Linguistic Identity Positioning in Facebook Posts During Second Language Study Abroad: One Teen's Language Use, Experience, and Awareness

Teens who post on the popular social networking site Facebook in their home environment often continue to do so on second language study abroad sojourns. These sojourners use Facebook to document and make sense of their experiences in the host culture and position themselves with respect to language(s) and culture(s). This study examined one teen's identity positioning through her Facebook posts from two separate study abroad experiences in Germany. Data sources included her Facebook posts from both sojourns and a written reflection completed upon return from the second sojourn. Findings revealed that this teen used Facebook posts to position herself as a German-English bilingual and a member of an imagined community of German-English bilinguals by making a choice on which language(s) to use, reporting her linguistic successes and challenges, and indicating growing language awareness. This study addresses the call by study abroad researchers (Coleman, 2013; Kinginger, 2009, 2013; Mitchell, Tracy-Ventura, & McManus, 2015) to investigate the effects of social media, such as Facebook, as part of the contemporary culture of study abroad, and sheds light on the role it plays, especially regarding second language identity positioning.