SOCIAL MEDIA LANGUAGE AND STUDENTS' WRITING (original) (raw)

Impact of Social Media on the English Language Writing Abilities of Undergraduates in Ekpoma, Nigeria

GiST: Education and Learning Research Journal, 2018

This article examined the impact of social media on the writing abilities of Nigerian youths in English, which is the language of mass communication in Nigeria. Deploying cultivation theory of the media, this study used quantitative and qualitative methods to unpack the Nigerian youths' opinions on the impact of the use of social media on their writing abilities, using undergraduates in Ekpoma, Nigeria as a study case. To do this, data was collected through the use of 110 copies of a survey questionnaire administered to selected students. Additional information was garnered from focused group discussions (FGDs) with students and in-depth interviews (IDIs) with some tertiary institutions' lecturers as well as the researchers' direct observation of the issue under investigation. The study discovered that a majority of the youths adopt a certain option/brand of English which cannot be located within the matrix of Standard English (SE) or even popular Nigerian English variant which is called Pidgin English (PE). Consequently, expressions such as 'u' for 'you' 'gr8t' for 'great', 'ur/urs' for 'your/yours', among other deviational patterns, have crept into their writing consciousness in classes and examinations, which make a lot of 'sense' in informal settings among the youths, but smacks of sub-literacy in formal 1

Impact of Social Media on the Writing Abilities of Ambrose Alli University Undergraduates in Ekpoma-Nigeria

GiST Education and Learning Research Journal, 2018

This article examined the impact of social media on the writing abilities of Nigerian youths in English, which is the language of mass communication in Nigeria. Deploying cultivation theory of the media, this study used quantitative and qualitative methods to unpack the Nigerian youths' opinions on the impact of the use of social media on their writing abilities, using undergraduates in Ekpoma, Nigeria as a study case. To do this, data was collected through the use of 110 copies of a survey questionnaire administered to selected students. Additional information was garnered from focused group discussions (FGDs) with students and in-depth interviews (IDIs) with some tertiary institutions' lecturers as well as the researchers' direct observation of the issue under investigation. The study discovered that a majority of the youths adopt a certain option/brand of English which cannot be located within the matrix of Standard English (SE) or even popular Nigerian English variant which is called Pidgin English (PE). Consequently, expressions such as 'u' for 'you' 'gr8t' for 'great', 'ur/urs' for 'your/yours', among other deviational patterns, have crept into their writing consciousness in classes and examinations, which make a lot of 'sense' in informal settings among the youths, but smacks of sub-literacy in formal 1

Impact of social media language on writings of the undergraduates of university of Nigeria, Nsukka

AFRREV IJAH: An International Journal of Arts and Humanities

This paper investigated the impact of social media language on writings of the undergraduates of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The aim of this paper was to identify the extent to which SMS language has influenced the writings of undergraduates. Also, to confirm or refute the arguments and counteraugments that had raised dust in the academics over the presupposed negative effects of this form of media discourse on students' academic writings. This study draws insights from Corder's Error Analysis. The corpus of this study was gotten from an eight-item-questionnaire and confirmatory essay test administered to forty students selected at random. Data elicited from the questionnaires were

The Implications of Social Media Language Use—A Case Study of Students From Akwa Ibom State Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria

Language and Semiotic Studies

The language of written communication among students of Nigerian tertiary institutions has, over the years, shifted from the learnt, conventional English to a casual, trendy, developing form mostly used by youths and young adults who frequently communicate on social media platforms. In this study, we look at the codes used by these student-users of the social media for communication, the domains of usage and their attitudes towards these codes, among others. With data from one hundred and fifty students, selected through the random sampling method from three tertiary institutions in Akwa Ibom state, it was discovered that more than 90% of students use the social media codes among themselves and in other informal situations including with their lecturers who use these platforms. As rampant and varied that these codes are, the students also use them in their classrooms to take notes, with a negligible few using them on their test and examination papers. In as much as they have usage justifications ranging from cheapness, time and energy saving, to solidarity, most of these students are not unaware of the academic implications if these codes are used beyond the informal bounds. Our position is that inasmuch as the social media platform has been able to carve out a linguistic community for its users, who do not seem to retrace their steps as far as usage of these codes is concerned, they should be used within the bounds of the community. Domains like the classroom and even with parents may not help them to be restrictive in their usage.

Social media and English language writing performances of a Ghanaian ESL class: The nexus

Cogent Education , 2023

The nexus among social media usage and the English language writing performances of a Ghanaian English as Second Language (ESL) class was investigated in this enquiry. The simple qualitative case study design was used, and the data was collected from a coeducational government secondary school Form 2 General Arts One class in Ghana. A focus group discussion (FGD) guide was employed to elicit the data, and the data were synthesised and analysed using the Data Analysis Spiral. It was evidenced that social media has adversely impacted the students' English Language learning, as oblivious and non-standard contents have been smuggled into the students' academic writings and have negatively affected their performances. We recommend that teachers and parents regulate students' Ramos Asafo-Adjei ABOUT THE AUTHORS Ramos Asafo-Adjei holds a PhD in English language (English Language Teaching) from the University of Venda in South Africa and is an Associate Professor at the Communication and Media Studies Section of the Centre for Languages and Liberal Studies of the

Effects of SMS Texting on the Writing Skills of University Students in Nigeria: Case of the College of Education Akamkpa

International Journal of Linguistics and Communication, 2014

Students are compelled, in examination situations, to use langue properly for an effective communication of their ideas and a grammatical formulation of their answers. Improper use of language is, in this respect, often sanctioned in various glaring ways. Despite this linguistic and examination requisites, students-often advertently or inadvertently-violate language rules, sometimes under the influence of intensive/frequent use of particular communication technology. This paper explores the influence of technology-particularly the SMS (Short Messages) texting-on the use of English language by Nigerian university students, in a typical pedagogical situation. It focuses specifically on students of the College of Education, Akamkpa in Nigeria. Based on a content analysis of 250 SMS messages generated by 50 third year students of the institution and answers scripts produced in an examination situation by these students, the paper demonstrates that intensive use of the SMS texting affects students' language literacy. Texting influences them to consciously or unconsciously transfer the pattern of written proper for SMS messaging into their essays. The paper shows features of the SMS language observed in both SMS messages by the students and their answer scripts. The five most dominant features include vowel deletion, graphones, alphanumeric homophony, punctuation 'errors' and initialization among others.

INYANG UDOFOT, CHIBUIKE SMART MBARACHI SOCIAL MEDIA ENGLISH IN NIGERIA

This paper reports the findings of a study on 'Social Media English in Nigeria'. The content analysis framework was used in the study. Data were collected online through the Facebook wall and Twitter handle of the researchers, message archives of Nairaland website, readers' comments/posts on Nigerian Punch online website as well as messages received through the researchers' email address which were accompanied by copies of Google online questionnaire. In all, fifty (50) text samples on each of the platforms were used for the study. The data were analysed with the aid of Antconc concordance (version 3.2.4w) – a computer aided text analysis and harvesting software. The analysis revealed that social media English in Nigeria has a mixture of features of internet language, Nigerian English, Nigerian Pidgin and codes from Nigerian indigenous languages. It is also relatively informal although texts by Level Three subjects were observed to be more formal than the texts written by subjects in Levels One and Two. Respelling/Shortening, Alphanumeric and Nigerian Pidgin features were found to be the commonest features of social media English in Nigeria. The T-test statistical analysis showed that both Facebook/Twitter data and Web post (Nairaland and Nigerian Punch) data were similar. ©KY PUBLICATIONS

Impact of Technology on Youths: A Study of Emergence of New Forms of Communications among Nigerian Youths and their Challenges to Education and Language Learning

2018

The English language plays a key role in Nigeria. It is a major means by which knowledge is impacted. As a result of the advancement in technology, the language has gained more recognition and has improved communication worldwide. However, many users especially the youths have abused the use of social networking. In the past, the poor performance of students in written English was attributed to inadequate motivation, teaching and learning environment, and lack of facilities. Today, other factors have emerged as a result of technological advancement and the internet. The spelling system of English is a major problem for the second language user community. New forms of written expressions among youths now compound this. The question is: what are the effects of social media on students’ writing? The question was answered through a comparative review of the written text in social media and academic settings. Samples of Nigerian youths' written texts were collected via social media p...

Effects of Social Media on Students’ Writing: The Case Study of Mount Mary College of Education

International Journal of Social Science, Education, Communication and Economics (SINOMICS JOURNAL), 2022

The study aimed to determine the impact of social media language (also known as net language) on the formal writing skills of Mount Mary College of Education students. This study involved a total of 150 students, 60 of whom were males and 90 of whom were females, who were studying English language and French at the time of the study. The study employed a phenological research design, and a purposive sample technique was used to choose the thirty (30) participants that took part in it. The responses were mark quiz papers and group tasks, and the results were analysed. The study concluded that when people write individually, social media does have an impact on their formal writing. Students who work in groups, on the other hand, are not affected by this. Another finding of the survey was that respondents employ a wide range of social media lingo, including clipping, abbreviation, alphanumeric homophony, vowel deletion, graphone, and other slang terms, among other things. According to the results of the survey, most people type in social media or internet language when they communicate on social media to make it easier for them to communicate.

English Used in Social Media and Its Effect on the HSC Level Learners

ELT, 2018

A new trend of using Social Media or Social Networking Sites has been recently highlighted in this technology era. Social media influences people’s lives in many aspects including education and English language learning. It has made an effect on the English language either in a positive way by adding new words to the dictionary a negative way by misusing the grammar and using incorrect abbreviated words. The purpose of this study is to examine what the effect of using Social Media has on the English language learners and see if it was more positive than negative and vice versa as well as to understand the students’ perceptions on how the use of social networking sites help to facilitate or inhibit their English writing skills. To achieve the objectives of the research, the study used a mixed method approach which involved the survey of students in high schools. The study revealed that majority of respondents used WhatsApp and Facebook for making friends and chatting. In addition, majority of respondents experienced negative effects such as poor grammar and spelling. Nevertheless, there were cases where others experienced improvement in their readings skills as a result of participation on social media networks. Also, respondents shared ideas, discussed and shared examination questions among themselves on social media networks. The study recommended the promotion of social media usage for academic purpose, counseling for addicted students and the use of the right grammar and spelling when participating on social networks. Key words: Social Media, Communication, College Students, Academic Writing