Choosing social media platforms to develop EFL teenage learners’ writing skills

Abstract

Social media has influenced all the sectors of our lives and ELT is not an exception. Within the framework of action research, a mixed-method study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of social media on EFL students' writing skills. It also explored the students' and their teacher’s perceptions of the integration of social media into the EFL classroom. The participants were 15 low-intermediate students and their teacher from an English afterschool program in Yerevan. The age of the students was 14-16 and was selected through a purposive sampling. During the research, three social platforms were implemented- Facebook, Instagram, and Viber, where students made three posts for descriptive, expository, and narrative writing genres. After completing the tasks of each genre, participants completed a survey, which was aimed at identifying student practices and perceptions of the most effective social media platforms for the selected writing genres. Another survey was conducted to reveal students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of social media for improving their writing skills. An interview was conducted with the teacher to reveal her attitudes towards the integration of social networking sites into the EFL classroom. The results of the study indicated that, according to students, Instagram was the most effective platform for improving expository and descriptive writing and Viber was considered to be the best place to practice the narrative genre. Posting on social media improved the content and organization components of the students’ writing and both the students and their teacher had positive attitudes towards social media usage in EFL teaching and learning.