Social media as an English language learning tool among foreign language learners in Libya: a study of opportunities and challenges

Social media have numerous positive benefits for students‘ learning (Hwang, Kessler, & Francesco, 2004). Besides their easy access, social media platforms enable students to improve communications and language skills, because their different forms of interactive media facilitate interaction among users via the Internet. Recently, SNS users have increasingly availed of the advances and facilities that social media provide. The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to investigate the role of social media as an English language learning autonomy tool among foreign language learners (EFL) in Libya. Specifically, the thesis looks at the extent to which Libyan university students use and access social networking sites (SNSs) to learn English and determine whether these social platforms contribute to the development of their English language skills. Moreover, it explores the opportunities and challenges of integrating SNSs for English language learning in the Libyan context. A mixed-methods approach was used in the research to examine the extent to which EFL university students access and use different social media platforms for language learning purposes. The data collection methods used were questionnaires, diaries and interviews. The data indicates that Libyan university students‘ engagement with and use of SNSs and digital technologies is widespread, although at a less sophisticated level than in other countries, with this being partly due to the local context. Libyan university students highly value the importance of SNSs as a means to improve their English language skills. According to the English teachers, integrating the Internet and SNSs in the classroom have significant positive effects on learning English; however, it would appear that they do not implement the use of such tools in their teaching. This goes back to infrastructural, institutional and cultural factors, including teachers‘ poor ICT experience of modern educational methods. A mixed-methods approach was used in the research to examine the extent to which EFL university students access and use different social media platforms for language learning purposes. The data collection methods used were questionnaires, diaries and interviews. The data indicates that Libyan university students‘ engagement with and use of SNSs and digital technologies is widespread, although at a less sophisticated level than in other countries, with this being partly due to the local context. Libyan university students highly value the importance of SNSs as a means to improve their English language skills. According to the English teachers, integrating the Internet and SNSs in the classroom have significant positive effects on learning English; however, it would appear that they do not implement the use of such tools in their teaching. This goes back to infrastructural, institutional and cultural factors, including teachers‘ poor ICT experience of modern educational methods. The data in the results indicate a much stronger trend towards undirected autonomous learning on the part of students, as a by-product of using social media, than directed autonomous learning, which is lacking in the current context.