The Impact of the Use of Social Media on Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

The paper focuses on the use of social media in the process of acquisition of the second language (L2) or foreign language learning (FLL), namely, English in university students. Recently, we have seen a dramatic change in favour of distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemics, therefore, it could be useful to analyse the impact of social media in FLL as they have been used much more now. It is a study summarizing the most important findings of the most recent research into the impact of social media on L2 acquisition from the psycholinguistic perspective. The paper analyses data from research papers as they appear in Scopus and Web of Science databases in the past ten years (i.e. 2010-2020). The purpose of the study is to describe the current research findings, to analyse their importance, to compare the most important data, and to look for further development of the psycholinguistics of L2. Its primary intention is to look into the acquisition of L2, particularly English as a second language (ESL) in the younger generation, i.e., Generation Z of current university students. It also attempts to highlight both the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in L2 acquisition and therefore to highlight future strategies regarding FLL in university education. The current research in this area provides us with overtly optimistic results in FLL with the assistance of social media, however, the paper claims that the situation of utilizing social media in FLL needs further investigation and analysis, mainly from the psycholinguistic point of view. The current COVID-19 situation makes us aware that the impact of social media will increase due to social distancing.