LANGUAGE PROGRESSION IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND

LEARNING IN SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

An Undergraduate Thesis Proposal

Presented to

The Faculty of College of Education

JOSE RIZAL MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
The Premier University of Zamboanga del Norte
Dipolog Campus, Dipolog City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in

SPEC 115- E Language Education Research

Cotot, Mercy Q.
Odato, Ivy C.
Ponggan, Sheila Mae A.

June 2021
 Republic of the Philippines
JOSE RIZAL MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
The Premier University in Zamboanga del Norte
Dipolog Campus, Turno, Dipolog City

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

APPROVAL SHEET

In partial fulfilment of the requirements in SPEC 115- E LANGUAGE

EDUCATION RESEARCH, this undergraduate thesis entitled “LANGUAGE
PROGRESSION IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LEARNING IN
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS”, has been examined and is recommended for oral defense.

Adviser

This undergraduate thesis entitled, “LANGUAGE PROGRESSION IN SECOND

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LEARNING IN SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS”
prepared and submitted by Mercy Q. Cotot, Ivy C. Odato, and Sheila Mae A. Ponggan
has been reviewed and approved by the Research Panel.

LEONARDO D. CAINTA, E.M.D

Chairman

Member Adviser
 APPROVED by the PANEL OF EXAMINERS ON ORAL DEFENSE on
May 25, 2021 with a rating of _______________________.

LEONARDO D. CAINTA, E.M.D.

Chairman
Date Signed: __________

Member
Date Signed: ___________

ACCEPTED by the

Date Signed: _____________

 DEDICATION

The researchers dedicate this study to those persons who truly give their courage,

hope and full support in making this research.

To their instructor who gave his time to guide them to make this research become

successful.

To their beloved parents who gave time to them in going to school to make this

research, who always understand them and gave them financial support.

To their friends and classmates

To the almighty God who is always there to lift them from their problems and

difficulties they experienced through the process in making this research and the giver of

all the knowledge and blessings they received each day.

The Researchers
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The researchers wish to express their sincerest gratitude and appreciation to the

following persons who wholeheartedly gave their invaluable assistance and

encouragement for the completion of this research.

To Prof. Jograce Regencia for the untiring assistance, patience and

encouragement in completing this research;

To for doing and providing their stat.

To their beloved parents, for their financial and moral support, prayers, loves as

well as their monetary support and to their classmates, friends and group mates for

inspiring their to make this research successful.

And above all, to the Almighty God, whose countless blessings, guidance,

protection, strength, and courage which enable the researchers to sustain until the

fulfilment of this work. Thank you very much.

The

Researchers
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

This study is about social media posts and its contribution to the progression of

language. Language as a way of communication helps people to understand and unite

with each other. Through language, people can easily express their own ideas and

emotions towards their fellowmen. And through language they effortlessly give their

opinions based on their own judgments. While Social Medias help people to connect with

each other even how far they are. These social media platforms provides a way for the

people to stay linked with one another anytime and anywhere. These also helps the

people to be updated on what is happening in their region. Connecting these two will help

the people to be more engage with each other no matter how far their distances.

Language practitioners and educators in particular have seen the impact of

social media in second language acquisition and learning. In a recent study, it was found

that a certain group that received learning, engagement, and motivation through a social

media site has shown higher outcomes in an English proficiency test compared to the

group that received education on a face-to-face basis (Wamba & Carter, 2016). Social

media is making it easier than ever to contribute to the evolution of language. You no

longer have to be published through traditional avenues to bring word trends to the

attention of the masses.

 Facebook remains the most popular social network, according for 71% of internet

users ( Balakrishnan and Lay, 2016). It has 1.8 billion users around the world and 14

million users in Saudi Arabia, 7 million of whom ages are between 18 and 29

(www.globalmediainsight.com). This considerable figure can be ascribed to the

possibilities Facebook provide for its users to share a large amount of data and

communicate with friends. While Twitter limits their status updates or tweets to 140 text

characters so users do not have a lot of space to convey what they want to. Unlike

Facebook, which allows users to uses up to 60,000 characters. That means that

Facebook’s statuses allow over 430 times the amount of content that Twitter’s tweets

allow. That shows that twitter users are probably more likely to use shortened versions of

their language to fit their needs for their form of social media. 

For that reason, the researchers of the study would like to see through text

analysis the progress that social media brings to language. This study will not just give

significant for the researchers but also to the readers as it will grant them the information

they need in understanding how social media affect their language.

Conceptual Framework

This study is anchored on the concept of BF Skinner and et al. (2014), states that

“Human, like students, acquire new skills depending on the effects of these skills have

their environment and how they get these skills.”

This study also based on the guide questions about textual analysis given Dr.

Bethan Tovey-Walsh. There are a huge range of questions that needs to ask when
approaching a text for study. Most of these questions relate to one of four

areas: Mode, Discourse, Lexis, and Grammar.

Mode, which covers the physical appearance and presentation of a text as well as

the way in which it is produced these questions are applied: Is the text primarily in the

written mode, or does it represent the spoken mode? Is it handwritten or typed? Is the text

spontaneous (a conversation, a scribbled note, an IM conversation) or planned (a lecture,

an essay)? Are there unconventional spellings or typographical errors in the text?

Discourse, covers the sense-structure of a text, and its context. These questions

are applied: Is there an implied audience for the text? Is the audience immediate or

remote? Is it large or small? Which features of the text construct that sense of audience?

What is the context of the text? Is it public/private, official/informal, factual/fictional,

literary/non-literary, prose/poetry? Does it have an obvious function - to instruct, to

persuade, to supplicate, to thank? What linguistic register does the text use? Is it archaic,

formal, technical, casual, colloquial? Does it draw on particular social, regional,

occupational dialects? Does the text use figurative language such as metaphor,

symbolism, imagery, or rhetorical structuring? Are there examples of lexical or

syntactical patterning?

Lexis are any words repeated in the text. Are there any swear words or other

words usually considered taboo? Does the text use euphemisms?

Grammar is the mood declarative, interrogative or imperative?

 The Schematic Diagram shows the relationship between the dependent variable

and independent variable. The dependent variable depends on the independent variable.

In the study the dependent variable is the Language Progression while the

independent variable is the Social Media Post. Through Social Media post, the

researchers will be able to find out if there is a progression on language.

Schematic Diagram

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Language Progression

 Mode
Social Media Posts  Discourse

 Lexis

 Grammar
Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to find out the language progression in social media posts.

Specifically this study sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the prgression of language in social media posts in terms of:

1.1 Mode

1.2 Discourse

1.3 Lexis

1.4 Grammar

2. What language progression is dominant in social media post?

3. Is there a progression of language in social media post?

Hypothesis

Ho: There is no progression on language in social media posts.

Significance of the study

The result of the study serves as an instrument in facilitating the student’s

language progression in social media posts and to effectively communicate to others.

Students. The study helps them to know the advantages given by social media to

enhance language progression and in mastering new vocabulary.

Teachers. The results of the study can serve as the basis that through social media,

teachers can enhance interactions between students and with other people outside the

classroom.

Parents. The result of the study can be used by parents to stay involved in the child’s

learning when it comes in proper usage of social media.

Online Users. The result of the study can give significant to the online users or the

netizens as they are able to figure out the progression of language through their social

media posts.

Other Researchers. The findings of the study will serve as basis in adapting the needed

facilities and equipments for the purpose of language progression.

Scope and Delimitation of the study

The study is focused on finding the language progression in social media,

particularly in facebook wall. The researchers will gather not less than 50 public posts

from some selected facebook users.

Operational Definition of Terms

Discourse. In this study, discourse will determine the specific audience of the text.

Grammar. In this study, this will determine if the content of the post is correct or
incorrect according to grammar.
Language. Use in communication and expressing thoughts and feelings in social media
platforms.

Lexis. In this study, lexis will determine if the post uses two or more words with the
same meaning.

Mode. In this study, the mode will determine if the post is on written or spoken text.

Social Media. Platform/s that allow users to engage with other people and express their
feelings and opinions.

Progression. The process of change and development in second language acquisition and

learning.

Post/s. The shared content on social media through a user's profile, specifically text posts.

Text analysis.  This is the method used to examine content in social media posts. 
 Chapter 2

RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents foreign and local reports, articles, research, journal,

publication, featuring related literature and studies. It discuss relevant issues and

concerns, findings, and recommendations of studies to compliment results of the present

study. This chapter deals with literature and studies related to the present investigation.

This studies include local and foreign researchers. Few studies were conducted with

direct and indirect relation with the specific problems of the study entitled Language

Progression in Second Language Acquisition and Learning in Social Media Posts

Literature

According to Evans (2014) Social media is an Internet based technology that is

used to create and share online information, which helps facilitate media and information

sharing, collaboration, and participation. Furthermore, social media enables two or more

people to interact and communicate with each other. According to Gaytan (2013) Social

media is an Internet based technology that is used by most individuals to interact and

communicate via gadgets. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google are

some of social networking platforms that have a big capability in assisting

students’ learning process by supplying opportunities to gather and access information in

order to develop, strengthen and share their knowledge. Furthermore, McCay-Peet and

Quan-Haase (2017: 17) said that “Social media are web-based services that allow

individuals, communities, and organizations to collaborate, connect, interact, and build

community by enabling them to create, co-create, modifies, share, and engage with user-

generated content that is easily accessible.” Many netizens use social media particularly

Facebook in their daily lives to communicate with others. It has become a common

technology-supported learning tool for public and academic use. Social media is indeed a

helpful virtual tool to engage frequently to the people across the globe.

Social media are now turning into major medium for entertainment and

education. Students utilize social media as a medium of interaction on daily basis.

According to Regan (2015) a total of 2, 206 billion of active users recorded in 2015,

which resulted in 30% of global population. It has risen by 176 million users the year

before. The use of social networking has been rising, there should be implementation to

use social media into learners’ English learning process. In this chapter, some reviews

on studies that are related to the topic such as vocabulary learning, barriers to

language learning, factors for vocabulary acquisition, and the influence of social media

on language acquisition are provided (Krashen, 2009). Since social media usage

continues to rise, there is an opportunity for netizens to integrate social media tools into

their learning process which allows them to observe, gain, and share knowledge within

their communities. In addition, Social Media is a group of Internet-based applications that

build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the

creation and exchange of User Generated Content. (Kaplan & Haenlein 2010: 61) This

definition social media explains how it helps the communication process, the sharing of

information and the socialization of individuals becomes easier and faster.

 Miguel R. Camus, journalist of Inquirer Philippines, stated in his paper that “The

Philippines again topped the world in terms of social media usage as the number of

internet users in the country hit 67 million people, according to a new report by London,

United Kingdom-based consultancy We Are Social. In its Digital 2018 report, which

compiled data from various third-party sources, We Are Social said Filipinos spent an

average of 3 hours and 57 minutes a day on social media sites, mainly on Facebook. It

said there were 67 million accounts on Facebook in the Philippines, matching the total

number of internet users in the county. Another 10 million Filipinos were on Instagram,

which is owned by Facebook. The Philippines was ahead in terms of social media usage

in a list of 40 countries. Least interested in social media were the Japanese, who spent an

average of 48 minutes a day updating their Facebook status and posting pictures on

Instagram.” Meaning social media is an effective platform for information dissemination

and engagement of the people. Through social media netizens are able to share, connect

and express their own personal feelings, even if it is private for others to know.

According to Ichimura (2020) in his article esquaremag.ph, Philippines has been

consistently bagging the title of social media capital of the world for years, and 2020 is

no different. The pandemic has only cemented its reputation as the country that spends

the most time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. In the latest report from OnBuy.com,

Filipinos reportedly spend an average of 102,054 hours of their life on social media.

That’s about 4,252 days or 11.64 years of your life glued to a screen. According to

OnBuy, two-thirds of the 2,153 respondents from 45 countries said they use social media

to keep in touch with family due to the pandemic, 61 percent use social media to get

news, and 54 percent use it just to fill in spare time. A “scary” tidbit of data also found
that 30 percent use social media to stay updated on gossip and 25 percent were willing to

turn down a night out in the real world to spend more time online.

The Philippines topped the Global Web Index as the country that spends the most

hours per day on social media. According to that report, Filipinos spend an average of

almost four hours per day on social media, versus Japan’s 45 minutes per day. This

means that more the user engage in social media, a high possibility of acquiring or

develop language.

Studies

Many studies have shown how social media can be effective in enhancing

students’ linguistic proficiency including a study carried out by Khan, Ayaz, Khan and

Khan (2016) which aimed to examine the social media role in English language

vocabulary development at university level. The objectives of the study were (a) to

identify different social media sources which EFL learners use at university level in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, (b) to compare the perspective of male and female EFL learners

regarding the use of different social media sources at university level, and (c) to find out

the impact of utilization regarding different social media sources on EFL learners’

language proficiency at university level. The results found that social media plays a

significant role in developing English vocabulary at university level. A majority of 2291

out of 3650 male students agreed that Social Media has a positive effect on EFL learners’

English learning proficiency at university level. Meanwhile for female students, 2220 out

of 3650 respondents agreed about the positive effect of Social Media sources in English

language learning. One of the major findings of the study is the understanding about the

correct use of social media sources for English language learning enhances the
understanding of the English learners. In addition, the result of the study showed that

social media helps to enhance the four basic skills of English language i.e. Listening,

Speaking, Reading, Writing and similarly, Vocabulary building and Grammar

competency of EFL learners. Another study done by Abbasova (2016) was aimed to

explore the impact of social media platforms on students’ English proficiency. The study

focused on four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as

grammar and vocabulary. The objectives of the study were to explore the impact of social

network on students' English language proficiency in Azerbaijan whether it affects their

language knowledge negatively or positively. It was also done to determine what

language skills were mostly affected. The population of the study consisted of university

students studying at private university Khazar, Azerbaijan. A total 104 students (48 male,

56 female) from the schools of Human and Social Sciences, Education, Economics and

Management, Engineering and Applied Sciences had taken part in this study. A close-

ended questionnaire was tendered and descriptive statistical method was used to analyze

the questionnaire. The vocabulary section of the recent study indicated that the 50% of

the respondents agreed that while sharing any message with the public they force

themselves to use rich vocabulary. The findings of the grammar section showed that

majority of the respondents agreed (strongly agreed 26.92%; agreed 34.62%) with the

statement that using social networks can improve their grammar. The listening and

speaking sections found that 36.54 % of the respondents agreed that they felt confident

after having a chat with an English speaker online whereas 33.65 % slightly agreed that

they could understand native speakers' pronunciation. The findings of the reading and

writing sections indicated that 31.73% of respondents pointed out that using internet
abbreviations sometimes affects students' writing in a negative way. She claimed that

interaction on social media helps in improving learners’ vocabulary and literacy skills as

it gives opportunities to engage with the language.

According to a study conducted by Dhanya (2016) and Namaziandost and

Nasri (2019), due to the diverse avenues in which social media have brought, learners

are able to enhance their language skills. In addition, social media provides learners

with the experience of participating in a relevant, real-time, on-going actual conversation

on these social networking sites (Belal, 2014) claims the use of social media reduces

anxiety and improves language production. The networking site well-known among

students because they heightened motivation and participation. According to Rahmat

(2019), one way to motivate language learner is to provide a conducive learning

situation to enhance active learning. This can be done through the use of social media.

When students allocate their time on social media such as Facebook as an English

learning tool, they learn the language and get to collaborate with individuals

worldwide (Rouis, Limayem & Salehi, 2011) and can accomplish language function

without having to meet native speakers in real life through social media.

In one research, Perez (2011) has operationally defined internet usage as an

ability of the people to adopt, access and use internet for a huge variety of seeking

information. He also found out that majority of the participants in his study

acknowledged internet that give more convenience in their daily living. Thus, it was

shown that older people’s exposure to computer and internet consumption can proactive

their attitude towards learning on the current societal changes.

 In the Philippines, accoring to the study of Duque, San Antonio and Brazil (2017),

social media use has become a very common feature of most Filipino’s daily lives. In

2015, the data of the Social Media and Digital Stats in the Philippines from Third Team

Media shows that the Philippines remains as the “Social Media Capital of the World”.

Out of more than 100 million population in the country, 44 million are Internet users and

40 million of them are active social media users. Recently, the 2016 data on Social Media

and Digital Stats in the Philippines, the percentage of social media penetration has

increased from 40% in 2015 to 47% in 2016. This data means that social media continues

to be an essential part in the lives of Filipinos who have increased access to the Internet

via their mobile phones and electronic devices (Castro, 2016). In the article by Digital

Marketing Philippines, from the 40 million active social media users, 65% of them are

teenagers and young adults, and 81% of them access their accounts daily (Gregorio,

2013).
 CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methodology used in conducting this research. It also

includes the research environment, the respondents of the study, the instrument used in

data gathering and the procedure involved in acquiring the said data and the

corresponding statistical tools which served as guides in interpreting the data.

Research method

The text analysis method will be used by the researchers of the study entitled

“LANGUAGE PROGRESSION IN SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS”. The researchers will

screenshot the posts of the netizens that will be needed for text analyzing. Through this,

the researchers can determine the mode, which determine if the post is on written or

spoken text, the discourse, which determine the specific audience of the text, the lexis,

which determine if the post uses two or more words with the same meaning, and

grammar, which determine the correctness of the post.

Research environment

The study will focused on social media platform, specifically Facebook wall,

a Facebook wall is the area on a profile or page where friends can post their thoughts,

views, or criticisms for everyone to see. The researchers will just find public posts from

the netizens and screenshot the posts for the analysis.

Respondents of the Study

 The researchers of the study entitled “LANGUAGE PROGRESSION IN

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS” decided to used the netizens, the term netizen is a

portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen, as in a "citizen of the net" or "net

citizen". It describes a person who actively involved in online communities or the

Internet in general. Their posts are the main tool to conduct the text analysis in finding

out the progression of language brought by social media.

Research Instrument

The researchers will gather not less than 50 public posts from the netizens as these

will help them successfully do their text analysis. With the help of stable internet

connection, laptop, and smartphones, the researchers will be able to gather data from the

netizens.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will gather not less than 50 public posts from facebook wall.

After gathering the data, the researchers will use tally chart to distinguishe posts

according to variables. The table below shows a tally chart that will help the researchers

in arranging the data.

Table 1: TALLY CHART

MODE DISCOURSE LEXIS GRAMMAR

S
Research Validation

The researchers of the study will seek help from language experts in validating

their data to be more credible and realible. Reliability and validity are concepts used to

evaluate the quality of research. They indicate how well a method, technique or test

measures something. Reliability is about the consistency of a measure, and validity is

about the accuracy of a measure.

Ethical Consideration

The researchers of the study will gather the data without including the names and

the profile of the netizens to avoid destroying their credibility and respecting their

privacy as social media users. They support the values required for collaborative work,

such as mutual respect and fairness. This is essential because scientific research depends

on collaboration between researchers and groups. They can be held accountable for their

actions. 

Statistical Tools

The following statistical tools were used to interpret the data gathered:

1. Percentage computation used to determine the profile of the respondents. The

formula is:

Percentage = (part/whole) x 100

2. Frequency Count the number of times that each variable occurs

REFERENCE:

Belal, A. (2014). Influence of digital social media in writing and speaking of tertiary
level student, Department of English and Humanities Brac University, p. 1-36
Dhanya, G. (2016). Influence of Social Media on English Language Learning. Journal of
English Language and Literature, 3(1), p.105-110. Retrieved 16 June, 2019 from
http://joell.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/INFLUENCE-OF-SOCIAL-
MEDIA.pdf.

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons, 53(1), 59-68.

Namaziandost, E. & Nasri, M. (2019). The Impact of Social Media on EFL Learners’
Speaking Skill: A Survey Study Involving EFL Teachers and Students. Journal of
Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 6(3), p.199-215.

Rahmat, N. H. (2019) Cycle of Fear in learning: The Case for Three language Skills.
American Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. Vol 4(1), pp 151-162
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Other Reference:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327822150_IMPACT_OF_SOCIAL_MEDIA_I
N_ENGLISH_LANGUAGE_LEARNING_UTILIZING_SWOT_ANALYSIS

Namaziandost, E. & Nasri, M. (2019). The Impact of Social Media on EFL Learners’

Speaking Skill: A Survey Study Involving EFL Teachers and Students. Journal of

Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 6(3), p.199-215.

Rahmat, N. H. (2019) Cycle of Fear in learning: The Case for Three language Skills.

American Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. Vol 4(1), pp 151-162

Retrieved from
 http://www.onlinesciencepublishing.com/welcome/htmlarticle/22/324/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327822150_IMPACT_OF_SOCIAL_MEDIA_I

N_ENGLISH_LANGUAGE_LEARNING_UTILIZING_SWOT_ANALYSIS