Exploring the Potential of In Real Life (IRL) Streaming for Language Learning: A Participant Observation Study of Japanese University Students

Ryan Barnes

Nagoya Gakuin University

ryan@ngu.ac.jp

Profile

  • EFL, Faculty of Economics, Nagoya Gakuin University, Japan
  • Doctorate: Literacy, Culture & Language Education at Indiana University, Bloomington (USA)
  • Interests: Linguistic Landscape, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Peer Evaluation

Agenda

  1. What is In-Real-Life Livestreaming?
  2. What Happens when Students Use IRL Streams for Language Learning?
  3. What Are the Pedagogical Implications and Challenges?

In-Real-Life Livestreaming

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Live-streaming

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  • Justin.tv “lifecasting” (Sirius, 2007)
  • interactive, participatory social media
  • broadcast in real-time
  • typically interacting with viewers thru synchronous, built-in chat
  • rapid growth since 2011
  • common genres: Let's Play, Just Chatting, Coding, Music, Makers

In-Real-Life Livestreaming

  • 2016: Twitch announced a new streaming category called “In Real Life” (IRL)
  • a genre of live streaming that allowed users to share, “their everyday lives, thoughts, and opinions with their communities”
  • authentic engagement with viewers

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IRL in Language/Culture Learning

Bhandari, A., & Humphreys, L. (2023). The best thing on Twitch today was a bike messenger: Experiencing metropolis, mobility and place through live-streaming.

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  • IRL streams reinforce the centrality of movement and mobility
  • mediated/“platformed” placemaking
  • digital wayfaring
  • emphasis on the social construction of space

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Literature Review

Hilvert-Bruce et al. (2018) motivations: social interaction, sense of community, meeting new people, entertainment, information seeking, lack of external support in real life Chen et al. (2019) instant feedback and increased engagement Samat et al. (2019) authentic learning experiences and opportunities for real-life communication/interactivity Magasic (2017) authentic language, verbal language features, paralinguistic features, motivational appeal

Methodology: Participant Observation

A qualitative method where the researcher observes and participates in a group/community to gain a deep understanding of their behaviors and practices (Jorgensen, 2020)

  • immerse in real-life language contexts
  • observe language learners in action
  • gain insights into the complexities of language acquisition in authentic settings

Participants

Participants

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  • Recruited through snowball sampling
  • Native Japanese speakers
  • 2nd year university students
  • Sports majors
  • Ages 19–20
  • CFER English level: A1
  • unfamiliar with IRL and livestreaming platforms in general

Process

  • Brief discussion on theme
  • Watch a stream together
  • Brief discussion on stream in relation to theme
  • Have participants choose stream
  • Participants share their findings

Data Collection

Five 90-minute sessions over a five-week period

Themes:

  1. Introduction to livestreaming and IRL
  2. Exploring IRL streams
  3. Use of IRL for learning authentic language, culture; gaining motivation
  4. Challenges of IRL for language learning
  5. Interaction with IRL streamers

Results

How Participants Found Their Streams

  • I look at number of followers.
  • A few viewers.
  • Read the comments.
  • Look at cute.
  • Looks easiest to understand.

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Solo Stream Busan

EXBC https://www.twitch.tv/exbc
  • Description: A Korean man is taking a walk in Busan. The girl looks cute.
  • I learned some things about Korea. Of course, it's cold!
  • It was interesting to watch them eat so much.
  • He was making noises while eating.
  • I was able to listen to a lot of English.

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Thailand Trip

Reydempto https://www.twitch.tv/exbc
  • I chose it because he response to comments quickly.
  • Walking around the port at night

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Tokaido Day 1

Sensei-Martian
  • Description: He is walking Tokaido. He walked along the Tama River
  • He seems to like Japan
  • He answer my questions
  • There are few viewers
  • "Nice stash"

Pedagogical Implications and Challenges

Authentic Language Exposure

  • (Chat) Internet acronyms (BRB, JK, OMW)
  • Slang: Nice stash, ingest offline, "no way," tipsy

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Interactive Learning Opportunities

  • Communicating with streamer
  • Communicating with chat

Language Proficiency Requirements

  • Can’t rewind stream.
  • Streamer is talking fast.
  • Not used to hearing new words.
  • When I was in high school, I had no desire to learn English, so don’t have the ability to listen.

Quality/Reliability

Quality/reliability of livestreamed content varies, and learners need to navigate through the vast array of available channels to find suitable and reliable sources of language input.

  • There was a streamer I wanted to watch, but I couldn't see it because of the time difference.
  • I'm looking for a streamer, but I can't find one in English.
  • I can't find the person I want to see.
  • I cannot find what I want because there are so many streamers.

Lack of Structure

  • "nontent"
  • No speaking streamer
  • Can't concentrate
  • I don't like the relaxed delivery

Inappropriate Content

  • Streamer says bad things
  • Bad manners
  • Adult content

Ethical Considerations

  • consent
  • privacy norms
  • local customs/regulations

Conclusion

Benefits

  • authentic language exposure
  • cultural immersion
  • interactive learning opportunities
  • vocabulary expansion

Challenges

  • language proficiency requirements
  • content quality
  • lack of structure
  • inappropriate content

Future Directions

  • Working with a dedicated streamer rather than through random streams, e.g., tour guide
  • Mediated discourse analysis/nexus analysis (chat, interaction with streamer, parasocial relationships)

References

Bhandari, A., & Humphreys, L. (2023). The best thing on Twitch today was a bike messenger: Experiencing metropolis, mobility and place through live-streaming. In A. Parini & F. Yus (Eds.), The discursive construction of place in the digital age (pp. 33–46). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003335535-4

Chen, D., Freeman, D., & Balakrishnan, R. (2019). Integrating multimedia tools to enrich interactions in live streaming for language learning. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300668

Hilvert-Bruce, Z., Neill, J. T., Sjöblom, M., & Hamari, J. (2018). Social motivations of live-streaming viewer engagement on Twitch. Computers in Human Behavior, 84 , 58–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.013

Jorgensen, D. L. (2020). Principles, approaches and issues in participant observation. Routledge.

Magasic, M. (2017). Learning through watching: Streaming video in L2 English. The JALT CALL Journal, 13 (3), 199–209. https://doi.org/10.29140/jaltcall.v13n3.219

Samat, N. A. A., Hashim, H., & Yunus, M. Md. (2019). Live streaming: A new platform for ESL learning. Creative Education, 10 (12), 2899–2906. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2019.1012215

Thank you!

Exploring the Potential of In Real Life (IRL) Streaming for Language Learning: A Participant Observation Study of Japanese University Students

Ryan Barnes

Nagoya Gakuin University

ryan@ngu.ac.jp

ryanbarnes.xyztalk/worldcall2023