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Perceived Impact of Social Media on Filipino Undergraduates’ English

Language Learning

Jensine Kay M. Bulnes

Western Mindanao State University
[email protected]

Abstract: The overwhelming dominance of social media has led many researchers to study its
impacts on various aspects of life. Aware of this, the researcher specifically investigated the
impact of social media on Filipino undergraduates’ English language learning. To do this, the
researcher utilized a quantitative approach to analyze the data from 114 undergraduates of
Western Mindanao State University. Findings revealed that the most frequently used social
media platform is Facebook. Students reported to have used social media more than an hour
daily, primarily to communicate with friends. There were both positive and negative impacts of
social media on undergraduates’ English language learning which calls for careful utilization in
the part of social media users.
Keywords: social media, undergraduates, English language learning
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
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).
College students deem social media as an integral part of life for it allows them to create social
relationships (Junco et al., 2010; Jwain 2020). More importantly social media has changed
teaching and learning in higher education by providing different ways of learning (Ngamassi,
2020). Due to this impact, an increase of literature which explores various aspects of social
media in regard to undergraduates had been done (Feldman, 2015). However, most of them are
centered on the influence of social media on students’ academic performance (Jang, 2015;
Kulidtod&Pasagui, 2017; Santovena-Casal, 2019; Talaue et al., 2018).
Several international studies took a closer look on the impact of social media, and they
investigated its effects on undergraduates’ English language learning. Positive impacts in terms
of vocabulary learning, reading, writing and enhancement of communication skills were found
(AlSaleem, 2018; Baytekin&Su-bergil, 2021; Elttayef&Hussein, 2016; Hafedh& Slim, 2019;
Xodabande, 2017). On the other side of the coin, negative impacts and such as faulty grammar,
incorrect spelling and increase in senseless information were reported to be present (BaniAbdel-
Rahman et al., 2020; Kitano et al., 2019; Sincuba&Songxaba, 2017). Few local studies also
found the same benefits and risks (Domingo & Aguillon, 2021; Magmanlac et al., 2018; Nanquil
2021).
Studies on social media and English language learning is still flourishing. Literature is limited
internationally even more so locally (in the Filipino context). For this reason, the researcher
found the need to conduct this research which will investigate the impacts of social media on
Filipino undergraduate’s’ English language learning. Specifically, this study will delve into the
positive and negative effects of social media on specific language skills (writing, vocabulary, and
communication skills).
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Review of Related Literature

Social Media Networks
The term "social media" was used to characterize a variety of technical systems that are linked to
collaboration and community (Joosten, 2012 as cited in Rahman et al., 2020).Kaplan (2018, p.1)
definedSocial Media as,“A collection of web-based applications that build on web 2.0's
conceptual and technological basis and allow the creation and exchange of user-generated
content.” Social media was also called social networking sites (SNS), social media platforms
(SMP), virtual social worlds, and multimedia platforms (Aiwuyo et al., 2018;Ngamassi et al.,
2020). These platforms were characterized to have anonymity, free entry, fast updates, a big
number of friends, instant gratification, and low entry barriers as features (Omoera, et al., 2018).
Social media can be used for a variety of purposes. It is used for interaction, spreading
information, aiding education, and promotion (Karajeh et al., 2018; Santoveña-Casal, 2019).
SMP’s are also great sources of entertainment. Through it, people can play games, send
messages, and access various audio and video content (Giannikas, 2020). However, social media
can also be used for bad purposes since it can be easily accessed by people who have ill
intentions that have no fear of the law (Omoera et al., 2018).
Some studies found negative impacts of social media participation. These were body
dissatisfaction (Bennett et al., 2019), increased social comparison which leads to stress (Iwamoto
& Chun, 2019), fact distortions (Humphreys, 2021), and cyber bullying (Blazer, 2012).
Nevertheless, social media also has positive effects on peoples’ lives. It offers great convenience
in terms of communication (Feldman, 2015). It serves as an avenue for social support where
people can find solutions to social problems (Jwain, 2020). And more importantly, SNSs became
important tools in education which significantly improves learning (Junco et al., 2010).
The influence of social media on human lives is undeniable. Many researchers (as mentioned
above)acknowledge its great effect on human lives and investigated its impacts. Considering
SNSs massive influence on the various aspects of life, the researcher deems that this research is
necessary for it will explore more on the effects of social media.
Social Media in Higher Education
Teaching and learning in Higher Education had significantly improved due to the presence of
social media (Ngamassi et al., 2020; Rahman et al., 2019). SNS encouraged students to become
active learners, learning at their own pace by providing various learning styles (Mohammed et
al., 2018). Social media also provide the opportunity for learners to make connections with each
other and by so doing increase participation and academic satisfaction (Jang, 2015; Santovena-
Casal, 2019). SNSsallow more teacher-student communication Instructors has been using it to
make learning opportunities more accessible to their students for them to create meaningful
interactions that are essential for real-world tasks (Mellati et al., 2018; Watson, 2018).
Studies about social media in higher education were mostly centered on the effects of SNSs to
undergraduates’ academic performance. A local studyfound out that the more time students
spend on social media the lesser they spend time studying (Morallo, 2014). A study in Saudi
Arabia supported this finding by revealing that social media consumes students’ free time which
resulted in the loss of time studying which ultimately led to low grades (Talaue et al., 2018). In
contrast with these results was the study of Junco, Heibergert and Loken (2010),it was concluded
that SNSs had positive effects on US college students’ grades. In the neutral side was the study
of Santovena-Casal (2019) where it was noted that social media had no significant impact on
college students’ academic performance. Thus, the statement made by Kulidtod and Pasagui
(2017) which pointed out the variety of findings related to the impact of social media to
undergraduates’ academic performance.
The abundance of literature regarding social media’s influence on college students’ learning
suggests the importance for more research on the same context. Therefore, this study is relevant
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for it will investigate undergraduates’ learning in relation to the effects of social media. Yet this
investigation will not focus on college students’ academic performance rather it will dive deeper
into a more specific academic area which is English language learning.
Social Media and Language Learning
Most of the world's population today view foreign language learning as an important part of
living as it is needed for effective communication (Arslan, 2021). Before, people view language
learning as the mastery of linguistic components like grammar, vocabulary, and phonology
(Cabrera-Tovar&Ramírez-Lizcano, 2020). Yet because of globalization, language learning
shifted from mainly focusing on grammatical systems to integrating culturally contextualized
learners’ interaction (Scarino, 2014 as cited in Cabrera-Tovar&Ramírez-Lizcano, 2020).
Another product of globalization is the creation of various SNSs which paved way to more
interactions and made significant impacts on language learning. Facebook is said to be a good
platform where students can hone their language skills (Xodabande, 2017). Advantages like
developing communication skills and on-point writing were the product of using Twitter in
foreign language teaching (Mork, 2009 as cited in Xodabande, 2017). Instagram has made it
easier for Japanese undergraduate students to make social connections practicing the use of
informal English (Kitano et al., 2019). Other SNSs like Youtube, Telegram, and WhatsApp have
provided teachers and learners avenues for enhanced collaborative language learning (Hafedh&
Slim, 2019).
International researchers have found different impacts of social media on English language
learning. Elttayefand Hussein (2016) discovered that Skype had positive impacts on the
pragmatic competence of undergraduate English major Jordanian students. Similarly, the results
of the study of AlSaleem (2018) showed that SNSs improve Arab learners’ reading
comprehension skills. In the study of Baytekin and Su-bergil(2021), the use of Web 2.0 tools
along with SNSs is found to increase students’ motivation in language learning. However, the
study of Sincubaand Songxaba (2017) revealed that social media has polluted grammar, spelling,
and sentence construction of Grade 10 South African students. Supporting this was the study of
Kitano, Megumi, and Mills (2019), where five out of seven Japanese students strongly asserted
that SNSs became a distraction to their study time. The study of Abu-Omar, Jwaifell, and
BaniAbdel-Rahman(2020) also reflected participants' view that social media has many
disadvantages that decrease theacquisition of language skills.
In the Philippines, although studies on social media and language learning were few, there were
a number ofstudies which reported essential results relating to SNSs impact on English language
learning. According to Domingo and Aguillon (2021), college students perceivesocial media as
effective platform for language and vocabulary learning due to its convenient features. The study
of Matolo-Langoh showed that Grade 10 students from a private school in Zamboanga City
agreed on using Facebook as a facilitative tool in teaching English. Furthermore, other studies
highlighted the positive impact of social media on the communication skills of undergraduates
(Magmanlac et al., 2018; Nanquil 2021). On the other hand, reports of negative effects of social
media such as faulty grammar, incorrect spelling and senseless information were found to have
impacted college students (Nanquil 2021).
Studies about the impact of social media on english language learning is still limited even more
so in the Philippine context. This fact make this research more important since it will add to
Filipino studies on social media’s impact. Like the aforementioned studies, this study will focus
on the effects of social media on the writing, vocabulary and communication skills of Filipino
undergraduates.
Research Questions
This investigation aims to determine the impact of social media on Filipino undergraduates’
English language learning. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions:

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1. What social media networks are the most frequently used by undergraduates?
2. What is the level of the undergraduate’s overall perception of the effects of social mediaon
their English language learning?
3. What are the most influenced English language skills by the use of social media?
4. Are there significant differences in undergraduate’s overall perceptions towards theeffects of
social media on their language leaning and their gender?
Methodology
Research Design
This study utilized a qualitative-cross-sectional research design. In this investigation, the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used, and the variables were analysed
using descriptive statistics and measures of central tendency (means, standard deviations and
percentages) making the study qualitative. Furthermore, this study is also cross-sectional since it
gathered data from a large sample of college students in a short period of time. This research
design is appropriate for the present study for it utilized online questionnaires which are
distributed in a short period of time and interpreted using numerical data.
Respondents
The respondents of the study were 114 undergraduates from Western Mindanao State University.
The majority of which were females (72.8%). Table 1 contains more details about the
respondents.
Table 1.0. Distribution Across Demographics
Variable Categories Year level TOTAL
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Gender Male 10 5 13 3 31
Female 32 18 26 7 83
TOTAL 42 23 39 10 114
Course BSED 15 6 34 1 56
BEED 1 4 0 2 7
BSNED 2 8 0 0 10
BECED 0 0 0 4 4
BS Mathematics 7 0 0 0 7
BSN 6 1 0 1 8
BSND 8 0 0 0 8
BS Biology 0 1 2 0 3
BS Accountancy 0 1 2 1 4
BSIT 0 1 1 0 2
BS Chemistry 2 0 0 0 2
BS Engineering 1 0 0 1 2
BS Psychology 0 1 0 0 1
TOTAL 42 23 39 10 114

Research Instrument
The instrument used in this study is an online questionnaire adapted from the research instrument
of Jahromi (2020) which originally has two parts, Part A (Type and Frequency of Usage of
Social Media) and Part B (Relationship Between Social Media and Language Learning). The
instrument in this study, however, has 6 sections but all the questions/statements were taken
from the original instrument (the sections will be further discussed in the data gathering
procedure).
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The original instrument was handed out to Bahrainis from different gender and age groups. Since
the researcher decided to focus on undergraduates, some questions from the questionnaire were
eliminated to fit the present study’s context. Other items not related to the use and impacts
(specific skills and negative impacts) of social media were removed due to anomission of a
research question (such question is about variables present in social media which the researcher
saw as inappropriate for the study’s aim). From 30 items the number was reduced to 22 with the
Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.851in the pilot testing and 0.803 in the final data.
Coding Procedure
The responses were coded to easily analyze the gathered data. For the demographics, gender (1
for male, 2 for female), year level (1 for first year, 2 for second year, 3 for third year, and 4 for
fourth year). For responses in the usage of social media, most used platform (1 for Facebook, 2
for Twitter, 3 for Instagram, 4 forYoutube, and 5 for others: please specify), hours spent (1 for I
don’t use social media, 2 for less than an hour, 3 for one to two hours, 4 for three to four hours,
and 5 for five hours or more), purpose (1 forto share information, 2 for to communicate with
family, 3 for to communicate with friends, 4 forto learn, and 5 forI use it for work). For the
responses in the fourth and fifth sections, 1 for strongly disagree, 2 for disagree, 3 for uncertain,
4 for agree, and 5 for strongly agree. For the responses in the last section, 1 for it has had
significant negative effects on my English language, 2 for it has had some negative effects on my
English language, 3 for it has had no positive effects on my English language, 4 for it has had
some positive effects on my English language, 5 for it has had significant positive effects on my
English language.
Pilot Testing and Reliability
Thirty-four participants have taken part in pilot testing, and 19 of them were females.
Participants were taken from different year levels. Six were from the first year, 5 from the
second year, 19 from the third year and 4 from the fourth year. Those who participated in the
pilot testing were no longer tapped to answer the questionnaire for the final data.
The items from the pilot testing were subjected to reliability testing. However, items that were
considered as ordinal and nominal (demographics and section 3) were excluded. Section 4 which
has 13 items had the Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.876. The five items from section 5 had the
Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.732. Section six which had one item can not be tested for the
reliability. Overall, the Cronbach’s alpha score of sections 4-6 (19 items) is 0.851.
For the final data the Cronbach’s alpha score of the overall scale items is 0.803 with 0.840 score
for Section 4 and 0.749 score for Section 5.
Data Gathering Procedure
To easily distribute the questionnaire, it was placed in a google form. The form had six sections.
The first section contained the consent form. Second, the demographic profile which includes
gender, year level, and course. The third section was about the undergraduates’ usage of social
media (most used platform, hours of use, and purpose of use). The items in the fourth and fifth
sections were answerable with a five-point Likert scale (ranging from strongly disagree to
strongly agree), in which the 13 items of the fourth was about the language skills influenced by
social media and the five items of the fifth were about the negative impacts of social media on
undergraduates’ English language learning. The last section included an item about the overall
impact of social media on college students’ English language learning.
After the instrument was finalized, the link of the questionnaire was distributed to the students
which were chosen through convenience sampling About 300 students received the link through
Messenger and they were given 3-5 days to answer. Unfavourably, only 114 students answered
in time for the analysis of data.

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Results and Discussion

Numerous key findings were obtained after analysing the data gained from the respondents.
Usage of Social Media Among the Respondents
The initial finding was about the most frequently used social media network which is Facebook
that was chosen by more than half of the respondents (as shown in Table 2). The second most
used social media network is Youtube followed by Twitter, Instagram then other SNSs. Similar
results were found in two studies conducted in different universities in the Philippines, where
they noted that the most used social media platform by university students is Facebook
(Boongaling et al., 2018; Aguillon & Domingo 2021).In this finding, it is supposed that most of
the social media interactions made by respondents are asynchronous and written-based for such
are interactions offered by known social media platforms like Facebook.
Table 2.0. Most Frequently Used Social Media Networks
Social Media Networks Frequency Percent
Facebook 84 73.7
Twitter 6 5.3
Instagram 4 3.5
Youtube 14 12.3
Wattpad 2 1.8
Messenger 2 1.8
Tiktok 2 1.8

In addition, the respondents revealed the amount of time they use in social media networks (refer
to Figure 1). All the undergraduates answered that they use social media daily. Fifty-five of them
revealed that they use social media for more than 5 hours a day. In line with this is the study of
Kulidtod and Pasagui(2017) where they found out that college students from the University of
South Mindanao use social media 5-6 days a week with an average of about 1-2 hours every
session. Aguillon and Domingo (2021) also provided the same result showing the majority of the
students from Mariano Marcos State University were online on SNSs for at least three hours a
day. From this data, it was inferred that undergraduates spend most of their free time using social
media.

[CATEGORY
NAME]
[PERCENTAGE]
[CATEGORY
NAME]
[CATEGORY
NAME] [PERCENTAGE]
[PERCENTAGE]

[CATEGORY
NAME]
[PERCENTAGE]

Figure 1.0 Number of Hours Spent on Social Media Networks

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Furthermore, the data in Figure 2 revealed the reason why undergraduates use social media on a
daily basis. Most of them use SNSs to communicate with friends (38.6%) while very few of
them use social media for work (3.5%). This finding correlates to the result of the study of
Morallo(2014)showing that college students in Lyceum of the Philippines – Lagunatend to use
social media to interact with their friends and not use it foracademic reasons.

25
25

share information
Communicate with family members
Communicate with friends
learn
16
work

44

Figure 2.0. Purposes of Using Social Media

This fact shows that undergraduates use social media not to learn primarily but to communicate
and express themselves. Nevertheless, their use of social media (regardless of the reason) led to
English language learning.
Respondents’ Perception on the Effect of Social Media on their English Language Learning
Majority of the respondents acknowledged that social media hadpositive impact on their English
language learning (see Table 3). Only 14% of the undergraduates stated that SNSs have negative
or no effect on their English learning. This outcome is in consonance with the study of Jahromi
(2020), about 59% or 196 out of 330 Bahrainis answered the survey saying that social media has
had significant positive effects on their English language learning.This positive impact can
encourage people to use social media to enhance their English language skills.
Table 3.0. Filipino Undergraduates’ Overall Perception of the Effect of Social Media on their
English Language Learning
What is the effect of social media on
Frequency Percent
your English language learning?
Significant positive effect 26 22.8
Positive effect 72 63.2
No effect 8 7.0
Negative effect 5 4.4
Significant negative effect 3 2.6

Effects of Social Media on Respondents’ English Language Learning

Responses on the items about the impact of social media on English language learning were
coded and analysed. Descriptive statistics, mean (M) and standard deviation (SD), were
employed. Table 4 and 5 presents the analysis of the data. Included in the table were the
responses of the respondents in every item of the questionnaire (frequencies and equivalent
percentages), mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and interpretation (Intrp.) - 1.0 to 1.79 (No
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Impact [NI]), 1.8 to 2.59 (Low Impact [LI]), 2.6 to 3.39 (Moderate Impact [MI]), 3.4 to 4.19
(High Impact [HI]), and 4.2 to 5.0 (Very High Impact [VHI]).
Table 4.0. Impact of Social Media in Undergraduates’ English Language Skills
Responses
Intrp.
# Statements SD D N A SA M SD
N % N % N % N % N %
Social media
influences my
1 4 3.5 9 7.9 35 30.7 55 48.2 11 9.6 3.53 0.904 HI
style of
writing.
Social media
introduces
2 students to 2 1.8 7 6.1 23 20.2 65 57 17 14.9 3.77 0.842 HI
modern writing
patterns.
Social media
helps me write
3 2 1.8 6 5.3 29 25.4 62 54.4 15 13.2 3.72 0.826 HI
better in
English.
I learn English
through
extensive
4 writing on 6 5.3 13 11.4 39 34.2 49 43 7 6.1 3.33 0.947 MI
social media
networking
platforms.
Social media
improves my
knowledge
5 2 1.8 2 1.8 12 10.5 72 63.2 26 22.8 4.04 0.752 HI
about new
terminologies
in English.
Social media
helps
6 2 1.8 4 3.5 15 13.2 64 56.1 29 25.4 4.00 0.831 HI
vocabulary
development.
I derive most
of the terms I
7 0 0 19 16.7 22 19.3 58 50.9 15 13.2 3.61 0.918 HI
use from social
media.
Social media
changes the
way people
8 2 1.8 2 1.8 10 8.8 59 51.8 41 36 4.18 0.804 HI
communicate
and share
information.
Social media
improves the
9 way people 1 .9 3 2.6 9 7.9 51 44.7 50 43.9 4.28 0.793 VHI
interact
globally.
Social media
improves
10 English 2 1.8 1 .9 27 23.7 65 57 19 16.7 3.86 0.763 HI
language
communication

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skills.

I try to
enhance the
language
ability by
11 communicating 6 5.3 29 25.4 20 17.5 44 38.6 15 13.2 3.29 1.142 MI
with foreign
people via
social media
networks.
I force myself
to learn
language by
writing
12 sentences on 15 13.2 36 31.6 37 32.5 23 20.2 3 2.6 2.68 1.026 MI
social media
networking
discussion
groups.
I use live
chatrooms on
social media
13 networks to 18 15.8 41 36 27 23.7 26 22.8 2 1.8 2.59 1.063 LM
improve my
English
language.
Overall Impact on English Language Skills 3.61 0.527 HI

Statements 1-4 are about the positive impact of social media on writing skills. These statements
had a mean score of 3.58 which meant that social media has highly impacted the undergraduates’
writing skills. This is in contrast with the findings of some studies which reported that social
media had negatively impacted undergraduates’ English Writing skills. The use of abbreviations,
unnecessarily shortened words and faulty grammar were present in students’ written works
(Aiwuyo et al., 2018; Songxaba&Sincuba, 2019).
Statement 5-7 refer to the effect of social media on vocabulary learning. The average (mean) for
these items is 3.88. This shows that social media has a high impact on the respondents’
vocabulary learning. This means that undergraduates learned many new English words by using
social media. Such finding supports the outcome of the study made by Aguillon and Domingo
(2021), where students perceived social media as an effective factor in developing their
vocabulary skills.
Statements 8-10 talk about social media’s impact on communication skills. These statements had
the highest average mean, which is 4.11, indicating social media’s high impact on the
aforementioned skill. This signifies that social media participation develops communication
skills. This supports the study of Nanquil (2020) where it is stated that the participants enjoyed
using social media where they learn to speak and communicate in English.
Statements 11-13 show SNSs’ effect on interactive communication which particularly refer to
synchronous interactions in social media. These statements indicated moderate impact and had
the lowest mean score of 2.85. This result reveals that the respondents rarely use social media for
synchronous communication. This finding supports the inference that the undergraduates
preferred asynchronous, written based interaction on social media rather than spoken and
synchronous communication.
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Overall, social media has a high impact on the writing, vocabulary learning, and communication
skills of the respondents. This shows that social media has positive effects on the
undergraduates’ English language learning. Despite this promising result, the researcher also
found out that social media have some negative effects on the respondents’ English language
learning.
Table 5.0. Negative Effects of Social Media on English Language Learning
Responses
Intrp.
# Statements SD D N A SA M SD
N % N % N % N % N %
Social media
exposes
students to
abbreviations
and inaccurate
1 spellings which 2 1.8 4 3.5 32 28.1 50 43.9 26 22.8 3.82 0.885 HI
later have
negative
impacts on
them during
examinations.
Social media
contributes to
mass failure of
students in
2 English 5 4.4 28 24.6 55 48.2 24 21.1 2 1.8 2.91 0.837 MI
language and
other English
related courses
or subjects.
Social media
encourages
3 examination 6 5.3 20 17.5 55 48.2 31 27.2 2 1.8 3.03 0.857 MI
malpractices in
schools.
Social media is
a wastage of
students’ time
that should be
4 8 7 31 27.2 36 31.6 27 23.7 12 10.5 3.04 1.105 MI
wisely invested
in academic
and profitable
ways.
Social media
encourages the
5 use of foul 4 3.5 10 8.8 35 30.7 44 38.6 21 18.4 3.60 1.002 HI
language and
cyber bullying.
Overall Impact on English Language Learning 3.28 0.666 MI

Table5 reveals a number of undergraduates who reported negative effects of social media on
their English language learning. Their concerns were mainly based on the presence of foul
language, cyber bullying, inaccurate spellings, and intensive use of abbreviations in SNSs which
may negatively affect their academic performance. Some studies echo this result saying that
social media may lead to misinformation, crude language, ungrammatical language texts,
absence of real language interaction, and depletion in writing skills (Cabrera, 2018; Kitano et al.,
2019; Nanquil, 2020). In view of this, the researcher suggests perceiving social media with the
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potential to negatively impact one’s English language learning. With this, utmost care should be
exercised in its utilization.
Relationship Between Gender and Undergraduates’ Perception
Upon subjecting the data (gender and overall perception)to a t-test, the mean score difference
shows that females’ perception of the positive effect of social media on language learning is
higher than their male counterparts (refer to Table 6).
Table 6.0. Correlation Between Undergraduates’ Perception and Gender
Male (31) Female (83)
t df Sig.
M Std.D. M Std.D.
Filipino
Undergraduates’
Overall Perception on
3.87 1.231 4.04 0.652 -0.711 36.472 0.482
the Impact of Social
Media on English
Language Learning

This result indicates that there is a significant difference between gender and the undergraduates’
overall positive perception on the effect of social media on English language learning. This
finding is in contradiction with the outcome of the study of Jahromi (2020) where it was found
that there was no significant difference between the overall positive perception and gender of the
respondents.
Conclusion
This study which aims to determine the impact of social media on undergraduates’ English
language learning had four key findings. Firstly, the most used social media platform by the
undergraduate students of Western Mindanao State University is Facebook. Secondly, majority
of these undergraduates perceived social media as having positive impact on their English
language. Thirdly, social media both positively and negatively impacted undergraduates’ English
language skills. And lastly, female undergraduates perceived social media as having positive
impact on their English language learning more than males.
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