Abstract

The study aims to explore the effect of using social media on University students' vocabulary achievement, To motivate EFL learners to use latest effective vocabulary learning strategies through social media, .and to formulate useful recommendations for the development of English language vocabulary items by the routine of interesting shared media and the influence of social media on educating scholars' English dialectal skills, i.e., speaking with BS level EFL students at The Islamic University of Bahawalpur. Social media technologies include wikis, social networks, podcasts, pictures, magazines, internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, videos, and more. It works in many different ways, including. Still, rare research has focused precisely on the role of social media in learning foreign languages. . Findings reveal social media as an operative tool for the development of English dialectal vocabulary and motivate the learners to use social media positively for the enhancement of vocabulary.

Key Words

EFL Students, Social Media, Foreign Language, Internet

Introduction

The values of quick advancement in skill, innovation, and media are mirrored in key action words to learn, entangle, coordinate, and collaborate with unknown dialects, as old Chinese precepts are impeccably positioned: Express me, I neglect. Display me, I recollect. Get me recruited, I comprehend. Subsequently, the traditional vernacular class setting has changed drastically as far as the strategies utilized for educating. Depending on course books and manuals just to expand information and familiarity with an unknown dialect won't give prompt and powerful advantages. As the Internet became probably the most recent strategy for language instructing, as a rule, jargon specifically became related to it and prompted an unmistakable improvement in unknown dialect learning. The Internet and PCs offer such a lot that learning a language, specifically, implies more than words, definitions, and syntax rules. Accordingly, unknown dialect classes should be used and technical, TV, video, projectors, laptops, DVD players, etc. Of the great potential given by such devices, Krashen (1982) subconsciously should be included in the lessons he mentions. Computers. Linguistic securing. Realizing a language requires going past course readings, which means understanding the social aspect. Paying attention to music, watching motion pictures in unknown dialects, including films, shows, and kid's shows, utilizing PCs adequately with all that they can offer, can transform exhausting and once in a while inadequate language examples into genuine language learning labs.

Richard and Rennandya (2002) have shown that vocabulary teaching, and learning have rarely been preferred in second-language programs in the past, but recently there has been an updated change that reflects the nature of speech and its role in learning and teaching. Vocabulary is a key component of language skills and provides learners with a basis for good speaking, listening, reading and writing. Without a broad vocabulary and a new vocabulary strategy, students often gain less than their potential and are reluctant to take advantage of the language learning opportunities around them. Vocabulary generally plays a greater and vital factor in learning linguistics categories. Lack of required vocabulary is also the most common reason why students are unable to say what they want to say during a communication activity. Therefore, language teachers should plan to provide an appropriate dictionary before beginning any communication activity and encourage students to look up the word in a dictionary or ask the teacher how to sit (Chastain, 1988).




Objectives of the Study

The main objectives of the study are mentioned as below:

1. To investigate the effect of using social media on University students' vocabulary achievement.

2. To motivate EFL learners to use the latest effective vocabulary learning strategies used through social media.

3. To formulate useful recommendations for the development of English language vocabulary items by the use of interesting social media.




Hypothesis 

The undermentioned hypothesis is to be verified through current research study:

• There is a statistically noteworthy difference between the lexis attainment of students who are taught lexis according to social media and that of students who are taught vocabulary according to traditional practices.




Importance of the Study

The value of the research stems from the importance of social media in vocabulary learning as an essential aspect of the EFL teaching process. As social media is popular among people of all ages, this work can also be valuable for English teachers, educators, trainers, supervisors, and EFL learners.




Delimitations

This study is limited to BS students of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur during the academic year (2019-2020).

Review of Related Literature

To clarify the key terms used in this study, these are defined as follows:

Good (1973) defines this as the effect of a controlled experimental factor on control variables. Ur (2012) says that vocabulary is about the same as words in a language. However, items with more than one word may be included. Dewing (2010) considers social media asset of online communication ways covering a wide range of smartphone internet services that motivate learners in the exchange of thought and ideas, consuming leisure time and for essential needs also.

The literature does not pay enough attention to the teaching and learning of words. In the early 1970s, Wilkins wrote: Linguists said very little about vocabulary and could find very little research that would be of any practical interest to language teachers (Hedge, 2000), and about a decade later, Meara (1980) acquired this vocabulary. Applied linguistics has made a brief change. To better understand the task of learning English vocabulary, we need to look at two aspects of meaning: first, it focuses on the relationship between meaning and the world to which words refer. The second involves the emotional relationships that exist between words.

English, like other languages, has a variety of areas that students can learn, such as vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and listening, but little has been done in second language programs, but the nature of vocabulary and its new role in learning has increased recently. Richard and Renandya, (2002) and Thornbury (2002) focus on the role of the teacher in promoting vocabulary and providing learners with self-learning strategies. The most important thing that students need to know about a lexical item is its written and spoken form and the most common meaning. Nation (1990) presents under mentioned a list for learning linguistics key categories.

a. The meaning (s) of the word.

b. The written form of the word.

c. The spoken form of the word.

d. The grammatical behavior of the word.

e. The appositions of the word.

f. The index(situation) of the word.




Criteria for Selecting Vocabulary

The criteria that can be used to select vocabulary are:

Speed

The hat itself shows that it is sensitive to teach the most common words in any language before teaching more ordinary words, because these are the most useful words for language learners. However, the rate is more multifaceted than it seems, and it is dubious that any curriculum or textbook will want to cane to rate lists unaccompanied ”(Wallace, 1988).




Range

A word can be quite frequent, but most or even all occurrences can occur in only one or two contexts. In this case, although the frequency seems significant, the range can be quite small. The most useful words for learners are those that are common and occur in different contexts '' (Wallace, 1988).

Existence or Expediency

Words can be learned or taught because they are specifically related to specific situations that the learner finds or can learn. Thus, although chalk or wood has very few frequencies and a limited range, because they name things that a student can see and touch and that a teacher can use in their teaching '(Gairns & Redman, 1989).




Special Needs of Trainers

It is possible for students to feel that they need something to be considered for motivation, or that they need words from a textbook, or that they are interested in different words. In fact, their needs or interests may not coincide with the requirements of the group or class. As teachers, our challenge here is to unite the individual with the team (Gairns & Redman, 1989). Gairn and Redman (1989) suggest that students choose the words they want from the text and work on them over a period of time using a dictionary in addition to traditional vocabulary work. In this way, learners are encouraged to recognize their needs and help develop the skills to pursue those needs in an organized or productive manner.




Learning Capability

As indicated by McCarthy (1990), trouble or absence of trouble, a given the word can drop its recurrence and reach, and choices to advance or delay the instructing of a thing can be founded on learning capacity. Here we can incorporate some spelling troubles, phonological hardships, troublesome syntactic highlights, difficulties, or words identified with one's experience or social world




Cultural Factors

Students develop vocabulary and practice vocabulary as they develop. Ecos (1979) explains that every word is potentially a text. This means that students need to be aware of such nuances in order to interpret the meaning correctly and to choose the right vocabulary. In addition, many of these will be culturally influenced and may not be easily accessible (Hedge, 2000).







World Wide Web (WWW)

Harris (1999) defines www as the latest arrival in internet science. Combines most of the usage. The network was established in the past and introduced new ones. These new features include interactivity, multimedia, and hypermedia. In addition, www offers an easy-to-use and simple graphical interface. The capabilities of the World Wide Web are limited only by imagination. So there are many advantages that FL can offer to any classroom. Frieze (1995) identifies some of these advantages. (A) integrated knowledge provides real-world examples, (b) it is a rich source of the original language and cultural material, (c) it offers opportunities for collaborative work, and (d) it provides users with access to information. history and plenty of information, (e) appeals to learners with visual / tactile learning styles, (f) offers the opportunity to write for real audiences for real purposes, (g) develops critical thinking skills, and (h) offers opportunities for online publication.




Reasons to use the Internet in the EFL Classroom

For Magoto (1995), the question arises as to whether schools will be allowed to lag behind in educational roles in things that become the core of economic and social life. There is a need for new skills and a basic understanding of basic technology. To achieve this, it is important to learn to work with social media. Understanding new technology is mastered in curricula and teaching methods for both students and teachers. In this regard, Assche (1998) and Williams (1995) argue that the use of the World Wide Web and the Internet can have a number of potential consequences and benefits. Schools will be better able to cope with the challenges of preparing students for the information society. Schools and teachers who make maximum use of ICT will dramatically increase the effectiveness of the teaching process. It is a real example to get information from all over the world. It helps to learn in a group because it allows you to communicate more freely with others. 




Advantages of Social Media in EFL Classes

There are more advantages than disadvantages of social media use in education (Shihc, 2011). He says social media as effective educational instrument, and students can learn from each other and communicate with their peers through a social media platform with a variety of tools and websites between teacher and students to facilitate the learning of the EFL. and '' develops communication skills (Schmitt, 2009), noting the involvement of students in effective communication in foreign as well as with their mother tongues, which can help improve their vocabulary. However, the online involvement of students and teachers in communication has motives  (Gebhard, 2009). For example, platforms like Skype, Face, Time, or Adobe Connect allow people to communicate while seeing each other in real-time. This can be extreme. Useful for student-to-student communication, as well as for individual coaching between teacher and student (Harmer, 2012).

Methodology

Sketch Sample

One hundred thirty-five students are the participants of the study selected from the total number of BS students from various departments of Bahawalpur Islamic University during the 2019-2020 academic year.




Questionnaire Description

The survey is conducted to obtain information about students' learning situations and opinions there and their attitudes towards the use of social media to improve vocabulary information. The questionnaire consists of significant items connected to objectives. 

Results

The current section is designed to measure general information about students and their English language learning experiences and choices. It also emphasizes how they assess their level in English.




Table 1. The effect of using social media on University students' vocabulary achievement.

Questions	Option	Percentage
I consider my level in English	Very Good	63.0%
	Good	22.0%
	Average	6.0%
	Poor	9.0%
I  rate my vocabulary in knowledge level as	Excellent	57.0%
	Poor	7.0%
	Good	18.0%
	Fair	18.0%
I learn new English vocabulary in my daily life through social media	Yes	59.0%
	No	15.0%
	Sometimes	26.0%
Vocabulary learning is important in English language learning	Very Much	47.0%
	Much	26.0%
	Little	11.0%
	Not at all	16.0%
You have difficulties with vocabulary improvement	Yes	75.0%
	No	25.0%
Social media use is my routine.	Yes	80.0%
	No	20.0%
I think social media use is beneficial for the English vocabulary development of EFL learners.	Learning Grammar	15.0%
	Learning Vocabulary	45.0%
	Learning Language Skills	40.0%
Social media use will enrich learners vocabulary of the English language	Yes	75.0%
	No	25.0%
I think that social media users EFL learners develop more vocabulary than non-users.	Yes	53.0%
	No	26.0%
	Sometimes	7.0%
	I don’t know	14.0%
I communicate with my teachers outside the classroom by using social media	Always	42.0%
	Usually	26.0%
	Sometimes	7.0%
	Rarely	14.0%
	Never	11.0%

 




In table 1, the results indicate the level of learners in English as very good (63 %), good (22%), average (6%) and Poor (9 %), rate of vocabulary in knowledge level as excellent (57%), poor (07 %), good (18%) and fair (18%), Most of the respondents admit that they learn new English vocabulary in my daily life through social media, Most of the respondents give importance to English vocabulary learning, Respondents admit difficulty in vocabulary learning without the use of social media, Most of the learners admit the use of social media in daily life, Responses in the statement "I think social media use is beneficial for English vocabulary development of EFL learners." Learning grammar (15%), learning vocabulary (45%), and learning language skills (40%) , Most of the students admit "Social media use will enrich learners vocabulary of English language." And favored the statement, "I think that social media users EFL learners develop more vocabulary than non-users." (42%) students always, (26%) usually and 07%) sometimes communicate with their teachers outside the classroom through social media.




 

 

Table 2. Strategies used for learning new Vocabulary

Item No	Statement	Never %	Sometime %	Often %	Always %	Mean	SD
1	Translation	4	11	28	57	3.36	0.85
2	Definition	13	21	33	33	2.87	1.01
3	Synonyms / Antonyms	13	20	33	34	2.87	1.02
4	Facebook	19	33	29	19	2.48	1.00
5	Skype	40	35	16	9	1.93	0.96
6	YouTube	9	23	24	44	3.03	1.01
7	Wikipedia	9	23	24	44	3.03	1.01
	Average	15.3	23.7	26.7	34.3	2.79	0.98

 




Table 2 depicts the use of new vocabulary learning strategies like translation, definition, synonyms/antonyms, facebook, youtube, skype, and Wikipedia as per the above-mentioned values of means and standard deviation.




 

Table 3. Comparison of male and female vocabulary learning strategy use through Social Media.

Variables	Gender	Mean	S.D.	S.E.M.	t-value	p-value
Translation	Male	4.8714	1.39036	.10510	4.435	.000
	Female	4.2073	1.67262	.10664
Definition	Male	4.6486	1.19659	.09045	2.673	.008
	Female	4.3201	1.27432	.08125
Synonyms / Antonyms	Male	5.3676	1.27159	.09612	1.996	.047
	Female	5.1084	1.36990	.08734
Facebook	Male	3.8971	1.11867	.08456	4.785	.000
	Female	3.3862	1.02299	.06522
Skype	Male	3.7029	1.20535	.09112	1.60	.112
	Female	3.5112	1.21455	.07744
YouTube	Male	4.9829	1.16476	.08805	1.565	.118
	Female	4.7913	1.28723	.08207
Total	Male	4.73	.723	.2647	2.436	0.004
	Female	4.47	1.06	.068

 




Table 3 displays the comparison of male and females vocabulary learning strategies use via social media most significant correlation is found in Translation (t= 4.435, p= 000), definition (t= 2.67, p= .008) and synonyms/antonyms(t= 1.99, p= .047).




 

Table 4. Correlation between social media style and traditional style of vocabulary learning strategies..1 

	Mean	S.D	R	p
Translation	4.13	.58
Definition	4.93	1.02	.192**	.000
Synonyms / Antonyms	4.85	1.16	.055	.261
Facebook	4.45	1.25	.014	.781
Skype	4.87	1.23	.120*	.014
YouTube	5.21	1.33	.253**	.000
Wikipedia	5.20	1.26	.289**	.000
Total Strategies	4.57	.72	.174**	.000

Note: p-value = Significance Level, r = correlation coefficient, SD = Std. Deviation




Table 4 exhibits the relationship between the social media vocabulary learning style and the traditional one. The results of the table show that there is a strong positive significant correlation of social media vocabulary learning strategy style with the reported use of definition (r =.192**, p =.000), Skype (r =.120*, p =.014), youtube (r =.253**, p =.000) and Wikipedia (r =.289**, p =.000) strategies by the students.  Relationship among the total strategies use and styles (r =.174*, p =.000) indicate a highly strong positive significant correlation. These results explore that higher score on social media vocabulary learning strategies use style. These results suggest that social media vocabulary learning strategies style can play a significant role in learning English language vocabulary. 

 

Learner’s suggestions about the Improvement of English Language Vocabulary Areas

·         Learners should practice through social media-based learning vocabulary inside and outside the classroom.

·         Learners must put efforts in developing vocabulary through proper use of social media.

·         Social media must be used by the learners positively

·         EFL learners must communicate on social media in the English language to make it better proficiency.

Discussion

The results reveal the level of learners in English as very good as learners' rate of vocabulary in knowledge level is excellent through self-rated response, and they learn new English vocabulary in my daily life through social media. Most of the respondents give importance to English vocabulary learning and admit difficulty in vocabulary learning without the use of social media. Most of the learners acknowledge the use of social media in daily life, and they think social media use is beneficial for the English vocabulary development of EFL learners. It shows that social media use will enrich learners vocabulary of the English language as they concede that social media users EFL learners develop more vocabulary than non-users. Most of the learners communicate with their teachers outside the classroom through social media.

The relationship between the social media vocabulary learning style and the traditional one reveals a strong positive significant correlation of social media vocabulary learning strategy style with the reported use of definition through Skype, youtube, and Wikipedia by the students. These findings suggest that social media vocabulary learning strategies style can play a significant role in learning English language vocabulary.  

The comparison of male and female vocabulary learning strategies used via social media reveals the most significant correlation in Translation, definition, and synonyms/antonyms.

Conclusions

Through this research, the researcher sought to examine the impact of the use of social media to improve the vocabulary of English language students in various departments of the Islamia University and placed this as a hypothesis for research on the usefulness of communication methods. Enrich students' vocabulary because social media users for learning English vocabulary are better than traditional vocabulary learners. This work is divided into three main chapters. The first chapter discusses the purpose and scope of the study, and the second chapter discusses key aspects of social media and its relationship to learning and education. As for the third chapter, the researcher's conclusions about the use of communication tools and its effectiveness are discussed.

The current study explore the objectives ; the effect of using social media on University students' vocabulary achievement, To motivate EFL learners to use latest effective vocabulary learning strategies use through social media .and to formulate useful recommendations for the development of English language vocabulary items by the use of interesting social media. Findings reveal social media as an effective tool for the development of English language vocabulary and motivate the learners to use social media positively for the enhancement of vocabulary. It formulate following recommendations for both the stake holders i.e. teachers and learners as follows.

English Language Teachers should follow the under mentioned recommendations

• Provide time to communicate in the English language through social media and should advise the learner to do practice.

• Use different social media sites from time to time to keep in touch with  the learners on various types of social media i.e., facebook, Instagram, twitter. youtube, skype email etc. through a strong positive learning relation

• To learn English dictionaries, always encourage learners to communicate in English.

 Sanctions for EFL Learners

• Social media use should be encouraged for the English language vocabulary learning positively.

• EFL Learners should discuss home and classroom activities with fellows through social media.

• Students should communicate in the English language inside and outside the classroom.

• Attractive quotations about various topics and literary pieces of writing should be shared and discussed.

References

• Assche, F., & Van, N. D., (1998). The web for project.
• Chastain, K. (1998). Developing second language skills (2nd ed.). Chicago: Harcourt Brace Published.
• Dewing, M. (2010). Social media, social affairs division. New York: Library of Parliament.
• Freeman, L., & Anderson, M. (2012). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Frizler, K. (1995). The Internet as an educational tool in ESOL writing instruction (Unpublished Master Dissertation). San Francisco State.
• Gairns, R., & Redman, S. (1989). A guide to teaching and learning vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Gebhard, G. (2006). Teaching English as a Foreign or second language. New York: The University of Michigan Press.
• Good, C. (1973). Dictionary of education. New York: McGraw Hill.
• Harmar, J. (2012). The practice of English language teaching. Essex: Longman Publications.
• Harris, R. (1999). Evaluation internet research sources.
• Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Keith, J. R. (1997). The Internet. New York: Yale University School of Medicine.
• Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Publications.
• Magoto, J. (1995). From the nets: World wide web and ESL. CALL Journal, 4(1), 140-155.
• Meara, P. (1980). Vocabulary acquisition. Neglected Aspect of Language Learning 13(4), 221-46.
• Mecarthy, M. (1990). Vocabulary. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
• Nation, I. (1990).Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York: Newbury House.
• Richards, M., & Renandya, W.A. (2002). Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. Oxford: Heinemann.
• Rosen, M. (2007). Facebook's effect on subtle emotion decoding, academic performance, and identity protection (Unpublished PhD Dissertation). The Faculty of the Communication Department at Southern Utah University.
• Scrivener, J. I. M. (1994). Learning teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Smith, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Thornbury, S. (2005). How to teach speaking. Essex: Person Education Limited.
• Ur, P. (2012). A course in language teaching: practice and theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Wallance, M. (1988). Teaching Vocabulary. Oxford: Heinemann Publications.
• Weber, L. (2009). Marketing to the social web. New Jersey: Hoboken Publications.
• Williams, D. (1995). A suggested framework for the educational use of Internet technologies.