Facebook: Semiotics and Identity among Generation 1.5 Chinese Immigrants

Yen-Lin Chou (PhD student, Department of Education)

The current study aims to better understand how the use of Facebook is interrelated with collegiate-level generation 1.5 Chinese immigrant students’ language development and identity formation. Recent years have seen increased attention given to the ways computer-mediated communication (CMC) affects language learners’ trajectories of language practices in social contexts and cultural identity developments (Black, 2008; Lam, 2004). However, few empirical studies have explored the relationship between Facebook and immigrant students’ online literacies, social interactions, and cultural identity representations. It is believed that the digital composition of Facebook allows users to generate not only linguistic forms but also visual images (e.g. photos and video and audio clips), which increase their meaningful transmissions in on-line communications, especially across potential language and ethnic barriers. In order to address this gap, this study will examine four, collegiate-level generation 1.5 Chinese immigrant students’ literacy and social practices on Facebook. Qualitative research methods, such as semi-structured interviews, direct/unstructured observations, and collection of physical artifacts (e.g. field notes, Internet data, and interview translations and transcriptions) will be used. The purpose of this research study is to better understand how college-age generation 1.5 Chinese immigrant students use the multimodal (image, text, sound, space, movement) functions of Facebook to communicate, express themselves, and represent their identities.