E-Learning and Social Media for ELT — Teachers’ Perspective

Abstract

English as a foreign language poses many difficulties to teach and to learn; the problem gets further intense when English has to be used as a medium of instruction to teach other subjects. There is a definite need to support foreign language learners by extending the learning and instruction outside the classroom. There is a growing realization of the role of social media in learning / teaching, especially of English language. Handheld devices like mobiles and tablets, laptops and desktops are all possible means to access social media apps. Such social media apps, along with search engines and conferencing apps form an essential toolkit for learning and instruction outside the physical classrooms. Mobiles and internet have become popular for e-learning due to their features such as ubiquity, interactivity and portability. A lot of research has been done globally on the students’ perspective for the use of extended English language learning outside the classroom through social media apps and audio/video conferencing. A study on the experiences and observations of the teachers on teaching through such means revealed that teachers perceive social media and e-learning very useful and effective for English learning and instruction. Teachers find such means definitely useful for the preparation and conduct of the classes. While social media and e-learning for teaching English is not without some drawbacks, the positives of such means for ELT far outweigh the negatives. This paper describes the use of social media in English classroom and proposes a practical way to make the best use of it.