Foreign language learners' interactions with their teachers on Facebook

Abstract

There is a need to explore English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' interactions with their teachers in social networking media, as interactions that directly relate to the linguistic, social, and cognitive development of learners have not been examined within the EFL learning process. Thus, in the context of Turkish EFL learners' perceptions, this study aims to examine the level of EFL learners' interactions with their teachers on the social networking service Facebook and to determine the relationship between the level of their interaction and the variables of age, gender, and year of study. The sample group of the study consisted of 121 EFL learners at a Turkish state university. Before the frequencies, mean scores, standard deviations, t-test and analysis of variance were computed, a background questionnaire was administered that assessed the degree of their perception of these interactions. The results indicated that Turkish EFL students prefer passive behaviors regarding their interactions with their teachers and that age, gender and year of study are significantly correlated with some of the items in the scale. It is recommended that further research focus on factors that may impact the level of interaction between teachers and learners and on the perceptions of student teacher interaction on Facebook from the teachers' perspectives. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.