Social networks and the international student experience: a community of practice?

This paper emphasises the significance of the social dimension in which learning occurs and focuses on the social environment beyond the classroom. Interest in researching the learning experience beyond the classroom has increased in recent years. Byram and Feng (2004) acknowledge that more research in the area of research ‘beyond the traditional classroom’ is needed. Researchers as early as Vygotsky (1978) and Bakhtin (Dentith:1996) have placed emphasis on the socio-cultural basis of learning. The premise that ‘learning and development occur as people participate in the socio-cultural activities of their community’ (Rogoff, 1994: 204) is central to a socio-cultural view of learning and experience. This paper suggests that the relationships and friendships that we have with others are significant in terms of our learning experience.