Foreign language teachers' interactions with their students on Facebook

Abstract

It is evident that teachers' and students' perceptions of interactions on Facebook directly relate to the utilization of Facebook regarding not only an interactional tool but also a learning and teaching environment. However, not many studies appeared on English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' interactions with their students on Facebook, specifically in the Turkish EFL context. This descriptive research aims to examine the level of EFL teachers' interactions with their students on the social networking service, Facebook, along with the differences between certain variables and the utilization of Facebook as an interactional tool. The sample group consists of 146 EFL teachers who work at public schools in Turkey. A background questionnaire and a survey which contained 46 items to investigate the level of teachers' interactions on Facebook and their perceptions of their students were administered to the sample group. The frequencies, mean scores and standard deviations were calculated. To analyze the relationship between certain variables and survey items, t-test and ANOVA were used. The results indicated that teachers preferred passive behaviors when interacting with their students on Facebook. Furthermore, they had the perception that their students preferred passive behaviors while interacting on Facebook as well. In addition, the findings showed that their interaction levels significantly differed in accordance with gender, school types, graduate degrees, and time spent on Facebook which consequently affected some items in the survey. The study suggests that EFL teachers should create a positive environment for interaction on Facebook to support their learners' personal and academic development.