The possibilities online have opened new tools for human interaction. Even though the methods of interaction have changed, learning has maintained its social nature. There is a need for more negotiation based learning
environments that have been the backbone of developing new knowledge since the first ancient philosophical schools of thought. This study presents a model of language learning that is based on negotiation of learning beliefs and methods in an autonomous online learning environment. The use of textual and visual metaphors can be seen as a specific characteristic of this particular online community. Further research is required in order to apply these methods of conveying beliefs for a wider target group. Before this study, online communities have not been under much examination as places of language learning. There is an increasing need for further research on the
possibilities of online learning as the popularity for online interaction increases and the technology develops.
As shared beliefs are used to encourage and engage learning in the case of a language learning website, it is not impossible to create a platform also for the uses of formal learning. It could be beneficial to offer our young learners possibilities for exchanging experiences with authentic engaging
conversations on a global level. This could be done also in the settings of formal English education. There are many possibilities of creating online learning environments where the learners could use different learning tools to form content and interact with each other.
It is advisable to engage authors, teachers and tutors to post relevant cultural material, ask questions and encourage the users on the site. In my opinion it is possible to develop this kind of platform for the use of national schools in Finland. A person or a team working on this website should be making contact with the learners on regular basis. It would also be wise to establish contact with other learners of English to create a multicultural platform where the language could be used as lingua franca to enhance authentic language use.
Considering the opportunities of online language learning on a global level the lack of resources and the inequality of people and finances between countries may cause online learning to be an exclusive privilege. Even though the westernized world is quite well connected in terms of the Internet, we have to consider that even in these modern times this type of learning environment may not be able to reach everyone. Although most commenters did not reveal their countries of origin the cultural references in the discussions and the texts are strongly western. This study only presented
a restricted group of learners whose takes on learning derive from the western cultural background.
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