Examining EFL teachers’ perceptions of using mobile social network sites for language teaching and learning

Abstract

Social technologies are capable to act as a positive but flexible support for teaching and learning process by facilitating idea sharing, communication, collaboration, and sharing of learning materials. This study investigated 397 EFL teachers’ perceptions about using Mobile Social Network Sites (MSNS) for language teaching and learning. The present study also explored EFL teachers’ perceived barriers to using MSNS for teaching and learning in the context of Saudi Arabia. Drawing on the data from a quantitative survey with Saudi EFL teachers, the findings of this study showed that overall perceptions of the participants were very positive toward using social media to support their teaching practices. Saudi English teachers did not differ in their perceptions based on gender. However, younger EFL teachers comparatively showed a more positive attitude in comparison to the teachers of older ages. Despite the positive attitude of the study participants, they also reported some barriers to the use of social media in the classrooms. The results of this study contribute to the territory of using social media to support language teaching within and beyond classroom activities. This cross-sectional study provides valuable implications to teachers, educators and teacher trainers on implementing MSNS in language teaching and language learning.