Social Media as an English Learning Resource: College Students’ Experiences and Perceptions

Social Media as an English Learning Resource: College Students’ Experiences and Perceptions

The purpose of the present study is to investigate to what extent non-English major college students use social media in their daily lives in order to study English and how they perceive its effectiveness as a learning resource. A total of 540 students enrolled in a general education course at a university in Korea participated in the study by responding to an online questionnaire. The results show that, in general, the participants spend a substantial amount of time on social media daily and use it mostly for personal and social reasons, but not much for academic purposes. In addition, the participants’ experience of using social media as an English learning resource is rather limited, although those with higher English proficiency exploit it more than others. The participants’ perception of social media as an English learning resource is neither positive nor negative, even though those with more experience tend to have a more positive opinion of its effectiveness. Implications for future research and pedagogical practices are discussed.