New forms of communication on the Web: the cases of social networks and memes and their pedagogical implications

The aim of this paper is to study the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) on the internet and focus on the diffusion of memes as an example of the creative innovations introduced by the impact of social networks on informal discourse. Since the advent of Web 2.0, online interaction and intercultural communication via ELF has grown globally, leading to the creation of cyber communities, whose members are drawn together by shared interests and common goals. Following Lantolf and Thorne (2006, 67), it is claimed that the World Wide Web should be included in the list of settings where developmental processes take place, hence it may be advisable to approach ELF as a cultural artifact that allows "Internet-mediated communication". However, considering ELF speakers as members of a community is a highly controversial issue, especially if we take into consideration the double identity of most non-native speakers (NNSs) of English, who are both EFL learners (students attending institutional language courses), and ELF users (when they use English as a contact language within authentic communicative contexts, e.g. the Web). The conflicting ideas behind the academic debate on the nature of EFL, ELF and the NNS's identity seem to leave no space to compromise. Nonetheless, it is suggested that a Vygotskyan approach to language learning may reconcile these opposing views and provide the appropriate key to interpret complex sociolinguistic phenomena such as those referred to here.