THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA LANGUAGE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL
Abstract
This study looked at the impact of social media language on secondary school English language learners. The study’s overall population is 200 pupils from various schools in Bayelsa state. The researcher collected data using questionnaires as the instrument.
Descriptive This study used a survey research design. The study included 133 respondents who were sss 3 students, sss 2 students, sss 1 students, and jss3 students. The acquired data was organized into tables and evaluated using simple percentages and frequencies.
chapter One
Introduction
1.1The Study’s Background
People live in a global world, and they are constantly embracing new technology, information, lifestyles, languages, and so on. Digital social media platforms are extremely popular among today’s youth. Social media refers to any technology that allows for social engagement, collaboration, and deliberation among stakeholders:
this includes electronic blogs, audio/video tools (youtube), internet chat rooms, cellular and computer texting, and social networking sites (Bryer and Zavattaro, 2011). “Once social media was established,” Arroyo (2012) stated, “it offered a new avenue for people, particularly the younger generation, to connect with one another, based on common interests, aspirations, and even principles.”
Social media has grown enormously in popularity and acceptance over the years. According to research, internet use, particularly social networking sites, has increased significantly since 2000, with some estimates indicating that nearly 78 percent of American adults use the internet on a regular basis; 46 percent of American adults 18 and older use social networking sites; and 65 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 use online social networks (Rainie et al, 2011).
According to recent estimates, Facebook has over 750 million users globally; LinkedIn has over 100 million members; Twitter has over 177 million tweets per day; and YouTube has over 3 billion views each day (Chen & Bryer, 2012). According to Rainie, Purcell, and Smith (2011), persons between the ages of 18 and 29 are the most likely to utilize social networking sites.
In recent years, digital technology, particularly social media, have had an impact on the educational community. We stated before how their diverse forms let people communicate in various ways. These social media platforms have significantly increased social engagement and information sharing among student and instructor communities.
Social media programs enable users to communicate and express themselves on a global scale by transcending national boundaries (Thorne, 2010). As a result, the obligations provided by social media nowadays may be linguistically rewarding for users, whether students or educators, because these media interactions are bound to take place within the same linguistic communities or across them.
One of these media, Facebook, has been widely regarded as one of the most popular social platforms ever established. It has provided new potential for both foreign language teachers and learners, allowing them to communicate an unlimited amount of text messages, photos, and videos. Such possibilities can provide those users, particularly language learners, with the ability to practice with fresh texts and learn new terminology through interaction, particularly if it is extended over time.
In terms of educators, they can profit from Facebook by using it as a platform to post various types of resources to be worked on, modified, added to, and shared among their students in order to achieve desired outcomes. As a result, the teaching experience can be more accessible and focused on students as more opportunities for collaboration are provided and an atmosphere of conviviality and creativity is fostered among them (Selwyn, 2012).
However, there are currently influences of digital social media in early learner language learning. Young people are now mostly connected with people through digital social media, thus they are unwittingly or purposefully following that trend of language learning.
Englander et al. (2010) discovered that students spend more time using social media for non-educational objectives, negatively impacting their academic achievements. Another study, Nalwa and Anand (2003), found that students prefer to use the internet for their own duties, which has an impact on their academic performance. Karpinski (2009) expanded on this study, stating that Facebook users had poorer grade rankings than students who never engage in social interactions.
He also mentioned that social media has a negative impact on kids’ academic performance that outweighs the benefits gained from using social media platforms. People all across the world have become addicted to the internet, which has resulted in more students utilizing social media than ever before. Aforo (2014) investigated the impact of social media on academic reading.
The survey discovered that students in Ghana frequently use their spare time on social media, which does not bode well for their academic success. Students’ usage of social media has reached epidemic proportions, affecting their study time, grammar, and spelling when chatting on social media, as well as diverting their attention away from their studies (Ndaku, 2013).
Students devote more of their study time to social media than to academic pursuits, which has hampered their performance. The findings of a quantitative study conducted in a secondary school by Al-Jarrah et al (2019) demonstrated that social media has an essential influence in the growth of writing performance of English learners at the school level.
1.1 Problem description
The researcher discovered that most students are not concerned about their usage of grammar on social media because the language of social media is casual. They carry these grammatical faults to their academics, which have an impact on them. Because it is a daily pastime, chatting has become a part of their life.
These pupils make it difficult for their teachers to grade their scripts because the teacher does not comprehend their expressions or does not get the messages clearly. Even if the teacher is aware of it, the student will be sanctioned because such terms are not permitted in English.
The researcher’s primary goal is to investigate the harmful effects of social media language on secondary school pupils’ acquisition of English. This research is required in order to raise awareness among students who are not conscious of their usage of grammar in essay writing and formal communications.
1.2 Study Aims and Objectives
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of social media language on secondary school English language learners. The precise goals are as follows:
Examine the extent of social media usage among Nigerian secondary school pupils.
Investigate how digital social media influences the writing and speaking of secondary school English language learners.
Investigate the impact of social media language on secondary school students’ academic performance in English language exams.
Determine how to improve secondary school pupils’ success in English language exams.
1.3 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
What is the level of social media usage among Nigerian secondary school students?
How can digital social media influence secondary school English language learners’ writing and speaking?
What influence does social media language have on secondary school pupils’ academic achievement in English language exams?
What strategies may be used to improve secondary school pupils’ success in English language exams?
1.4 STUDY OBJECTIVES
The study focuses on the effects of social media language on secondary school pupils in a few selected secondary schools in Ago-iwoye, Ogun state.
1.5 THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS
Because the researcher will combine the research with academic work, the time available for this study is limited. Because of time constraints, only a few secondary schools will be visited during the research. A large number of money will be required to embark on such a study and gain a deep and comprehensive understanding.
Because Ago-iwoye is a rural part of Ogun state, the study will be limited to a few secondary schools, and an attempt will be made to assess the extent to which social media language affects secondary school pupils.
1.6 TERM DEFINITION
Social media is an interactive form of media that allows users to connect with and publish to one another via the Internet.
The ability to impact, control, or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the evolution of fluctuating things such as behavior, thoughts, or decisions.
The notion or state of transferring data or information between entities is referred to as communication.
Technology is the systematic structuring of knowledge for practical applications.
Language: is a collection of words and a set of ways for combining them (referred to as a grammar) that is understood by a community and used as a means of communication.
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THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA LANGUAGE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL