A Social Network Analysis on the Danmaku of English-Learning Programs

This study utilizes the danmaku on the Bilibili platform as the research subject to examine how their characteristics vary according to the nature or focus of English teaching videos. By employing social network analysis, the study reveals distinctive features in danmaku. For videos categorized under linguistic knowledge (phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar), the danmaku comments predominantly center around topics such as phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar. Conversely, in videos categorized under language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), the danmaku comments primarily reflect a vocabulary review for three of the four skills, with only the listening skill showing slight deviations. This underscores the centrality of vocabulary in skill-oriented videos. The findings highlight the unique role of danmaku in distinguishing between knowledge and skills within the context of English teaching videos.