EFL project? Open-coding and content analysis were conducted to determine what learners discussed and their communication patterns. The results confirmed that collaborative interaction on Facebook facilitated EFL and project-based learning (PBL). Among the various topics that students discussed, shared, and explored on Facebook, they linked existing knowledge with new stimuli to gain a new understanding of their experience. They developed technology skills, shared problem-solving ideas, gained academic knowledge, and finally completed the project successfully. Contributions and limitations of this paper are discussed as well