To Go Social or Not? Empirical Study on Social Language Learning

Web 2.0 has significantly increased the amount of information available to users not only about firms and their offerings, but also about the activities of other individuals in their networks and markets. It is widely acknowledged that this increased availability of information, particularly about other individuals, is likely to influence a user’s behavior and choices. However, there are very few systematic studies of how such increased information transparency on the behavior of other users in a focal users ’ network influences a focal users ’ behavior in the emerging marketplace of online language learning. This study seeks to examine the value and impact of “social activities ” – wherein, a user sees and interacts with the learning activities of her peers – on her language learning efficiency. I conduct an online experiment in a peer-to-peer language marketplace that will compare the learning efficiency of users with social information versus users with no social information. The results of this study will highlight the impact of IT and social information within the language learning context. I conclude by exploring how these insights may inspire new developments in online education