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Learner Perspectives on the Use of Instagram and Memes for Promoting Language Learning and Sociocultural Competence

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Learner Perspectives on the Use of Instagram and Memes for Promoting Language Learning and Sociocultural Competence Learner Perspectives on the Use of Instagram and Memes for Promoting Language Learning and Sociocultural Competence Diplomarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Maddalena TREVISAN am Institut für Anglistik Begutachterin: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sarah Jane Mercer, B.A. M.A. i Eidesstattliche Erklärung Ich erkläre hiermit ehrenwörtlich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig und ohne fremde Hilfe verfasst, andere als die angegebenen Quellen nicht benutzt und die den Quellen wörtlich oder inhaltlich entnommenen Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht habe. Die Arbeit wurde bisher in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form keiner anderen inländischen oder ausländischen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt und auch noch nicht veröffentlicht. Die vorliegende Fassung entspricht der eingereichten elektronischen Version. Villach, 31.07.2021 ______________________________ _______________________________ (Ort, Datum) (Unterschrift der Studierenden) ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisor Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sarah Jane Mercer, who sparked my interest in research and who guided me throughout this process. I cannot thank you enough for your meaningful and quick feedback, which was very thought-provoking, your patience and your constant support. The positivity that you transmitted throughout this process encouraged me, made me believe in my work and helped me stay focused. I also want to thank all the students, who participated in my study, without whom this thesis could not have been possible. I am very grateful for everyone who took their time and who therefore rendered my investigations possible. Furthermore, I want to thank my family and friends, who always believed in me and who always motivated me to do better and keep going. A great thanks goes to my parents, without whom my whole studies would not have been possible. Thanks for supporting me financially, as well as mentally and for always being patient and understanding with me. A big thanks also goes to my sister, who keeps inspiring me and being a role model to me with her ambition and determination in everything she does and wants to achieve. I also want to thank all of my friends who always pushed me to keep going when I had a moment of despair. I want to thank my friend Cornelia in particular, who was my thesis-writing-buddy, as she was also working on her thesis in these past few months and with whom I went through all the ups and downs of this process together. iii Abstract The Internet is imbedded in modern society’s daily life. Be it at the working place, at school or privately at home, the internet has somehow become a faithful companion of everyone who lives in a (western) industrialized country. Amongst all tools that the World Wide Web offers, I’d claim that Social Media platforms are the most powerful and most commonly used ones. Social media platforms are particularly popular among adolescents and young adults. Generation Z, the first generation of kids who will never have experienced a life without the world being digitally connected on a global level because they are born in the golden age of digitalization, are the major target group of social media. Nevertheless, also older generations are increasingly starting to enjoy the benefits of social media. Therefore, these platforms are accessible and used by everyone, regardless of their age or race. A highly appreciated content on Social Media are memes. Memes on the Internet entertain, inform and connect people all over the world. Part of my thesis focuses on how memes have the ability of picking up on certain issues and how they can affect and influence society and social behavior. The aim of this thesis is to point out the general purposes and roles of memes and figure out/find out, whether memes, together with social media, can promote language learning or sociocultural competence. This is accomplished by carrying out a research with Austrian students from different schools that are all located in Carinthia. The research tool is an online questionnaire compiled on LimeSurvey. Comparing my personal research’s results with statistics and findings on memes in general from other scientists, sociologists etc., I concluded on what memes can be used for generally and if and how they could be implemented in the classroom. Results show, that the students that participated in the study do theoretically believe in a promotion of language learning and expansion of sociocultural knowledge through memes. They also already experienced language acquisition or the acquisition of knowledge about certain topics, such as culture or society through memes. However, findings show that not all memes are equally useful for learning and every memes may serve the same purpose. The findings and conclusions of my thesis should serve the purpose of aiding teachers in fining new teaching methods, linking their lessons to the digital world many students live in nowadays. Keywords: social media, memes, Instagram, digitalization, society, culture, language iv Zusammenfassung Das Internet ist mittlerweile in den Alltag der modernen Gesellschaft eingebettet. Sei es am Arbeitsplatz, in der Schule oder in den privaten vier Wänden, das Internet ist ein treuer Begleiter eines jeden von uns, der in einem Industriestaat lebt, geworden. Unter all den Programmen, die das World Wide Web bietet, stelle ich die Behauptung auf, dass sozialer Netzwerke die einflussreichsten und am häufigsten verwendeten sind. Social Media Plattformen sind besonders bekannt unter Jugendichen und jungen Erwachsenen. Generation Z, die erste Generation von Kindern, die niemals ein Leben ohne ein weltweit digitales Netzwerk gekannt haben werden, weil sie in der Blütezeit der Digitalisierung zur Welt gekommen sind und darin aufgewachsen sind, sind die größte Zielgruppe von sozialen Netzwerken. Nichtsdestotrotz, nutzen auch immer mehr ältere Generationen die Vorteile von diesen sozialen Medien. Man kann also sagen, dass diese Plattformen für jeden zugänglich sind und jedem genutzt werden, unabhängig von Alter oder Rasse. Ein sehr hoch geschätzter Inhalt auf sozialen Medien sind Memes. Memes im Internet unterhalten, informieren und verbinden Menschen auf der ganzen Welt. Ein Teil meiner Diplomarbeit fokussiert sich auf die Fähigkeit von Memes, gewisse Themen anzusprechen oder aufzuzeigen und wie dadurch unsere Gesellschaft und unser gesellschaftliches Verhalten beeinflusst werden kann. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die generelle Rolle von Memes zu schildern und herauszufinden, ob Memes gemeinsam mit sozialen Medien auch den Spracherwerb und die soziokulturelle Kompetenz fördern können. Dafür wird eineUmfrage mit österreichischen Schülern von verschiedenen Schulen in Kärnten durchgeführt. Das Umfragematerial ist ein online Fragebogen auf Lime Survey. Meine persönlichen Resultate mit jenen von anderen Wissenschaftlern und Sozilogen, die sich mit Memes generell befassen, vergleichend, habe ich festgestellt wofür Memes generell verwendet werden und ob und wie sie in den Unterricht eingebaut werden können. Die Resultate zeigen, dass die Schüler, die an der Studie teilgenommen haben, theoretisch an eine Förderung des Sprachenlernens bzw. Sprachenerwerbs und die Erweiterung des soziokulturellen Wissens durch Meme glauben. Sie haben laut persönlichen Angaben auch bereits ihre Sprachenkenntnisse durch Meme verbessert oder Wissen über bestimmte Themen wie Kultur oder Gesellschaft durch Meme erworben. Die Ergebnisse zeigen jedoch, dass nicht alle Meme gleichermaßen nützlich für den Erwerb von Wissen sind, und dass nicht jedes Mem dem gleichen Zweck dient. Die Konklusionen meiner Diplomarbeit sollen Lehrern dabei helfen, neue Lehrmethoden zu finden und ihre Schulstunden mit der digitalen Welt vieler Schüler zu verknüpfen. v Schlüsselwörter: soziale Medien, memes, Instagram, Digitalisierung, Gesellschaft, Kultur, Sprache vi Abbreviations AHS ................................................................... Allgemein Bildende Höhere Schule BHS ................................................................... Berufsbildende Höhere Schule IG ....................................................................... Instagram vii List of Figures Figure 2.1: The Internet is a magical place ........................................................................ 12 Figure 2.2: Bernie Sanders in Star Trek ............................................................................. 13 Figure 2.3: Bernie Sanders in Forest Gump ....................................................................... 13 Figure 2.4: Bernie Sanders and Jennifer Lopez.................................................................. 13 Figure 2.5: Advantages and Functions of memes ............................................................... 41 Figure 3.1: Participants’ Age ............................................................................................. 49 Figure 3.2: Class distribution ............................................................................................. 50 Figure 3.3: Likert scale “function of memes”, part 2, section 1 ........................................ 57 Figure 3.4: Likert scale of personal experiences, part 2, section 2 .................................... 57 Figure 3.5: Language improvement, part 2, section 3 ........................................................ 57 Figure 3.6: Likert scale of “understanding” ...................................................................... 58
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