Is Social Media the New Classroom?

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FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND BUSINESS STUDIES

Department of Humanities

Is Social Media the New Classroom?

A study on the impact of YouTube on language comprehension of Swedish students of English

Ellen Ångman Granér

2021

Student thesis, Professional degree (basic), 15 HE Education

Upper Secondary Teacher Education Programme English for teachers 61-90 HE

Supervisor: Iulian Cananau Examiner: Henrik Kaatari

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Abstract

In this study, the possible impact YouTube can have on students reading and listening comprehension in English is investigated. In order to identify this possible impact, two main research questions were asked, analysed and answered. The sample group

researched in the study consisted of 123 students in the 8^th grade at an intermediate school in Sweden. Two surveys, one listening comprehension test and one reading comprehension test, were submitted to the sample group. Based on the results and the discussion, some conclusions could be drawn. Students who spend an average amount of time on YouTube seem to perform at a higher level regarding reading and listening comprehension. However, students who spend a lot of time on YouTube did not perform at the highest level of proficiency, making it difficult to determine with absolute certainty how extensive the correlation between social media and language comprehension is.

Keywords:

Second Language Acquisition, Extramural English, L2, Social Media, YouTube, Comprehension, English, Sweden, Intermediate School

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1. Introduction

In 1991, the World Wide Web went live. In 2008, iPhone 3G was released in Sweden.

Since then, technology has kept improving and growing. Now, you can access the internet almost everywhere and from a wide range of devices. Almost all students in intermediate schools in Sweden have access to a smart phone, an iPad and a computer both in school and at home. It is safe to say that this access has an impact on us; on the way we socialize, the way we think, how we evolve and how we learn. The world is becoming more and more technological and companies are taking advantage of that fact by developing products which are compatible with the internet, such as Google or Apple. Social media is growing and is now a large part of culture and society. Schools are embracing this technological era and more and more of the education takes place online. Lessons can take place in virtual classrooms and a lot of teaching materials used in education are digital and the students write, read or listen on their computer. To an aspiring teacher, the question of how students learn is very important. Through experience from teaching intermediate students of English in Sweden, I have learned that social media is a big part of the students’ lives, a part that occupies their minds even during their school days. What if there was a way to combine their social media use with language learning? Can student’s comprehension of English really increase through use of social media? This study will therefor investigate the possible impact of YouTube on Swedish students’ comprehension of English.

1.1 Aim and research questions

It is safe to say that communication and language are very important pieces to gain knowledge and an understanding of the world. A person who cannot communicate or in any way use language lives in a very small world. We are constantly working towards getting more and more access in order to learn more about the world and a mean to this goal is the internet with social media and mobile phones to grant us access wherever we are. Modern technology might help us gain knowledge about the world but it is still unclear how much influence the modern technology actually has on learning. The aim of this study is therefore to see if watching YouTube has any impact on language comprehension in second language learners of English at grade 8 in an intermediate school in the north of Sweden.

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In order to investigate the impact social media might have on language comprehension, this study will try to answer the following research questions:

• Which social media platform is most commonly used among the sample group?

• Does the amount of time spent on YouTube reflect students’ level of reading and listening comprehension of English?

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2. Theory and previous research

The theoretical framework of this study consists mostly of previous research in the subject, such as the studies by Pia Sundqvist published in 2009. Her studies have similar aims: to investigate a possible correlation between English outside the classroom and second language acquisition. However, both Sundqvist (2009) and Brown (2014) targeted online gaming as one part of extramural English while this study focuses on social media. The theoretical framework of this study is also based on terminology such as “Extramural English” and “Second Language Acquisition” even though extramural English usually includes several different kinds of media outside the classroom and not only social media, which is the focus of this study.

2.1 Extramural English

As one study conducted by Sundqvist is a big part of the theoretical framework for this study, it might be fitting to allow her quote to summarise the term “Extramural

English”:

The term extramural is an adjectival compound of Latin origin where the prefix, extra, means ’outside’ and the stem, mural, means ’wall’. Hence, the term Extramural English means ‘English outside the walls’ and, as I said in chapter 1, it refers to the English that learners come in contact with or are involved in outside the walls of the classroom. (2009: 24)

She mentions several different scenarios where learning outside the classroom takes place, such as watching a film in English, listening to music or reading a book. Another scenario is online gaming. Extramural English is very important for second language learning due to the fact that it offers the students a more interesting way of learning.

Students who enjoy watching a film or reading a book in English will not see it as learning but as entertainment. Students who participate in classroom activities to learn English as well as participate in any form of extramural English outside the classroom get a great exposure to the language and therefore an excellent chance to learn

(Sundqvist, 2009: 24).

Phil Benson also has a definition of English outside the classroom: “any kind of learning that takes place outside the classroom and involves self-instruction, naturalistic learning or self-directed naturalistic learning (2001: 62)”. Benson mentions

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”naturalistic learning” which can be interpreted in two ways: a way in which we learn by doing and therefore the learning comes naturally and a way in which the learning is not ideal or abstract but real (2001: 62). As Sundqvist (2009: 24) writes, students who come in contact with English outside the classroom learn English in a natural way and possibly even without realizing it.

In his book, Benson mentions how the majority of language learning research revolved around classroom learning and not learning outside the classroom (2001: 1). This is no longer the case since several studies have been conducted on extramural English in the last decades. However, a great deal of focus in these studies is placed on several different kinds of extramural English, such as media and online gaming, whereas this study only examines the use of social media, a part that is still deficient in language learning research.

When teenagers or young adults use English in their spare time, by

watching a movie or playing a video game, they are most likely motivated to understand what they hear or read. Unlike the situations in the classroom, it is their own choice to be exposed to English in their spare time. They rarely have the intention of learning in mind when they choose their spare time activity but they are still provided with a learning opportunity (Sundqvist, 2009: 24). In a situation such as this, the learning can be either explicit or implicit. Nick Ellis describes the two concepts of explicit and implicit learning (1994:1). According to him, implicit learning is what happens when we learn something without thinking about it and explicit learning is when the learning happens consciously. Some things are possible to learn without effort or purpose while others are not. According to Ellis (1994: 2), research regarding implicit and explicit L2 learning is deficient and there is a need for more research to be conducted in this area.

However, Ellis (1994: 2) contends that these learning systems seem to interact during L2 learning, becoming one system instead of two. This opinion agrees with others who say that second language learning has to consist of both conscious and unconscious learning opportunities, both in the classroom and outside of the classroom.

2.2 Second Language Acquisition

Lourdes Ortega defines the term “Second Language Acquisition” as follows:

Second language acquisition (SLA, for short) is the scholarly field of inquiry that investigates the human capacity to learn languages other than the first,

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during late childhood, adolescence or adulthood, and once the first language or languages have been acquired. (2009:1)

Ortega discusses cognition and what it takes to get to know a second language well enough to use it fluently. A very interesting aspect of cognitive learning is the question of whether we can learn without intention. Amongst SLA researchers, it is agreed that it is possible to learn incidentally, that is, to learn while doing something else, for

example, learning vocabulary or reading comprehension while reading for pleasure or learning the skill of listening while watching a movie for entertainment. However, it is difficult to determine with certainty that the second language learner has not learned with intent. For example, a learner reading a book for pleasure might come across a word that is unfamiliar to her and get the urge to find out the meaning of the word and thereby learning with intention (Ortega, 2009: 94).

Ortega also discusses motivation as a factor to succeeding in learning a second language. In early motivational research, the focus was to determine if the amount of motivation towards learning a second language would reflect the

achievement in the L2 learner. Another important focus for motivational research is to understand which variables contribute to increasing, or decreasing, the motivation towards learning a second language. These variables are called antecedents and integrativeness is one of the more central antecedents in second language motivation.

Integrativeness can be defined as “a genuine interest in learning the second language in order to come closer to the other language community” (Ortega, 2009: 170) and consists of three dimensions: favourable attitudes towards the L2 community, general interest in foreign languages and reasons for learning related to interaction. When all three

dimensions are combined, one can achieve integrative motivation and in extreme cases detach themselves from the L1 community.

Another antecedent is orientation, which refers to the L2 learner’s reasons for learning the second language (Ortega, 2009: 173). These reasons contribute to the learner setting goals and retaining their motivation throughout the learning process.

There are five fundamental orientations, or reasons, for learning a second language and more than one can be displayed at once. The five orientations mentioned by Ortega are:

instrumental, such as a way of getting a new job, knowledge, for gaining an understanding about identity or culture, to travel to other countries, to be able to

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maintain a friendship with speakers from the L2 language and for integrative reasons, such as to become more like the L1 speakers (as mentioned earlier). Additional

orientations have been detected, such as one discovered by researchers Clément and Kruidenier and discussed by Ortega. In their study from 1983, they found that 11 grade students in Canada choose to learn a minority language to gain prestige and respect by the minority groups. This orientation is called dominance-recognition (Ortega, 2009:

173). An additional contribution to the motivation of learning a second language is the attitude towards the L2 language and the speakers. These attitudes are influenced by several factors, such as values and beliefs in the society or by family and friends. A study conducted by Gardner et al, and discussed by Ortega, found that past attitudes were directly associated with motivation in a current state (2009: 174).

Stephen Krashen is known for his theory on second language acquisition, which consists of five hypotheses: The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis, the Monitor hypothesis, the Input hypothesis, the Natural Order hypothesis and the Affective Filter hypothesis (Krashen, 1987: 11, 13–15). The first hypothesis, the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis, might be the most notable one amongst both linguists and language

teachers. According to the hypothesis, there are two different ways of learning a second language: “The acquired system” and “The learned system” (1987: 18–19). The

acquired system (also known as “acquisition”) is a subconscious process much like the one children go through when they learn their first language as toddlers. It is dependent on interaction in the target language in order to thereby acquire the language. The learned system (or “learning”) is, as opposed to acquisition, a conscious process. This is a more formal way of learning, complete with instructions and a conscious learning about rules such as grammar. An important difference between the systems is that acquisition is based on a setting where the teacher is central to the learning process while learning is based on a setting where the student acquires the language on their own. The acquired system is, according to Krashen himself, the most important one but in order for this approach to work, the setting where the student is exposed to the target language needs to be meaningful. The Input hypothesis correlates to the acquired system of the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis by attempting to explain how a student actually acquires a second language. Krashen states that a student can make progress if he or she receives “input” at a higher level than the students current level of

competence, given that the student has an understanding of the context (1987: 23).

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The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis and the Input hypothesis are the most relevant ones for this study, even though all five of Krashen’s hypotheses are important for second language learning. As mentioned earlier, the acquired system is a subconscious process where language is learned by interaction and the input hypothesis is a process where language is learned by exposure, or input, of the target language (Krashen, 1988:

126). These situations both occur when someone uses social media in the target language. They get exposed to the language and they are subconsciously learning, or acquiring, the language. Ortega’s motivational research is also of interest to this study, specifically her research on orientations for language learning. One of the five

orientations mentioned by Ortega is the one called “friendship” which refers to the L2 learners desire to learn the target language in order to maintain a friendship with speakers of the target language (Ortega, 2009: 173). A crucial part of social media is networking and connecting with people and a common language is an important part of that.

2.3 Definitions of social media and comprehension

In this subsection, the terms “Social Media” and “Comprehension” are defined by both dictionary definitions as well as definitions based on the theories relevant for this study.

Since there can be alternate meanings to words, it is important to clearly state which definitions of the terms will be used in this study in order to gain transparency.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “Social Media” as: "websites and computer programs that allow people to communicate and share information on the internet using a computer or mobile phone". In this study, “social media” will refer to websites and/or apps (Mobile Application) such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat et cetera.

Social media qualify as a part of extramural English since, according to Pia Sundqvist, it “refers to the English that learners come in contact with or are involved in outside the walls of the classroom” (2009: 24). It is a place where people can interact with each other in both verbal and written ways and even communicate with users from other countries. The latter might be a reason to acquire a second language since a lot of the content on social media is in English (see section 2.2). In order to be able to

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communicate with social media users from other countries, you will probably need to learn English and this might be the motivation for it.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines the term “comprehension” as: "the ability to understand completely and be familiar with a situation, facts etc." and “a test to find out how well students understand written or spoken language". In this study,

“comprehension” will refer to reading as well as listening comprehension to define how well students understand written and spoken language, in this case English.

William Littlewood describes listening comprehension as an active skill where the student needs to apply their knowledge in order to understand what is said (1981). Comprehension is very important since acquisition depends on understanding, regarding both written and spoken input. Although, it is also very important to make the students aware of the fact that it is not crucial to understand each word in order to gain a comprehension of the context.

2.4 Previous research

The amount of research regarding extramural English is increasing steadily, however, only a few of them focuses on social media and the impact social media might have on learning English. Due to this fact, this section is presenting previous research regarding several kinds of extramural English and its impact on students’ comprehension and acquisition of English as a second language.

In 2009, Pia Sundqvist published her dissertation regarding extramural English. A part of the main aim of her study was to identify a possible correlation between

extramural English and vocabulary amongst 9^th grade students of English, which is similar to the aim of this study which is to identify the possible impact social media has on reading and listening comprehension. However, Sundqvist chose to focus on seven given extramural activities: reading books, surfing the internet, reading newspapers or magazines, watching TV, watching movies, playing video games and listening to music while this study only focuses on social media as an extramural activity. Her study was based on theories regarding both second language acquisition and extramural English as well as oral proficiency and vocabulary in learning of English. Sundqvist conducted several different tests during different time periods: a Productive level test at an early stage of the study and a Vocabulary level test in a later semester. The tests both targeted vocabulary but at different levels of difficulty. She made an important as well as

interesting finding regarding the correlation between EE and vocabulary proficiency:

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the Productive level test and the Vocabulary level test both showed that students that come in contact with English outside of school have a higher vocabulary test score (2009: 154–155). Sundqvist writes: "…it is crucial that learners such as these increase the amount of time they spend on EE activities, if only very little, since even a small increase may make an important difference" (2009: 202).

In 2014, Eric Brown conducted a study on teaching English as a second language in the information age. The aim of his study was to find out how the use of

"new media" effect ESL students' acquisition (2014: 6). The primary materials used in his study included a student survey regarding use of new media and diagnostic tests measuring reading and listening comprehension as well as writing skills (2014: 19).

After reviewing the data, Brown identified the most frequently used types of new media as: streamed audio usage (56 %), social media usage (53 %) and online gaming usage (47 %). Much like in Sundqvist's study, moderate use of streamed/recorded audio had a noticeable effect on students' listening comprehension. Brown got a similar result regarding social media usage, where students’ claiming to have moderate to frequent use of social media also performed better in terms of reading comprehension (2014: 32- 33). Brown draws the conclusion that his study revealed correlations between new media usage and language proficiency. Although reading digital texts and listening to streamed/recorded audio such as films were not as meaningful in gaining proficiency as other forms of social media, they can still be useful tools in the learning of English as a second language (2014: 40-41).

In 2016, Eva Olsson conducted a study similar to the one by Pia Sundqvist where she researched the possible effect Extramural English (EE) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) education might have on writing proficiency (2016: 13). The study, unlike those by Sundqvist and Brown, focused on writing proficiency only, which, according to the author, is more uncommon than research focusing on the other receptive skills (listening and reading) and speaking. She also had a particular regard towards use of vocabulary in different registers. Her study, as

mentioned earlier, focused on learning English in two different contexts: EE and CLIL, but since only the part of her study regarding EE is relevant to this study I will not discuss the part regarding CLIL further.

To find out what impact EE has on students’ writing proficiency, Olsson collected both essays, language diaries and students’ grades as well as conducted a survey on language background. The different types of extramural activities she chose

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to study included: reading books or comics, writing blogs and text messages, watching movies, listening to music and playing computer games. Unlike this study, she did not explicitly state social media as one of these extramural activities, however, blogs can be viewed as a social media platform. She based her study on the theoretical framework of Second Language Acquisition as well as explicit and implicit learning theories, L2 writing proficiency, L2 vocabulary acquisition and academic vocabulary. Background regarding CLIL and EE were also important contributions to the framework of the study. Her findings from the research conducted in 9^th grade level students show that EE has an impact on writing proficiency but that the impact may be greater at lower

proficiency levels. Findings also suggest that students who more frequently use EE have a greater variation regarding register than in the case of students with a lower use of English outside of the classroom. Findings from upper secondary school level show that a higher use of EE does not necessarily implicate a higher writing proficiency (2016).

Robin Qvarfordt conducted a study in 2019 which is quite similar to this study. He researched the impact of Extramural English on students’ receptive skills (reading and listening) with social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram as part of the definition of Extramural English. However, he also researched whether the impact of EE on the receptive skills depended on age which this study did not. Qvarfordt used three types of materials to conduct his study; a student survey, a reading comprehension test and a listening comprehension test. The participants in the study were students’ in grade six and grade nine and the comprehension tests were old national tests for year six and nine respectively. The tests were graded with its own answer key to avoid biased grading (2019: 7). Much like studies by Sundqvist and Olsson, Qvarfordt found that exposure to Extramural English might have an impact on reading and listening comprehension. In the case of the ninth graders, a high frequency use of any EE activity showed an impact on the reading and listening comprehension. In the case of the sixth graders, only high frequency use of YouTube seemed to have an impact on the students’ reading and listening skills (2019: 18) which is very interesting in regards to this study.

Several studies on the subject has been conducted in countries such as Bahrain, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. They all researched the relationship between social media use and learning English as a foreign language and they all came to similar conclusions.

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Anwas et al. researched whether the students’ intensity of social media use in English is related to their reading, listening, writing and speaking skills (2020: 41-54). They conducted a study with a quantitative approach, using surveys as their method. Their research group were high school students of English in Jakarta. In their study, social media was defined as Line, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Ask.fm which are similar to the definition of social media in this study. The results showed a variety of interesting findings. First, it showed that the students’ use of social media in English was quite low, only 17 % claimed to use social media in English often.

The results of the questionnaire regarding type of social media content accessed showed that 90.8 % were in the form of video or animation. Audio and text were also common amongst the students’. In order to come to a conclusion regarding the correlation between social media access and English language learning, Anwas applied a

correlation analysis. He found that the students’ four language skills were significantly and positively correlated to social media access in English and therefor he drew the conclusion that the more time spent on social media in English, the better for language learning.

Al Jahromi conducted a similar study where the aim was to examine the effect of social media in the English language in Bahrain by finding out what social media network was most frequently used, the level of perception of the effects that social media has on language learning and which English language skills are most influenced by social media (2020: 27). The study was conducted with a quantitative approach in the form of an online questionnaire as research method. 330 respondents participated by filling in the questionnaire, 65 % were female and 35 % were male and the age of respondents varied between 17 or less to 46 or more. The questionnaire was divided into two areas: Type and frequency of usage of social media and relationship between social media and English language learning. Al Jahromi found that 37 % of respondents reportedly spent 3-4 hours on social media daily, while 35 % reported that they spend 5 hours or more on social media networks on a dialy basis (2020: 28-31). As to the most frequently used social media networks, Al Jahromi found that Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were the top three most used social media networks. She also found that the respondents ecually use Arabic and English on social media. As to the question of perceived effects of social media use, the respondents reported different levels of language skill encreasement, however, reading skill seemed to be the language skill most effected by social media use. Since the most frequently used social media

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networks are written based, this finding was not surprising. Based on the findings of her study, Al Jahromi concludes that social media can be a valued help in learning a second language and enhancing language skills. The author also suggests pedagogical

reformations to implement social media in education (2020: 36-37).

Another study of the role of social media in English language learning is one conducted by Al Harbi. He researched the role of YouTube and Snapchat as a method of teaching in order to enhance students’ listening skills in English as a foreign language (2019: 1). The focus group consisted of 50 female students of English at Taif University in Saudi Arabia between the age of 19-22 years (2019: 19-20). The

participants were divided into two groups: The experiment group and The control group. All of the participants answered questions about their use and preferences of social media prior to the listening test. The experiment group then received instructions via YouTube and Snapchat and the control group got instructions via traditional audio methods. A listening test was then submitted to both of the groups in order to measure their listening comprehension. The data was analysed by SPSS (Statistical Packages for the Social Science) in order to see if YouTube and Snapchat can enhance students’

listening skills. Al Harbi found that 70% of the participants access social media, that 82% always visit YouTube and Snapchat while using social media and that 16% very often visit these two social media networks (2019: 22-23). It is therefor safe to say that almost all of the participants were familiar with YouTube and Snapchat prior to the study. Finally, Al Harbi found that there were statistical differences between the two groups’ performances on the listening comprehension test, in favour for the experiment group. The author argued that this is proof of the clear effect YouTube and Snapchat have on listening comprehension (2019: 43).

Based on this previous research on the subject it is safe to say that social media seems to play a role in learning or enhancing English language skills. To what degree is hard to determine since the results differ but in all of the studies above, some proof of a correlation between social media, or extramural English in general, and language proficiency such as reading and listening comprehension can be determined.

A common occurrence regarding these previous studies is the fact that they all researched correlations between social media or Extramural English and students’ comprehension of English whereas this study aims to investigate the possible impact that YouTube might have on reading and listening comprehension. A correlation

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analysis will not be conducted in this study and therefor, a correlation cannot be determined.

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3. Method

For this study, a quantitative method was used. First, two short surveys were submitted to the sample group (see Section 3.2.1 and appendix 1). Second, one reading and one listening comprehension test were submitted to the sample group. The reading and listening comprehension tests were gathered from Liber Läromedel AB and were conducted in class (see Section 3.2.2 and appendix 2).

The choice to only focus on reading and listening comprehension was based on the types of social media platforms represented in the survey. The main skills used in these social media platforms are reading and listening which is why these were selected as a part of the study. Another factor was the limited amount of time given to this study as well as the extent of it. In a bigger study, more skills could have been researched. See Section 5.1 for suggestions for further research!

The choice to focus only on social media as extramural English was based on two main reasons. First, few of the studies similar to this one has an explicit focus on social media and research in the area is lacking. Second, social media is a big part of the lives of young people today and social media use is constantly occurring throughout the school day which leads to the question of whether the students actually can benefit from spending time on social media. Due to the fact that social media is a broad concept and can mean different things to different individuals, a choice to narrow the focus further was made. The sample group was therefore asked to identify which of the eight social media platforms for the survey they preferred, in order to create a clearer definition of social media.

3.1 Sample group and material

The participants of this study was a sample group chosen by the author in agreement with the supervisor. As illustrated in Table 1, this study had a total of 123 participants.

The participants were all 8^th grade students at an intermediate school in the north of Sweden. 47 of the students were female and 76 were male. The majority of the students spoke Swedish as their first language but there were also students with Swedish as a second language in the sample group. This was however not a variable in the study (see Section 3.2).

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Table 1. Table showing participants in the sample group

Class Female Male Total

8A 11 19 30

8B 12 19 31

8C 12 18 30

8D 12 20 32

Total 47 76 123

The choice to use four classes of 8^th grade students was mostly motivated by the method of convenience sampling mentioned by Bryman (2018: 44). Bryman describes

convenience sampling as a method used in research with a limited amount of time, which is the case in this study (2018: 44). The participants in the sample group are all students at the intermediate school where the author is currently teaching, which made this choice convenient. An intermediate school consists of three grades: 7^th grade (13 year olds), 8^th grade (14 year olds) and 9^th grade (15 year olds). In the 7^th grade the students are new to the school and the students in 9^th grade are preoccupied with

National Tests and final grades, making the 8^th grade students the best candidates for the study. The 8^th grade classes were also the biggest which would give the largest number of participants. All 8^th grade students agreed to participate in the study.

The next stage was to consider what materials would most sufficiently answer the research questions. In this study, the focus is both on students reading and listening comprehension and therefore one reading comprehension test and one listening comprehension test were conducted together with surveys regarding student’s choice and use of social media platforms.

3.1.1 Social media surveys

To answer the first research question regarding students' choice and use of social media, two surveys were conducted. The first survey began with brief information and

instructions regarding the study and how to carry out the surveys. The next part of the survey contained questions about the students' preferred choice of social media platforms. After gathering and compiling the results, another survey was conducted where the sample group was asked to estimate their use of the most preferred social media platform on a scale from less than 1 to more than 10 hours a day (see Table 2 and

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3). The purpose of the surveys was to gather information about students' choice of social media platforms as well as their use of this social media platform. These surveys,

together with a reading and a listening comprehension test, were the foundation of material chosen to measure the impact of social media use on reading comprehension.

The social media platforms included in the survey were chosen from Apple App Store’s most frequently downloaded apps within the categories “entertainment” and “social media”. The two surveys were compiled and the results analyzed by the author.

3.1.2 Reading and listening comprehension tests

To measure the students’ reading and listening comprehension, diagnostic tests were used. The tests used in the study were originally developed by Liber Läromedel as a part of the collection Bedömningsmaterial i Engelska 7-9 (first edition, 2014). The collection is described as follows: “The proficiency tests assist you, as a teacher, in evaluating the students’ level of knowledge in relation to the aims and proficiency demands of Lgr11” (Liber, 2014).

The collection consists of three proficiency tests focusing on each of the four skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking. Since the study focused on both reading and listening comprehension, one test was chosen from the section of the collection regarding reading comprehension and one test was chosen from the section regarding listening comprehension. The reading comprehension test consisted of two parts called "Five Very Weird Hobbies" and "Chicken". The two parts together consisted of 14 questions and had a total of 22 points. 11 points or more equals the grade E (sufficient), 16 or more equals the grade C (good) and 21 points or more equals the grade A (excellent). Less than 11 points equals the grade F (fail). The test consisted of short texts and an assortment of questions, such as "tick the correct alternative (A- D)" or "write your own answer".

The listening comprehension test consisted of three parts called “What’s going on?”, “Interview with Professor Cullens” and “Going somewhere”. The three parts together consisted of 15 questions and had a total of 25 points. 13 points or more equals the grade E (sufficient), 18 points or more equals the grade C (good) and 23 points or more equals the grade A (excellent). Less than 13 points equals the grade F (fail). The test consisted of three different recordings, such as a few different scenarios, an interview and a story about a bus ride. Along with the recordings came an answer

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sheet with an assortment of questions, such as “match the alternative with the spoken scenario” and “write your own answer”. An answer key developed by Liber Läromedel came with both tests to ensure a fair and correct grading. The answer key was submitted to the teacher only.

Before the tests were conducted, the students in all four classes were informed about the structure of the different tests and the requirements to reach each grade. The tests were a part of the students’ education and grading. Both the reading and listening comprehension tests were graded by the teachers responsible for each of the four classes. One of the teachers were responsible for two of the classes which means that there was a total of three teachers grading the tests.

3.2 Method criticism

The choice to use a quantitative method as part of the study was based on Zoltán Dörnyei and Kata Csizérs’ chapter on surveys as a method in second language acquisition research. They write about how surveys can examine a large variety of different language related issues and how researchers therefore can draw conclusions about large populations of second language learners (2012: 75). However, Judith Bell mentions in her guide for first time researchers: “causal relationships can rarely, if ever, be proved by survey method” (2005: 14). Still, surveys are a relatively easy way to gather a lot of information which felt necessary to conduct this study. The surveys regarding social media use are important in order to facilitate an understanding of the students’ social media preferences and estimated time spent on social media. In order to get a general idea about how social media use can possibly relate to comprehension, a quantitative method was chosen in order to gain a larger number of responders. The method also had some similarities with the study by Pia Sundqvist mentioned in chapter 2, both regarding age and number of participants. By using the same method used in a similar study and achieving similar results, the study can claim a certain degree of reliability.

However, there were some variables to consider before using this method.

One issue is the human error. One or more questions in the surveys can be

misunderstood and therefore answered incorrectly, the surveys might not be taken seriously by the participants, or the results might be presented in a misleading manner.

A qualitative method, based on interviews with a selected group of teachers or students, has the possibility of gaining more credible results but might instead fail to show a

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general image. Another possible issue connected to the human error is the fact that the reading and listening comprehension tests were graded by three different teachers. Even though the teachers all used the same answer key while grading the tests, there might still be a difference between how the teachers assess the students’ answers. There is also a risk that bias might have occurred since the tests were not anonymous. To avoid this, the teachers could have exchanged tests and thus graded each other’s classes. Another way to avoid bias is to anonymise the tests while grading. Neither of these measures were taken which is why the occurrence of bias cannot be excluded. However, the tests were selected in agreement between the teachers and the grading of the tests was discussed previous to the conduction. This could have helped the teachers make more similar assessments of the students’ answers. Since the question of first language was not taken into consideration, this could also affect the reliability of the results. At the school where this study was conducted, a majority of the students with another first language than Swedish have a less sufficient English education than students born in Sweden with Swedish as a first language, which might affect their results on the reading and listening comprehension tests as well as create misunderstandings and faulty

answers regarding the surveys.

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4. Results and discussion

In this section, the results from both surveys and tests are presented along with a discussion of these results. In the first section, the results from the surveys and the reading and listening comprehension tests are presented. In Figures 5 and 6, the results from the reading and listening comprehension tests are compared to amount of time spent on social media. These two figures are most important in the search for a correlation between use of a certain social media and language comprehension. In the second section the results are discussed and analyzed as well as compared to the results found in the previous research mentioned earlier in this study.

4.1 Results

Figure 1. Results from survey regarding social media preferences.

0%

24%

4%

49%

24%

0%

Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

Snapchat KiK Ask.fm Musical.ly

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In Figure 1, the results from the first survey are presented. According to the survey, YouTube was the most preferred social media platform in the sample group, with 49 percent. Instagram and Snapchat both received 24 percent and TikTok the remaining 4 percent. No students indicated that they preferred to use Facebook, KiK, Ask.fm or Musical.ly the most.

Figure 2. Results from survey regarding estimated time spent on YouTube on a daily basis.

In Figure 2, the results from the second survey are presented. To the question of how much time students estimate to spend watching videos or reading comments in English on YouTube on a daily basis, 20 percent answered less than 1 hour, 20 percent

answered 10 or more hours, 28 percent answered 5-9 hours and 33 percent answered 1-4 hours. This means that the majority of the students in the sample group estimated to spend 1 hour or more on YouTube daily. However, there is also a possibility that the students spend time on other social media platforms as well.

20%

28% 33%

20%

Less than 1 hour 1-4 hours 5-9 hours 10 or more hours

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Figure 3. Results from the reading comprehension test conducted in the sample group.

In Figure 3, the results and grades from the reading comprehension test are presented.

30 percent of the students failed to score 11 points or higher and consequently received the grade F. 70 percent of the students scored 11 points or higher which resulted in a passing grade (E, C or A). As many as 24 percent of the students participating students succeeded to score enough points to receive the grade A.

24%

15% 31%

30%

Grade A Grade C Grade E Grade F

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Figure 4. Results from the listening comprehension test conducted in the sample group

In Figure 4, the results and grades from the listening comprehension test are presented.

26 percent of the students failed to score the 12 points or higher required to receive a passing grade. 74 percent of the students scored 12 points or higher which resulted in a passing grade (E-A). Only 6 percent of the students succeeded to score enough points (22 or higher) to receive the grade A.

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Figure 5. Results from the reading comprehension test divided by time category.

Figure 5 shows the results from the reading comprehension test divided by each time category. In the time category "less than 1 hour", the students who received an F on the reading comprehension test had the highest number followed by the group of students who received an A. In the category "1–4 hours", grade C had the highest number followed by A. In category "5–9 hours", grade C had the highest number by far

although time category "10 hours or more" had a more even division with the grade F as highest.

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Figure 6. Results from the listening comprehension test divided by time category.

Figure 6 shows the results from the listening comprehension test divided by each time category. In the time category “less than 1 hour”, the students who received the grade E had the highest number followed by the group of students who received a grade C. In the time category “1–4 hours”, the students who received the grade E had the highest number yet again. In the time category “5–9 hours”, the students with grade C

dominated as well as in the time category “10 or more hours”. The time category with the largest number of A grade students was “5–9 hours”, possibly showing that students who spend a large amount of hours a day watching YouTube also receive higher grades regarding listening comprehension.

4.2 Discussion

The results show that a high number of students who spend more time on YouTube also perform at a good (grade C) or excellent (grade A) level of reading and listening

comprehension. This might indicate a connection between time spent on YouTube and English proficiency but there are some variables to consider.

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YouTube is a media platform where both speech and writing are used. The writing consists mostly of comments in a comment section attached to each post and the speech consists of recorded videos and sound. The speech has an obvious connection to the choice of listening comprehension tests as a part of the method but the comment section might be an insufficient source of text to measure reading comprehension correctly. It is also impossible to know with certainty that the students who spend time on YouTube are exposed to written English and not only to spoken English, which is a major part of the platform. There is also a risk that the texts are written in broken English or informal language containing expressions of slang which are characteristics that the reading comprehension test does not include. This needs to be considered while looking at the results. In section 5.1 of this study, a suggestion on how to approach this issue in further research is presented.

Another issue with the conclusions of the results is the fact that using one media only might not be enough to give a fair view of reality. Extramural English usually consists of several kinds of activities outside the classroom whereas this study narrowed the focus down to social media and then again to only studying the effects on language by using one social media platform - YouTube. This however contributes to an area of extramural research that is lacking, which is why the choice narrow the research to only social media was made.

The results of this study do not show that high exposure to extramural English necessarily is linked to high proficiency. This was a bit surprising since the results from studies conducted by both Pia Sundqvist and Eric Brown showed positive correlations between EE and reading comprehension, listening comprehension,

vocabulary or writing proficiency. As mentioned before, an explanation for this might be the narrow focus of the research. Another contributing factor might be the aspect of time; more time could have given more opportunity to further research. Therefore, suggestions for further research are stated in section 5.1.

In his study, Eric Brown researched the correlation between language comprehension and New Media platforms such as online gaming, recorded video, streamed audio, digital texts and social media. His study showed some interesting results regarding, for instance, a correlation between students’ use of streamed audio and listening comprehension. The fact that Sundqvist got similar results in her study from 2009 as well as the fact that this study also found a possible connection between a frequent use of YouTube and listening skills is very interesting. Since YouTube

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contains a large amount of spoken media, it was not unlikely that this study would lead to this conclusion. However, Brown mentions that the percentage of respondents with a high listening comprehension is not highly represented in the group of respondents using streamed audio for more than seven hours. This contradicts the notion that spending a lot of time listening to English audio automatically leads to great listening skills (2014: 32-33). Brown presents similar results regarding the correlation between use of social media and reading comprehension. A majority of respondents seemed to use social media moderately to frequently and performed at a moderate level of comprehension but again, the percentage dropped after reaching seven hours of social media usage. This was not a surprising discovery since few students have the possibility to spend that high amount of time on social media.

In his study, Brown found an interesting correlation between online gaming and language comprehension where students who spend up to seven hours playing games online have a good comprehension. Furthermore, the study showed that male students seemed to benefit more from online gaming than female students. Neither online gaming nor gender were subjects researched in this study meaning that no

comparison can be made regarding this part of Brown’s study but the results are interesting nonetheless (2014: 34).

In the data collected from the sixth graders, Qvarfordt found a connection between high frequent use of YouTube and high scores on the reading and listening comprehension tests, which is a similar result as the one found in this study. He also found that ninth grade students with a frequent use of Extramural English and social media in general had higher reading and listening skills. All of the studies mentioned in previous research (Section 2.4) show that Extramural English such as social media, streamed audio and online gaming has an impact on students’ reading and listening skills, only to various extent. Qvarfordt attempts to explain the far from straightforward results comprehended in studies such as his, where the results seem to differ a bit

between studies. He refers to the input hypothesis by Krashen (see Section of this study) by stating that: ”a certain level of proficiency might be needed for reading a book in English or understanding complex instructions in a digital game, for example, where text is the sole source of information, in contrast to watching YouTube where the viewer can rely on both visual and audible information to comprehend the content”.

This is a valid conclusion which might help to partially explain the differences between results (2019: 18).

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Al Harbi also made similar findings regarding YouTube and listening comprehension, compared to the study conducted by Qvarfordt as well as to this study. This is very interesting since the studies presented in section 2.4 were conducted in several different countries and continents as well as during a time-span of 11 years but the results still coincides.

From the previous studies it is also apparent that there are both advantages and disadvantages of using social media in language learning purposes. As mentioned earlier in this study, the risk of using YouTube as a language learning tool is that the language presented in both videos and text might be broken and contain both slang words, grammatical errors, misspellings and errors in pronunciation. This might be the case in other social media platforms as well. There is also a risk that students who spend a lot of time using extramural English lose their motivation and engagement in English studies in school. As was mentioned in several of the previous studies, teachers need to take students’ use of extramural English use into consideration while planning

challenging and educational lessons and teaching activities.

Taking the results of this study, as well as previous studies, into consideration, the question whether to use social media as a teaching tool in the

language classroom or not arouses. Social media is, according to several of the previous studies mentioned earlier, a platform which is familiar to the students’. We know that social media is a big part of the lives of both teenagers, young adults and adults and presumably something many people find intriguing and exciting. It might seem like a good idea to use these networks as tools in the classroom, however, the benefits need to outweigh the deficits.

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5. Conclusions

The first survey helped answer the first research question, which asked about the students’ preference of social media platform. 49 percent of the students in the sample group claimed to use YouTube the most of all eight platforms presented in the survey.

Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok were also chosen alternatives, with 24, 24 and 4 percent respectively. This laid the foundation for the second survey which determined how much time the student spent watching videos or reading comments in English on YouTube on a daily basis. The results from the survey were presented together with the results from the reading and listening comprehension tests with the aim to find a

correlation between time spent on YouTube and high scores at the reading and listening comprehension and by doing so, answering the second research question.

There were a high percentage of failed reading comprehension tests (30 percent) in general. These failed grades were almost evenly divided over the four different time categories. In the time categories "1–4 hours" and "5–9 hours", students with grade C dominated. This could mean that there is a connection between spending a fair amount of time (1–9 hours) being exposed to written and spoken English on YouTube daily and achieving grades on a higher scale. In the category of "less than 1 hour", students with grade F dominated, which contributed to the hypothesis of more time on social media results in higher grades. Students who spend less than one hour on YouTube might not be as exposed to written English as the students who do spend time on the platform, therefore they have a harder time performing well regarding reading comprehension.

However, students’ who spend less time on YouTube might spend time on other social media platforms where they are exposed to both written and spoken English. Grade F is also dominant in the category of "10 hours or more". This could be explained by the fact that a third of all students in the sample group received an F on the reading

comprehension test, which might indicate that there generally might be a vulnerability regarding English in the sample group.

There were, as well as in the reading comprehension test, a high percentage of failed listening comprehension tests (26 percent) although the number is a slight amount lesser than within the reading comprehension. The grade E dominated three out of four time categories with 38 percent in total. Grade C and A, representing the students who scored the highest points on the listening test, were at its highest in the higher time categories (5–10 hours). This might indicate a correlation between watching more

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YouTube videos and gaining an understanding of spoken English.

In conclusion, this study show that using social media might have an impact on students’ listening skills in English. When taking the methodological issues mentioned in chapter 3 into consideration, the connection between social media (in this case YouTube) and reading skills is more uncertain and may not be proven by the results of this study.

5.1 Suggestions for further research

For a more correct result, more extensive research needs to be conducted. As supplement to the reading and listening comprehension tests, one could also test speaking and writing skills as well as vocabulary. Since YouTube, which turned out to be the most preferred choice of social media among the sample group, has a great deal of verbal content such as video tutorials and step-by-step instructions it is not far- sighted to imagine that students who spend a great deal of time on YouTube also would perform well at tests where speaking skills are estimated.

Another interesting approach to the subject would be to conduct a

vocabulary test as method, along with a survey on social media use. The vocabulary test would then be divided into two parts - one with words found on YouTube and other social media and another one with words found in the teaching material, such as textbooks.

Furthermore, it would be very interesting to compare the results based on gender. A general prejudice is that males spend more time on internet, for example playing videogames or watching gaming tutorials, than females and therefore there is a possibility of males having a higher listening proficiency than females.

Finally, another angle would be to look at the student’s comprehension of their native language (in this case Swedish) versus English as a second language. I have, in my teaching profession, come across students with higher grades in ESL than in their native language. In most cases this has been the result of online gaming and watching movies or series in English. It would be very interesting to study this and see if it is a common phenomenon.

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References

Al Harbi, Wed Nasser. 2019. The Role of Social Media (YouTube and Snapchat) in Enhancing Saudi EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Skills. Arab World English Journal 268(12), (pp. 1–54). M.A Thesis, Taif University

Al Jahromi, Diana. 2020. A Quantitative Study of the Perceived Impact of Social Media Networks on Bahraini Users’ English Language Learning. The Journal of Teaching English with Technology 20(4), (pp 23–40)

Anwas, E., Sugiarti, Y., Permatasari, A., Warsihna, J., Anas, Z., Alhapip, L., Siswanto, H., & Rivalina, R. 2020. Social Media Usage for Enhancing English Language Skill. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (IJIM), 14(07), (pp.

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Harlow: Pearson Education.

Brown, Eric. 2014. Learning/Teaching English as a Second Language in the

Information Age: A Study on the Influences of New Media on Swedish Students in the English Classroom. Student Thesis, University of Gävle.

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Cambridge Dictionary. Gathered 2019-12-17. https://dictionary.cambridge.org

Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K. 2012. How to design and analyze surveys in SLA research? In A. Mackey & S. Gass (Eds.), Research methods in second language acquisition: A practical guide (pp. 74–94). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Ellis, Nick. 1994. Implicit and explicit language learning - An overview. In N. Ellis (ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages London: Academic Press.

Krashen, Stephen D. 1987. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall International.

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Mackey, Alison & M. 2012. Gass, Susan. Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition: A Practical Guide, First Edition. Blackwell Publishing.

Olsson, Eva. 2016. On the impact of extramural English and CLIL on productive vocabulary. Doctoral Thesis, University of Gothenburg.

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Ortega, Lourdes. 2009. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. New York:

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Sundqvist, Pia. 2009. Extramural English Matters - Out-of-School English and Its Impact on Swedish Ninth Graders' Oral Proficiency and Vocabulary. Doctoral Thesis., Karlstad University.

Qvarfordt, Robin. 2019. English Outside the Classroom: A Study of the Impact of Extramural English on Students’ Receptive Skills. Student Thesis, University of Karlstad.

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Appendix 1. Social media survey 1 and 2

Hello!

My name is Ellen and I am studying English for teachers at the University of Gävle. I am now conducting a study of the correlation between social media and reading comprehension in second language learners of English and I would very much

appreciate your contribution to my study! Your name will not be mentioned anywhere in the study but is necessary for my analysis of the results.

For my study, I will look at two parts - the first part is a few questions about your preference and use of social media and the second part is a reading comprehension test. Please answer the questions as truthfully as possible, thank you!

Name: ___________________________________________

Which social media platform would you claim to use the most? Circle the correct alternative. Choose only one alternative please!

a) Facebook b) Instagram c) Tik tok d) Youtube e) Snapchat f) KiK g) Ask.fm h) Musical.ly

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How much time do you spend reading comments or watching videos on Youtube in English on a daily basis? Indicate the frequency by circling the alternative closest to the truth!

a) Less than 1 hour a day b) 1–4 hours a day c) 5–9 hours a day

d) 10 or more hours a day

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Appendix 2. Reading comprehension test

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Appendix 3. Listening comprehension test

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Is Social Media the New Classroom?

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND BUSINESS STUDIES