Social media and speaking skills

Abstract

The present research work collected and analyzed the points of view of some students on social media platforms in speaking skills. A total of 79 university students (35 men and 44 women) participated in a descriptive, non-experimental research. The data was collected through a survey with 18 items on a Likert scale, 3 open questions, and 5 multiple-choice questions. The survey was validated by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient (0.881). In addition, the research was based on three research questions based on the specific objectives. The results revealed that instant messaging social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram are used by students to practice their speaking skills, especially they use these platforms to practice their speaking skills outside of class as a self-improvement tool and because they feel safe to speak English through these apps, thus demonstrating that they serve for students to practice self-learning and have extra practice, in addition to being an alternative practice for students who have difficulty speaking in public. Regarding the speaking sub-skills most promoted by teachers in the classroom, the learners mention that they are Pronunciation and Fluency, demonstrating that they are important to master for good speaking. The results also showed that the strategies most used by students to improve their speaking skills while using messaging applications are listening to native speakers of the language and imitating their way of speaking and also recording audios speaking English to evaluate the aspects that need to be improved. This shows that these platforms provide the possibility of using useful strategies to improve speaking.