This document discusses a study on using Twitter to help Chinese students learn English. Over 100 students in an English class were required to post at least 7 messages per week on Twitter. Analysis of the 5574 tweets over 7 weeks found that Twitter helped improve students' communicative competence by providing opportunities to practice language in different styles. However, many students struggled with sociolinguistic competence, using inappropriate styles. Twitter also increased cultural competence by exposing students to other cultures, but could not fully develop it. Students reported that Twitter enhanced their sense of community in the class.

1. Microblogging for Language Learning: Using Twitter to Train Communicative and Cultural Competence Kerstin Borau, Carsten Ullrich , Jinjin Feng, Ruimin Shen Shanghai Jiao Tong University

4. Ganghui E-Learning Center