The use of social media in EFL learning and teaching in higher education of Afghanistan

Abstract

Social media has been widely used in EFL programs in higher education and they play an important role in transforming learning and teaching. This study investigated the use of social media in EFL learning and teaching in Afghanistan. Moreover, it explored the preference and the frequency of the use of social media in EFL learning and teaching. A survey questionnaire was administered to gather the data from 170 randomly chosen participants from Takhar University based in Taloqan City, a northeastern city in Afghanistan. The researchers used Statistical Package for Social Sciences to analyze the data. The study found that Facebook and WhatsApp were among the highly preferred social networking sites and they were frequently used in EFL learning and teaching in Afghanistan. The results of the study showed statistically significant differences in the frequency of the use of social media by the students’ gender, age and class. Female participants used social media more frequently than their male peers and senior and older students used social media more frequently than junior and younger students. The results of the study suggest that higher education leaders and policy-makers should encourage the use of social media and provide more technological facilities to improve students’ achievement and quality of education.