Comparison of the uses of Social Media by International Students

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12893
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Japanese language education
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Harrison Richard 神戸大学, 国際教育総合センター, 教授 (70314052)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 教育工学 / 日本語教育 / 留学生 / Community of Inquiry / ソーシャル・メディア / アインフレンサー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

When overseas students think about studying in Japan, they look at the information on FORMAL websites operated by organizations such as MEXT, JASSO, Japan Foundation, universities in Japan etc. However, this research has shown that more importantly, they create INFORMAL personal networks using Social Media, to contact other students that they know or are introduced to by friends, to get specific information from trusted relationships, to make their final choices.
The major finding of this research, was the discovery of so-called ‘Social Media Influencers’ who are students of Japanese that have a large Social Presence on Social Media, and are a powerful source of information on study abroad and learning Japanese for other learners. I have also created a social media group for international students to find information about study abroad and to share their own information with other learners. (903 characters)

Free Research Field

教育工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本の大学における学生数減少という問題への対策である。国際化推進を通して海外の学生が日本に留学してくれるように、「ソフトパワー」としてこうした留学に決定的な影響を及ぼす人物（ソーシャルメディア上のインフルエンサー）の活用を明らかにした点である。