Name: CHRISTILLE VEA L.

DE MESA
Assignment: Current Trends and Issues in English Language

The Impact of Social Media on English Language Learning and Proficiency of the 21st
Century Learners

As cited in the study of Bulnes (2022), social media use is prevalent in the entire world

today. It has influenced the lives of millions in terms of socioeconomic, political, educational,

and personal aspects of life (Jahromi, 2020). According to Iwamoto and Chun (2020), about 3

billion people are currently using social media. The group with the highest social media use is

the young adults’ ages 18-29; 90% are reported to have used social media regularly (Bennett et

al., 2019). As discussed in the study of Mirza, et al (2022), students of the youth are at a more

advantageous position in reaping the benefits of technology as compared to the older

generations. The networking apps/sites such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are

mostly used by younger populations like students. They are more exposed to and influenced by

social media networks.

One of the influences of social media is the language proficiency and learning,

specifically English. It was observed that the more they use social media, the language

proficiency and learning of today’s generation is affected – positively and negatively. A study

conducted by Bicen, Sadikoglu and Sadikoglu (2015) revealed that the utilization of social media

has positive impacts on learning foreign language. The impacts of social media on second and

foreign language acquisition found in a study conducted by Alharthy and Alfaki in 2014. It was

emphasized that it is more effective to learn via social media compared to traditional learning.

Social media expose learners to the most recent style of words use. In addition, social media
provides students on the usage of words in an authentic real-life situation. The use of social

media also provides positive effects such as pronunciation improvement and vocabulary

enlargement resulted from the use of social media (Abbasova, 2016).

Furthermore, one significant finding of the positive impact of social media on language

learners is learners’ confidence, attitude, and motivation improved outstandingly. Learners stated

that participation on social media platforms has implanted a more positive attitude in learning

English as these mediums have the features that offer them language improvement opportunities

(Kabilan et al., 2010). With social media especially Facebook and Twitter, learners are exposed

to a wide range of texts. Not only they can have access to review and read different written texts

shared by other users, learners also will keep updated of global current issues on Twitter.

According to Khan, Ayaz Khan & Khan (2016) learners will gain an immense quantity of new

phrases and words without having to read many books or going to library and learners’ overall

language skill will be enhanced by the improvement in vocabulary.

Numerous studies have demonstrated how social media may improve students' language

skills. One such research was conducted in 2016 by Khan, Ayaz, Khan, and Khan with the

purpose of examining the influence of social media on the development of English language

vocabulary at the university level. The findings revealed that social media significantly

influences expanding one's English vocabulary at the college level. 2291 of 3650 male students,

or a majority, believed that social media improves EFL learners' ability to study English at the

university level. In contrast, 2220 out of 3650 respondents who were female students believed

that social media sources were helpful for learning the English language. One of the study's
major findings is that students' comprehension of English language learning is improved when

they understand how to use social media resources appropriately. Additionally, the study's

findings indicated that social media improves the four fundamental English language abilities,

i.e. EFL students' abilities in speaking, writing, reading, and listening as well as in developing

their vocabulary and using grammar.

However, there are risks to using social media to help students expand their vocabulary,

such as the possibility of offending other social media users if improper language is used. The

conventional or official English vocabulary will also suffer from the overuse of online slang

terms like ROFL (roll on the floor laugh) and LOL (laugh out loud). Additionally, it's typical to

see social media users utilize informal contractions, which are abbreviated variants of words that

people use in casual speech. Examples include "gonna," "whatcha," "ain't," "gimme," and others.

Writing and "correct speech" do not utilize informal contractions. The use of informal

contractions may inspire learners to use them in their writing.

In addition, according to Swan (2017) users of social media have reported the negative

impact on students’ grammar use and spelling. As theorized in the study of Aydin (2012),

abbreviated language developed on social technological platforms is severely interfering with the

vocabulary of students negatively. He concluded that lot students learn and practice the online

language by counter parting and observation in both speech and lettering. For example addicted

handlers use “leet” instead of “elite” which is a total deviance from the conventional. Lastly,

Kathleen & Anuhea (2010) see social media as a liability base on freedom of speech and

poor regulation that came with the platforms, according to them the lack of censorship have

posed serious challenges to people’s privacy and vocabulary more especially celebrities,

that post items with clear linguistic challenges. Toutanova (2003). Revealed series of studies
that detailed how writing accuracy on social media considerably dropped from 97% to 85%

hence the magnitudes of language technology are dismal.

As a whole, it was vividly seen that the usage of social media has been found to have

positive as well as negative impacts on the generation's ability to acquire languages.

Mirza, E., Nasir, M. H., & Abdullah, M. (2022, March 30). Influence of Social Media Chat on
English Writing Skills of the Students. Global Regional Review, VII(I), 1–8.
https://doi.org/10.31703/grr.2022(vii-i).01

Wilson, Fredrick. (2018). The Effect of Social Media on the Spelling Ability of Students: A Case
Study of Federal College of Education (FCE) Yola. Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology.
262-274. 10.33805/2576-8484.153.

Zainal, Z., & Rahmat, N. H. (2020, September 21). SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS INFLUENCE
ON VOCABULARY AND LANGUAGE LEARNING: A CASE STUDY. European Journal of
Education Studies, 7(11). https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v7i11.3331