Social Media: A Debilitative or Facilitative Factor in Learning English as a Foreign Language?

Year 2018, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, 46 - 55, 30.12.2018

Gökçe Dişlen Dağgöl , Duygu İşpınar Akçayoğlu

Abstract

The dominating effect of social media in our daily
lives has been subject to much concern in various fields of studies. Exposure
to media has never been this high in the history of humanity. Implicit and
explicit effects of social media have been mentioned in literature, but the
main concern of the present study is to find out how it is generally used for
educational purposes- learning English as a foreign language in this context.
Hence, the purpose of this study is to identify students’ views and perceptions
about the use of social media in order to enhance their foreign language
learning. The study utilized a mixed method approach. While the quantitative
data were collected through the Scale of Attitude of Social Media as a Learning
Environment developed by Dönel-Akgül, Geçikli and Sungur (2018), qualitative data
were collected through open-ended questions that aimed to elicit students’ use
of social media for foreign language learning purposes. The participants were
122 students who were enrolled in the prep year program in the School of
Foreign Languages at Adana Science and Technology University. Results are
believed to provide implications on the facilitative and debilitative aspects
of the social media in learning a foreign language.

Keywords

Social media, adult education, foreign language

Sosyal Medya: İngilizcenin Yabancı Dil Olarak Öğrenilmesinde Kolaylaştırıcı mı Yoksa Engelleyici Bir Faktör Mü?

Abstract

Sosyal medyanın günlük hayatımızdaki baskın etkisi birçok
çalışma alanında araştırma konusu olmuştur. İnsanlık, tarihin hiçbir döneminde
bu kadar fazla medyaya maruz kalmamıştır. Sosyal medyanın açık ve örtük
etkileri alan yazınında araştırılmıştır ancak bu çalışmanın asıl amacı sosyal
medyanın eğitim amaçlı, özellikle de İngilizcenin yabancı dil olarak
öğrenilmesinde, nasıl kullanıldığını ortaya
çıkarmaktır. Dolayısıyla bu çalışmanın amacı öğrencilerin yabancı dillerini
geliştirmek için sosyal medyanın kullanılması yönündeki görüş ve algılarının
belirlenmesidir. Çalışmada karma desenli araştırma yöntemi kullanılmış olup,
nicel veriler Dönel-Akgül, Geçikli ve Sungur (2018) tarafından geliştirilmiş
olan Öğrenme Ortamı Olarak Sosyal Medya Tutum Ölçeği ile toplanmıştır. Nitel
veriler ise öğrencilerin sosyal medyayı yabancı dil öğrenmede kullanma konusundaki
görüşlerini ortaya çıkarmayı amaçlayan açık uçlu sorularla toplanmıştır.
Katılımcılar, Yabancı Diller Yüksekokulu hazırlık sınıfına kayıtlı 122
öğrenciden oluşmuştur. Çalışmadan elde edilen sonuçların, sosyal medyanın
yabancı dil öğrenmedeki kolaylaştırıcı ve engelleyici yönleri konusunda
çıkarımlar sağladığı düşünülmektedir.

Keywords

sosyal medya, yabancı dil, yetişkin eğitimi

References

• Abdulahi, A., Samadi, B., & Gharleghi, B. (2014). A study on the negative effects of social networking sites such as facebook among asia pacific university scholars in Malaysia. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(10), 133-145.
• Achraf, N.K. (2016). Investigating the effects of social networks on EFL learners’ speaking skill: The case of first year students at the section of English in the University of Biskra. Master’s Thesis, University Of Mohamed Kheider Biskra, Algeria.
• Al Mubarak, A. A. (2016). Learning English as a Second Language through Social Media: Saudi Arabian Tertiary Context. International Journal of Linguistics, 8(6), 112-127.
• Alfaki, I. M., & Alharthy, K. (2014). Towards a digital world: using social networks to promote learner’s language. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 4(10), 105-114.
• Allam, M., & Elyas, T. (2016). Perceptions of using social media as an ELT tool among EFL teachers within the Saudi Context. English Language Teaching, 9(7), 1-9. doi: 10.5539/elt.v9n7p1
• Alnujaidi, S. (2017). Effects of social networking sites on EFL teachers and students. International Journal of English Language Teaching, 5(1), 1-14.
• Alnujaidi, S. (2017). Social network sites as ESL/EFL learning and teaching Tools: A critical review. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 6(3), 34-42. doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.3p.34
• Archambault, L., Wetzel, K., Foulger, T. S., & Kim Williams, M. (2010). Professional development 2.0: Transforming teacher education pedagogy with 21st century tools. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 27(1), 4-11.
• Babaei, M., Grabowicz, P., Valera, I., Gummadi, K. P., & Gomez-Rodriguez, M. (2016, February). On the efficiency of the information networks in social media. In Proceedings of the Ninth ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining (pp. 83-92). ACM.
• Bakar, N. A. (2009). E-learning environment: Blogging as a platform for language learning. European Journal of Social Sciences, 9(4), 594-604.
• Billett, S. (2002). Critiquing workplace learning discourses: Participation and continuity at work. Studies in the Education of Adults, 34(1), 56-67.
• Castells M. (2000). The rise of the network society. UK: Blackwell.
• Chartrand, R. (2012). Social networking for language learners: Creating meaningful output with Web 2.0 tools. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 4(1), 97-101
• Chotipaktanasook, N. (2016). Using social media in the EFL classroom for the enhancement of low affective filter and willingness to communicate. Learning in and beyond the Classroom: Ubiquity in Foreign Language Education. Proceedings of CLaSIC 2016
• Collin, P., Rahilly, K., Richardson, I. and Third, A. (2011) The benefits of social networking services: A literature review. Cooperative Research Centre for Young People, Technology and Wellbeing. Melbourne
• Dehghan, F., Rezvani, R., & Fazeli, S. (2017). Social networks and their effectiveness in learning foreign language vocabulary: A comparative study using WhatsApp. CALL-EJ, 18(2), 1-13.
• Gikas, J., & Grant, M. M. (2013). Mobile computing devices in higher education: Student perspectives on learning with cellphones, smartphones & social media. The Internet and Higher Education, 19, 18-26.
• Hatakka, M., & Lagsten, J. (2012). The capability approach as a tool for development evaluation–analyzing students’ use of internet resources. Information Technology for Development, 18(1), 23-41.
• Hundsberger, S. (2009). Foreign language learning in Second Life and the implications for resource provision in academic libraries.Inayati, N. (2015). English language teachers’ use of social media technology in Indonesian higher education context. Asian EFL Journal Research Articles, 17(4), 6-36.
• Junco, R. (2012). Too much face and not enough books: The relationship between multiple indices of Facebook use and academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 187-198.
• Laire, D., Casteleyn, J., & Mottart, A. (2012). Social media's learning outcomes within writing instruction in the EFL classroom: Exploring, implementing and analyzing storify. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 69, 442-448. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.432.
• Liu, Y., & Ying, X. (2010). A review of social network sites: definition, experience and applications. Scientific Research, 749-752
• Manning, J. (2014.) Social media, definition and classes of. In K. Harvey (Ed.), Encyclopedia of social media and politics (pp. 1158-1162). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mao, J. (2014). Social media for learning: A mixed methods study on high school students’ technology affordances and perspectives. Computers in Human Behavior, 33, 213-223.
• McFarland, L. A., & Ployhart, R. E. (2015). Social media: A contextual framework to guide research and practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(6), 1653-1677. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039244
• Mingle, J., Adams, M. (2015). "Social Media Network Participation and Academic Performance in Senior High Schools in Ghana" (2015). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 1286. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1286
• Monica-Ariana, S., & Anamaria-Mirabela, P. (2014). The impact of social media on vocabulary learning case study-Facebook. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 23(2), 120-130.
• Morse, J. M. (2003). Principles of mixed methods and multimethod research design. In Tashakkori, A. & Teddlie, C. (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 189–208). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
• Mushtaq, A. J. (2018). The Effects of Social Media on the Undergraduate Students’ Academic Performances. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 1779. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1779
• Nikbakht, E., & Boshrabadi, A. M. (2015). Analysing the potential of social networking sites on EFL learners’ vocabulary mastery: A situated-learning approach. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(8), 1635-1641. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0508.13
• Patton, M. Q. (1980). Qualitative evaluation methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). London: Sage.
• Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). London: Sage.
• Rouis, S., Limayem, M., & Salehi-Sangari, E. (2011). Impact of Facebook Usage on Students´ Academic Achievement: Role of self-regulation and trust. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 9(3), 961-994
• Roy Williams, D.R. (2008). The Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on e-Learning, Agia Napa, Cyprus, 6-7 November 2008. In D. R. Roy Williams, The Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on e-Learning (p. 533). Academic Conferences Limited, 2008.
• Siddiqui, S., & Singh, T. (2016). Social media its impact with positive and negative aspects. International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research, 5(2), 71-75.
• Sudha, S and Kavitha Es. (2016). "The Effect of Social networking on Students’ Academic Performance: the perspective of faculty members of Periyar University, Salem" library philosophy and practice (ejournal). 1455.
• Tantarangsee, C. (2016). The impact of socıal medıa on English major students’ engagements wıth English outsıde the classroom. Proceedings of Academics World International Conference, Prague, Czech Republic
• Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (1998). Mixed methodology: Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications
• Taskiran, A., Gumusoglu, E. K., & Aydin, B. (2018). Fostering foreign language learning with Twitter: Reflections from English learners. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 19(1), 100-116.
• Traxler, J. (2007). Defining, Discussing and Evaluating Mobile Learning: The moving finger writes and having writ.... The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 8(2), 1-12.
• Treem, J. W., Dailey, S. L., Pierce, C. S., & Biffl, D. (2016). What we are talking about when we talk about social media: A framework for study. Sociology Compass, 10(9), 768-784.
• Tunde-Awe, B. (2015). Relevance of online social networking in the teaching of English as a second language in Nigeria universities. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 11(4), 252-262.
• Walsh, J. L., Fielder, R. L., Carey, K. B., & Carey, M. P. (2013). Female college students’ media use and academic outcomes: Results from a longitudinal cohort study. Emerging Adulthood, 1(3), 219-232.
• Yagci, T. (2014). Mobile social media challenges digital natives in EFL learning. Journal of Educational & Instructional Studies in the World, 4(4), 49-53.
• Yunus, M., Salehi, H., & Chenzi, C. (2012). Integrating social networking tools into ESL writing classroom: Strengths and weaknesses. English Language Teaching 5(8), 42– 48. doi:10.5539/elt.v5n8p42.