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Technology has had a great influence on the teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) over the past three decades. One of the most recent technologies impacting on this field is the use of social media. Critical analysis of peer reviewed journals reveals that numerous studies have been undertaken to investigate the use of social media in ELT contexts on a higher education level. This analysis systematically reviews empirical research articles on how various social media have been incorporated into higher education ELT. The findings suggest that the most popular types of social media used in this instruction are blogs, wikis, Facebook, Skype, and YouTube. The analysis also shows that TESOL teachers use these media to complement their teaching practices or to allow major transformation of the traditional ELT practices. In addition, differing conceptions of learning enhancement are also drawn from several studies using quantitative and qualitative approaches. The article moves on to show positive and negative assessments of the use of social media in ELT. Some benefits of social media identified include interactivity, the potential of creating collaborative work, and popular features, which create supportive learning environments. Some limitations of social media when incorporated in ELT include their vulnerability to technical difficulties, distraction, superficiality, and plagiarism. The analysis concludes that future studies should be conducted on a larger scale or in depth, and in other directions such as the natural use of social media in independent or autonomous language learning.
Keywords: ELT, higher education, independent language learning, social Media
Abstract
Technology has exerted a major influence on education development during the last three decades. From the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s, many countries such as The United Kingdom, Singapore, The United States, Spain, Italy, and China, have invested a huge Introduction
amount of funds in order to enhance the use of computers and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in their national education systems (Macaro, Handley and Walter 2012). Alongside this increase in use, empirical research in the field of education and technology has gained more popularity; much of which focuses on both the strengths and weaknesses of various types of ICTs used in all levels of education. These studies have not only focused on the use of ICT in classes,...