Abstract
In the research the educational potential of Facebook for language acquisition is studied. The methodological experiment and survey were conducted aimed at studying the efficiency of Facebook-assisted teaching in the Facebook group for the development of students’ vocabulary, listening and writing skills. Quantitative and qualitative analysis, observation, interpretation, control and measuring were applied in the research. The Facebook group was viewed as an educational environment where a set of specially organized learning materials of different formats was accumulated. The research outlined the useful features and capabilities of the Facebook group for facilitating the learning process and increasing motivation and engagement. The findings proved that the Facebook group learners outperformed the participants of the control groups regarding all three aspects taken: vocabulary (breadth and depth of knowledge), listening skills (listening for general and specific information) and writing skills (content, organization and clarity, vocabulary, spelling and grammatical accuracy). The reasons for the better results of the experimental group participants were identified, including the repeated exposure of the experimental groups students to the target vocabulary, up-to-date and controversial nature of the study content, and visual and interactional nature of the Facebook environment. The survey revealed the positive evaluation of studying in the Facebook environment by the Facebook learners.
Highlights
The purpose of the research is to study the efficiency of Facebookassisted teaching via the Facebook group for the development of students’ vocabulary, listening and writing skills
Designing the content of the learning material for the vocabulary section of the quasi-experiment, the researchers took into consideration vocabulary teaching techniques summarized in the work by Oxford and Crookall (1990): 1) de-contextualising; 2) semi-contextualising; 3) fully contextualizing; 4) adaptable
The quasi-experimental study shows that the Facebook group may be an effective educational platform where diverse format learning content can be accumulated and learning can be organized through communication and interaction, which increases motivation and engagement
Summary
Social networking sites (SNSs) have significantly penetrated all areas of modern society. Nowadays they represent a huge potential for the education of contemporary learners often called ‘digital-age learners’, ‘digital natives’ or ‘the net generation’ who are characterized by specific ways of absorbing, retaining and applying information. The incorporation of Facebook into foreign language teaching can be of immense value from the pedagogical point of view as it can enhance engagement and motivation promoting learning through active interactions between teachers and students in the well-known virtual online environment. From the linguistic perspective practising with specially posted learning materials, expressing and sharing academically-related ideas, exchanging inbox messages etc. Can promote students’ communication and language skills From the linguistic perspective practising with specially posted learning materials, expressing and sharing academically-related ideas, exchanging inbox messages etc. can promote students’ communication and language skills
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