On the Role of Social Media in Spanish Language Learning in Indian Context

Abstract

Research on social media in the foreign language classroom has grown significantly in the last decade. The usage of social media has increased many times during the pandemic due to known reasons. The aim of the present study is to examine the perception of the use of social media in learning Spanish as a foreign language in a non-native context. The research was carried out in Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) where Spanish is taught as a foreign language at graduate and undergraduate levels. The objective was to explore the attitudes and perceptions of the students towards the use of social media platforms for learning Spanish as a foreign language and examine the differences in its use concerning gender, background and year of study. The research study was developed in the quantitative framework with the use of a comprehensive questionnaire as an instrument in this study. The results showed that the students tend to use social media for enhancing and reinforcing their communication skills and language learning capabilities including reading, writing, and learning new phrases and structures. Moreover, the study also found the benefits of collaborative learning embedded during the use of social media, which helped in improving the learning process sophistically.