Role of Social Media Applications in Language Learning

Social media has become a part and parcel of our lives. Teenagers spend/waste most of their valuable time chatting and socialising with their friends. This paper is an attempt to analyse the role social media can play in language learning. Social media are synchronous, like instant messengers, social networking sites, micro-blogging, and asynchronous, like emailing, blogging, media sharing and social news. The advantages of incorporating social media in language learning include independent learning, self-paced learning, familiarity of the tools, infotainment, social interaction while learning, access to vast resources of learning, easy accessibility, easy evaluation and saving of time and money. The disadvantages of learning via social media include uncontrolled learning, isolated learning, accessibility issues, competency issues, different learning needs, physical problems and relationship issues. However if used properly, social media can prove to be a boon for the language learners even in remote areas. They may be prescribed like books to the learners to develop their language skills. Some of the applications that may develop listening skills are BBC News/Radio, YouTube, Podcasts, and audiobooks. The applications for the development of speaking skills may include Hello English, iSpeaker of OALD, and Podcasts by British Council. The applications to develop reading skills include Speed Reading, Readerly, Flipboard, Play Newsstand, and BBC News. The applications for the development of writing skills may include iWriter of OALD, English Writing Skills, and Blogging. Some more applications which may help in developing the learner‟s language like spelling, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, idioms and phrases, sentence writing, essay writing, article writing, and literary skills have also been listed on the basis of their usability and availability. Edmodo can be very useful software for the incorporation of social media in language teaching in the very beginning. However, proper care is to be taken while incorporating the same in an institution. Necessary freedom should also be granted to the educators for its proper implementation. Yet, it may be too early to predict the suitability of incorporating social media in teaching-learning process as till now they have not been tested at a larger scale. But viewing the scenario of craze for the social media, we may be hopeful that it will make language learning easy and fun.