E-LEARNING AND SOCIAL NETWORKING: FRIENDS OR FOES IN STUDYING ROMANIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE?
E-LEARNING AND SOCIAL NETWORKING: FRIENDS OR FOES IN STUDYING ROMANIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE?

Summary/Abstract: For Politehnica students, it is only natural to use e-learning tools in and out of the classroom; the rapid technological development has helped both students and teachers in more ways than one. Indeed, for digital natives – the majority of our students –, on-line learning, mobile learning, and social networking feel as natural as breathing. Since technology encourages on-line communication to the detriment of face-to-face interaction, teachers may have a hard time demonstrating the benefits of more traditional methods in studying a foreign language. In this paper, I will draw your attention to the special case of the students who come to the University “Politehnica” of Bucharest to study Romanian as a foreign language. These students, who come from various parts of the world, try their best to adapt to the new environment and overcome the many difficulties posed by the Romanian language at all levels (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary). Their future professional success is closely linked to their ability to master the Romanian language. Still, there is another aspect to consider here: nobody can learn a language only by studying theories and doing exercises; one also needs a lot of practice - with native speakers, ideally. Taking all that into account, my paper dares to raise the question, “are e-learning tools and social networks friends or foes to our foreign students in their attempt to learn Romanian?

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