2. Second Language Teaching and Learning through Facebook

Every decade a new trend is set up by the teachers and researchers in teaching English as second or foreign language. English having become the language of the corporate world, there has been a growing concern on how best English language may be imparted for the purpose of communication.

English language has been taught with many approaches, methods, techniques and trends for a long time. It can be obviously seen that the teachers of today cut away from the stereotypical trends followed in teaching English. Firstly, the teachers of English start their professional job with the textbook. Though simple and easy, a textbook becomes the ‘Bible’ and the students are not encouraged to think above the stringent codes. The next trend that teachers usually follow is the LSRW method. This helps in acquisition of Vocabulary, Grammar, and Pronunciation. The third trend is using Literature as an aid for teaching language skills as it provides valuable resources. The activity-based teaching is yet another trend. This “play-way” method is the need of the hour. The most recent and advanced trend is using technology.

Technology plays a crucial role in today’s digital world. Just like the digitalized world, English too is used in a digitalized form. Numbers and codes have now become a part of English language, thereby slowly ignoring the pure language form. The number “404”, the error message displayed when a browser cannot find a webpage, is now a part of the vocabulary of non-geeks. They commonly use this word to refer a person who is clueless. This was revealed by Jonathon Green, a British lexicographer. He worked with the UK Post Office and came up with a list of slang and acronyms from the cyber world.

When a status update is written on the wall, one is forced to use a concise vocabulary and must say what one really means. There is no room for long explanations. So, words need to be used appropriately. A number of short-cut forms and acronyms are used for this purpose, and there are no specific rules or methods to form abbreviated terms. The words are shortened according to the need and understanding between the people with whom the words are exchanged. In social networks, while people chat, the sentences are further shortened. For example, the sentence “How is life?” is shortened as “howz lyf?”. The teens of today also use abbreviations: PRW – Parents Are Watching, POS – Parent(s) Over Shoulder, PAL – Parents Are Listening. This is to indicate to the chat recipient that they are unable to talk because their parent is present.

When one’s space is limited, one also needs to be creative in what one has to say and how one has to say. It would be mind-boggling to think how the world would be if we approach all forms of communication this way. This actually helps to keep life simple and easy.

There are a number of social media sites where many people actively participate. Recent survey says that Facebook is becoming popular. This type of site is changing the way one communicates with others and also checks how one speaks and writes. Facebook can be used as an educational tool in Professional colleges to acquire language skills.

Listening skill is the primary skill of all. Learners need to practice listening as it plays a significant role in the professional world. Hariprasad fittingly points out, “Though we listen so much to so many things/people, not many of us are good listeners as listening is rarely taught at school or at home” (1).

Activities such as listing items, listening to poems, songs and recorded speeches (through U-Tube) can be conducted to check the listening competence of the students. This will improve their vocabulary. On signing up in Facebook, the instructor can exercise these activities. He can also encourage the students to access Facebook.

Speaking plays a significant role among the four language skills. Expressing one’s wants, feelings, thoughts, opinions and desires unambiguously is the most vital of the communication process. In Facebook, the code used to send the message is verbal. When the other person receives the coded message, they go through the process of decoding. In this process, the receiver interprets the code message and understands its meaning.

First of all, a teacher has to be reasonably good at spoken English. The teacher has to take efforts to learn and check his or her pronunciation. The time-tested methods that have improved the speaking skill of students are rhymes. This checks a learner’s rhythm, stress, tone, sentence structure and intonation. The teacher can post two nursery rhymes a week on the wall. This will make the students eager and will also serve the purpose.

Reading and Writing are interlinked. Reading messages, friend’s requests, notifications and going through a friend’s profile would develop one’s reading skill. Through reading, students can acquire information, knowledge, a large vocabulary and a good command over the language. The more a person reads, the more effectively he will write. Writing blog, paragraphs, essays and stories can be implemented. This will improve one’s standard of writing as it is a process of creation and not a mechanical production. In Facebook, writing on the wall is one special feature. This enhances a person’s writing skill and helps a learner to establish a healthy rapport with one’s peers. The instructor can also tag pictures and ask students to comment on it. This will sharpen their observation skill and critical thinking.

Facebook can also be used to hone a learner’s thinking skill. The teacher can feature a series of games based on Facebook, including Farmville, Fishville, Name Analyser and Super Poke. The design of the games can be aimed at raising students’ interest in learning English. The Learner can transform online Facebook games into classroom activities and this demands creativity.

For example, students can be encouraged to play Puzzlebee. While Facebook players patch up broken pieces of a puzzle on the computer screens, the real game requires students to patch up cut-out pieces of puzzles on a cardboard.

Teachers search for traditional ways to motivate students to learn English or even suffice with the text book and other supplementary materials. They ignore the fact that their students are ‘digital natives’ who live in the ‘digital world’ and that they spend hours online either by playing interacting games or surfing the net about things they prefer. Teachers are not aware that they can motivate their students by introducing them to what they like and not to what they should like.

Though teaching and learning English through Facebook seems advanced and interesting, it also has its own drawbacks. Teaching English language through Facebook is a costly affair and not all institutions can afford it. On the part of the students, there are chances they take things for granted. The students may also get distracted by other wide entertaining features. Inspite of all these disadvantages, teaching English language through Facebook will have an overwhelming response from students. Students can take part in follow-up activities and explore the issues of social networking. Facebook can be used either as a communication tool or as an educational tool. It depends on how one makes the best use of the online resources.

Summary of Sample Online Activities

The above mentioned online activities are an excellent option to give students an equal amount of time and opportunity for online production and feedback. These online-based assignments provide a fertile field for learner integration and interaction and they are simple ways of helping students improve their language skills.