A Study on the Rationale of Social Media Use by the Students of King Khalid University

Abstract

s not it deplorable that in a country that tops in the entire world in using several social media sites does not utilize the same media in acquiring knowledge and skills? In Saudi Arabia, undergraduate students spend a significant amount of time on social media every day, but they are reluctant (or not motivated enough) to use the same media for educational purposes. This study was carried out on the undergraduate English majors of King Khalid University in Muhayil Asir in Saudi Arabia. In the English department, every student carries at least one smart phone with Internet connection, and they are found occupied with their phones on the campus, sometimes even in classrooms, but they are weak both in subject knowledge and skills of English language. The teachers-cum-researchers were baffled with students’ competence because regular users of Internet and social media are supposed to be updated with the subject knowledge as well as confident in using English language. The researchers designed an empirical study to explore students’ rationale of using the social media and their language preference. The study concludes with gloomy findings that students use the media mainly for entertainment and ineffective communication in English language. The worst fact is: they are not motivated enough to use the social media for educational purposes.

Student Perspective in Using Social Media As a Tool in English Language Learning

“…Research results about social media have actually shown that the great majority of students have a Twitter account (49.03%), the most popular social network among community diploma college students in King Khalid University. Other than twitter are MySpace, Live mocha, Video, Babble, Busuu, Unilang, Lang-8, Palabea, Italki.com, voxSwap, Myngle and English Baby (23.23%) and Google+ (18.71%) [9].…”

“…Results showed that most of the students like video sharing websites and Chat Tools. This implied that the students generally prefer to use a platform thoroughly which they can not only learn a language but also interact with friends, collegues and family [9].…”

“…Listening is usually considered as the weakest skill of most language learners. Easy access to the rich database of audio and video materials on social media certainly contributes in enhancing this Listening Language skill [9].…”

“…Given these educational benefits, the reseacrhers can stipulate that social media tools are capable of enriching the language learning experience. Therefore, the researchers recommend that educators use these online social communities whether they work in fully online, blended, or face -to-face language learning environments [9].…”

The Impact of WhatsApp on Learners’ Achievement: A Case Study of English Language Majors at King Khalid University

“…At King Khalid University, students spend several hours a day on social media. Ahmed & Hassan (2017) conducted a study on the use of Internet by the students of King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia and found that students use the internet mainly for entertainment though they rarely use the same for educational purposes. Most of the students are not even introduced to the multi-faceted use of the Internet.…”