Social media in ESL classroom: exploring the impact on language learning
List of Authors
  • Noraien Mansor , Suria Hani Ibrahim

Keyword
  • Facebook, interactions, social media, language learning

Abstract
  • The Malaysian government’s aspiration is to increase the use of information communication and technology (ICT) in the educational system. Therefore, Malaysia focuses on this for the future with careful and strategic planning for the educational system in order to enable students to face global challenges. Dudeney (2000) states that more and more teachers have acknowledged that the Internet is an infinite source of authentic materials, and supplies a vast encyclopedia of information on a variety of topics which are able to engage students. Apparently, the use of social media in the field of language teaching and learning is gaining tremendous favour with the government of Malaysia. Despite the benefits of implementing social media in ESL classroom, critics argue that “there are serious risks to using social media in the classroom” (Lederer, 2012). In fact, there are critics which call for regulation and for removing social media from classrooms. Nevertheless, this study intends to explore the usage of Facebook in ESL classroom and the impact in language learning, specifically in secondary schools. Further, it also attempts to elicit students’ perceptions on the implementation of the social media in language learning. This study involved 13 secondary schools in Terengganu, in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. This study features 260 participants from the ESL classroom. The data for this study consists of students’ transcripts from the Facebook interactions as well as interviews. The findings revealed that Facebook is an effective tool for students’ interactions especially in the discussion of their task-related activity as well as non-task-related activity. To conclude, this study is desired to provide valuable insights for the future research in computer-mediated communication, predominantly focusing on the use of new media which is crucial in the age of information and communication technology.

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