Creating collaborative working and learning experiences has long been at the forefront of computer-assisted language learning research. It is in this context that, in recent years, the integration of social networking sites and Web 2.0 in learning settings has surged, generating new opportunities to establish and explore virtual communities of practice (VCoPs). However, despite the number of studies on the concept, research remains inconclusive on how learners develop a sense of community in a VCoP, and what effect this may have on interaction and learning. This research project proposes to use social network analysis, part of graph theory, to explore the configuration of a set of VCoPs, and presents an empirical approach to determine how interaction in such communities takes shape. The present paper studies the concept of “community” in two VCoPs on Facebook. Participants (Group 1: N = 123, Group 2: N = 34) in both VCoPs are enrolled in English as a foreign language courses at two Belgian institutions of higher education. Social network analysis is used to show how both learner groups establish and develop a network of peers, and how different participants in those groups adopt different roles. Participation matrices reveal that interaction mainly revolves around a number of active key figures and that certain factors such as the incorporation of online and offline assignments and the inclusion of a teacher online result in varying levels of success when establishing collaborative dialogue within the VCoPs. Recommendations are formulated to inform and improve future practice.

中文翻译：

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Facebook 或失败手册：在虚拟实践社区中探索“社区”

长期以来，创造协作工作和学习体验一直处于计算机辅助语言学习研究的前沿。正是在这种背景下，近年来，社交网站和 Web 2.0 在学习环境中的整合激增，为建立和探索虚拟实践社区 (VCoP) 创造了新的机会。然而，尽管对这一概念进行了大量研究，但关于学习者如何在 VCoP 中培养社区意识以及这可能对互动和学习产生什么影响的研究仍然没有定论。该研究项目建议使用社交网络分析（图论的一部分）来探索一组 VCoP 的配置，并提出一种经验方法来确定此类社区中的交互如何形成。本论文研究了 Facebook 上两个 VCoP 中的“社区”概念。参与者（第 1 组：ñ= 123，第 2 组：ñ= 34) 在两个 VCoP 中，都在两所比利时高等教育机构注册了英语作为外语课程。社交网络分析用于展示两个学习者群体如何建立和发展同伴网络，以及这些群体中的不同参与者如何扮演不同的角色。参与矩阵显示，互动主要围绕一些活跃的关键人物展开，在 VCoP 内建立协作对话时，某些因素（例如在线和离线作业的结合以及在线教师的加入）会导致不同程度的成功。制定建议以告知和改进未来的实践。