Facebook Groups As A Supporting Tool For Language Classrooms

Abstract

This paper attempts to present a review of Facebook group pages as an educational tool for language learning. One of the primary needs of foreign language learners is to gain the opportunity to use the target language outside the classroom practice. Social media communication provides occasions for learners to receive input and produce output while engaging in negotiation of meaning. In line with this point, teachers can instigate class group pages in the social media in an attempt to provide a space for practice and communication free of the traditional pedagogic concerns of a typical classroom. The distinctive discursive behaviour of Facebook group pages helps one to achieve that attempt. In light of these views, the researcher, in this study, formed a group page to understand the dynamics of social media environment as a supporting tool for language classrooms. This paper addresses various features which make social media a unique place to contribute to the sense of class community and collaboration outside the classroom. The face-to face classroom is a controlled communication event, that is, teachers and students are required to be in the classroom at the same time but a teacher's use of Facebook is an attempt to communicate with students outside of that controlled environment where teachers can meet students in their territory. When compared to its disadvantages, the advantages of setting a class group page on the social media outweigh. Students can feel motivated to contribute to an online community if they subsequently receive support or help. It also leads students to feel that they are being supported by a whole portion of their class community and promotes students' desire to maintain a valued relationship with others. Students continue developing and strengthening relationships with others.

Is Facebook still a suitable technology‐enhanced learning environment? An updated critical review of the literature from 2012 to 2015

“…Other authors pointed out the opportunity to provide a space for practice and communication that was free of the traditional pedagogic concerns of a typical classroom (Ekoç, ; Lieberman, ). Others reported the development of skills related to the democratic participation of everyone in the classroom (Alexander & Sapra, ), the promotion of peer teaching and peer assessment (Ravindran et al, ), or the enhancement of social presence in the classroom community (Gordon, ; Razak & Saeed, ).…”

“…With reference to Facebook affordances, more than half of the studies ( N = 36, 52.9%) exploited the combination of instructional material with information and knowledge sources produced elsewhere and available through several channels (Alexander & Sapra, ; Arouri, ; Asterhan & Hever, ; Barden, ; Baya'a & Daher, ; Birkeland et al, ; Brewer et al, ; Clements, ; da Silva de Vargas et al, ; Daher, , ; Deng & Tavares, ; Dougherty & Andercheck, ; Dyson et al, ; Ekoç, ; Esteves, ; Gabarre et al, ; Gray & Howard, ; Hall & Maughan, ; Harvey et al, ; Ho, ; Jaffar, ; Kim, ; Kinchin & Bryant, ; Kostka‐Rokosz et al, ; Krom, ; Lantz‐Andersson et al, ; Lieberman, ; Magogwe et al, ; McCarthy, , ; Rashid & Rahman, ; Razak et al, ; Román & Martín, ; Sincar, ; Whittaker et al, ).…”

“…Twenty‐four (35.3%) studies exploited the possibility of mixing the context of learning with issues relating to social and personal lives, by means of personal reflections provided by students' real‐life and personal experiences (Barden, ; Baya'a & Daher, ; Birkeland et al, ; Brewer et al, ; Daher, , ; Deng & Tavares, ; Dougherty & Andercheck, ; Dyson et al, ; Ekoç, ; Gray & Howard, ; Hall & Maughan, ; Kim, ; Kostka‐Rokosz et al, ; Krom, ; Lantz‐Andersson, ; Lantz‐Andersson et al, ; Lieberman, ; McCarthy, ; Rashid & Rahman, ; Razak et al, ; Román & Martín, ; Sincar, ; Whittaker et al, ).…”

Using Space in Social Media to Promote Undergraduate Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

“…In social media, students are able to be more engaged in the learning process as active learners, team builders, collaborators, and discoverers (Ekoc, 2014 Although Facebook is normally used for discussing general topics, this course takes advantage of it as a platform for students to respond to the questions provided. According to Black (2005), on-line discussions have the potential to motivate student inquiry and create a context in which collaborative learning occurs, promoting both reflection and critical thinking.…”

English language learning through a Facebook group: activities for developing oral skills

“…While many (Ekoc, 2014;Blattner & Fiori, 2009) have indicated it seems to have a positive impact as a learning online community and as tool for teaching and learning, other works doubted its appropriateness for formal teaching and learning activities. Manca & Ranieri (2013, p. 496) questioned whether Facebook was "a tool suitable for learning?…”