The Effect of Facebook on EFL Master 2 Students’ Academic Writing at The University of Ibn Khaldoun Tiaret

Abstract

This research investigates the extent to which social media may affect students’ academic writing. To explore this effect, this research was conducted at the University of Ibn Khaldoun. A descriptive method was implemented for the current study in which a sample of 60 second-year master’s students were randomly selected from our English department. Quantitative tools were used during data gathering and analysis. Our primary goal is to understand psycholinguistic elements of this issue by uncovering the relationship between Facebook and academic writing, revealing the characteristics of student’s writing attributed to the use of Facebook by employing coherent examinations. Another aim of the study is the practical exhibition and explanation of language use in the social media app and attempts to isolate linguistic features in certain situations. A questionnaire was addressed to students in order to find the answers concerning the effects of Facebook on academic writing. Nevertheless, the findings confirms that social media language has a negative influence on students’ writing. Students use abbreviations and short form of words unconsciously in their formal writing due to their overexploitation of texting language. Their mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and capitalization are not related only to the overuse of social media but also to their lack of linguistic dexterity.