Syntax Literate: Jurnal Ilmiah Indonesia p–ISSN: 2541-0849
e-ISSN: 2548-1398
Vol. 8, No. 12, Desember 2023
THE USE OF FACEBOOK FOR SENIOR LEARNERS OF
ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
Margareth Jane Tanos
Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
Social media,
which reaches the world, is believed to be an informal method in learning the
English language. As 56.8% of the world’s population is active on social media,
which equals to approximately 4.47 billion persons, this could be a large and
wide possibility to be an English language learning platform. The method chosen
to conduct this research is qualitative using discourse analysis, where a group
of fifteen seniors aged 40-60 years old, with high school education level
residing in Manado, North Sulawesi, and surrounding areas were selected as
participants. The participants were asked to fill out questionnaires and
interviews regarding their use of Facebook and WhatsApp and their interest in
the use of English while using social media. The findings of the study showed
that participants used social media mainly for expressive types of speech acts
such as greetings, apologies and congratulations. The participants also tended
to use the features of the social media that allowed them to express emotions
mostly in pictograms, with an English word of expression, pictures, and
emoticons. In addition, the plurilingual practice was also observed in the use
of mixed codes which served to enhance the mutual understanding and
interactions among the participants.
Keywords: Social media, Facebook, seniors, high-school graduates,
pictograms, pictures, emoticons
Introduction
The
theoretical review of this thesis is an approach to theories used by the
researcher to explain research problems. Technological influence and
availability of technological aids, social media as the tool of English
language learning, English use in social media, which provides proof of users
utilization English as a Second Language which was not obtained through
academic studies, and English in Indonesian Context where observation is
conducted on faulty usage of English in countries studying English as a Second
Language, Indonesia in particular.
While
recent days in many countries the English language is already used side by side
with the local or National state’s language (Melitz, 2016), nevertheless, in Indonesia senior populations in rural
areas may be struggling in using the language, being the consequence of not
being able to obtain or pursue education subsequent to High School in the past (Zein et al., 2020). What is interesting is, social media, namely the use of
Facebook, somehow seems to be able to bridge this shortcoming.
There
have not been many researches dedicated to investigating the impact of social
media use in English language fluency in Indonesia through being active on
social media specifically for mid- aged and seniors with limited education (Arfiandhani, 2019). It is expected that this research would provide valuable
insights to understand yet other means of language acquisition which is easier,
cheaper, and definitely more interesting and enjoyable (Setiawan & Phillipson,
2020).
English Use in
Social Media
We
may confirm that social media is the media to socialize through/within
networking and enables interaction beyond space and time. The number of social
media users increases rapidly every year, with a significant high user access
during the COVID-19 pandemic times where social interaction is limited (Saha et al., 2020).
Berta
(2018) states that based on statistics, English is the most used
language on the internet. The order of the most used languages on the internet
is reported as follows: English, used by
1.186
billion, with 60.4% of 10M websites using the language, Chinese, used by 888
million, with 1.4% of 10M websites using the language, Spanish, used by 363
million, with 4% of 10M websites using the language, Arabic, used by 237
million, with 1.3% of 10M websites using the language, Indonesian, used by 198 million,
with 0.7% of 10M websites using the language, Portuguese, used by 171 million,
with 1.3% of 10M websites using the language, French, used by 151 million, with
2.6% of 10M websites using the language, Japanese, used by 118 million, with
2.1% of 10M websites using the language, Russian, used by 116 million, with
8.5% of 10M websites using the language, and German, used by 92 million, with
2.1% of 10M websites using the language
It
is a fact that all social media vehicles are initially developed and presented
in English. The creation, development and operations of the entire system of
any certain social media are initiated in the English language. In relation to
how the main idea of the social media function was generated, it only makes
perfect sense to go back to the basics in order to obtain the language forming
this function: English. English is a global language, and we might find
evidence that it is the most used language on the internet and/or social media.
Statistics report that on the internet, the language most used is English
(https://www.mosalingua.com/en/most-used-languages-on-the-internet/).
Facebook for
Non-formal English Language Learning
Facebook
as it is today has become the highest accessed and used worldwide site which
people use for networking socially (Bosch, 2009). The number of people accessing Facebook daily is up to
one billion, which gives us more proof that Facebook is used to communicate
with the people of today (Van Dijck, 2012).
For
the majority of the population participating in this study, Facebook is opened
and checked every day. Notwithstanding, employees and housewives, business
persons and farmers, they have become acquainted to Facebook with thanks to its
easy access features and picture friendly nature, yet still with abilities to
state opinions and ideas personally, to speak what is in heart and to convey
emotions whichever way preferred;
Up
to this day the use of Facebook has exceeded 100 languages, however being the
main language of the creation and development of Facebook, English is still the
most used language on Facebook (Kabilan et al., 2010).
Rogers
(2023) says, learning happens when: the student actively takes
part in the learning process, directly deals with practical learning, whether
personally, socially or in observing activities, and trying out what has been
learned/obtained to rate self-success. This also leads to accepting new ideas
and innovations.
We
define the language learning types into three groups based on the learning
intentions:
a) Formal Language Learning
The Collins English Dictionary
(2014) teaches us that formal language is a language designed for use in
situations in which natural language is unsuitable.
Formal learning is the type of
learning conducted based on conservative intentions through formal educational
levels such as schools, colleges, universities, training centres etc. There is
usually a curriculum set up for this type of education conduction, which is
then broken down to syllabus tailored for each learning need. Oxford languages
defines formal as done in accordance with rules of convention or etiquette;
suitable for or constituting an official or important situation or occasion.
b) Informal Language Learning
Coombs and Ahmed (1974)
defined informal learning as an ongoing process where we obtain and collect
knowledge, and abilities through media (newspapers, magazines, books, listening
to the radio, accessing television and so forth) and portray usage of such in a
person’s daily life and activities (Greenhow
& Robelia, 2009).
Johnson (2019) adapts
Informal learning means to learn something that does not follow a certain
formal academic educational setting. Informal learning may be in the form of
viewing videos, reading articles, taking part in chat groups/rooms, games and
the kind. Informal learning is not designed formally and does not have a certain
goal for learning goals and basically is just a supporting activity.
c) Non-formal language learning
Coombs and Ahmed (1974) first
used ‘non-formal education’. They were certain that education goes farther than
going to school to learn, and decided that education has the similar meaning to
learning, wherever, how or whenever learning happens (Coombs & Ahmed, 1974). They then changed ‘learning’ into education in their studies.
Learning a language through
social media, especially through Facebook, may be considered as a type of
non-formal language learning, noting the characteristics and ways of learning
This
research is to determine the possibilities of learning English for seniors aged
40-60 years old and above being High School graduates, or High School graduates
with several semesters of study at the University, on the social media
platform. The seniors who participated in this study are originated in Manado
sub-urbans, North Sulawesi; the majority are still residing here while some
have migrated to neighboring islands and a few to Jakarta or the island of
Java.
Research
Methods
A research design is the
overall strategy that is chosen to integrate different components of the study
in a coherent and logical way, thereby, ensuring to effectively address the
research problem; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement,
and analysis of data.
Components of the study
observed in this research are the Facebook applications: its features, and
activities in the application that are used which portray or imply indirect
English learning activities, Facebook users – which are identified in each
participant’s daily activities on Facebook. Observation was made on
participants’ Facebook activities starting July 2022 up to December 2022, for
six months, to see whether some development and/or improvement in using the
English can be found. Participants of the study are 20 seniors aged 40-60+
years old, residing in Manado, North Sulawesi, High School graduates or High
School graduates with several semesters study at the university.
The background of this choice
of participants’ type is that there was lack of opportunity for obtaining
education during the years of 1970-1995 in rural areas such as the regions and
outskirts of Manado, and perhaps even other rural areas in Indonesia, aside
from larger towns and cities and the Java island. Thanks to the tremendous
development of technology, many communications/ educational fields are now
available at the tips of our fingers. The use of the English language nowadays
occurs naturally, which automatically appeals Facebook users to get to know the
language better.
Results
and Discussion
The observations conducted were evident that High School graduates aged 40-60+ are using the English language through Facebook, by using available features in expressing the communication made. Data obtained from these observations are as categorized in the following tables:
Table
1. Participants’ Data (Age, Sex, Education, Occupancy, Facebook accountholder length)
|
Participant # |
Age |
Sex |
Education |
Occupancy |
On Facebook since |
|
P#1 |
43 |
male |
High School |
civil servant |
2007 |
|
P#2 |
55 |
female |
Secondary Economics School |
housewife |
2010 |
|
P#3 |
50 |
female |
High School |
businesswoman |
2009 |
|
P#4 |
39 |
female |
High School |
housewife |
2009 |
|
P#5 |
51 |
female |
Secondary Economics School |
housewife |
2009 |
|
P#6 |
57 |
male |
Secondary Technical School |
oilfield technician |
2009 |
|
P#7 |
57 |
male |
Senior High School |
oilfield technician |
2011 |
|
P#8 |
57 |
female |
Senior High School |
housewife |
2019 |
|
P#9 |
61 |
male |
Senior High School |
direct seller |
2017 |
|
P#10 |
64 |
female |
Secondary Economics School |
retired assistant |
2010 |
|
P#11 |
50 |
male |
Senior High School |
mining technician |
2012 |
|
P#12 |
53 |
male |
Senior High School |
Security Guard |
2019 |
|
P#13 |
50 |
female |
Senior High School |
housewife |
2016 |
|
P#14 |
61 |
female |
Secondary Economics School |
housewife |
2009 |
|
P#15 |
59 |
male |
Secondary Economics School |
businessman |
2012 |
|
P#16 |
61 |
female |
Senior High School |
businesswoman |
2009 |
|
P#17 |
41 |
female |
Senior High School |
assistant |
2016 |
|
P#18 |
40 |
female |
Senior High School |
assistant |
2020 |
|
P#19 |
40 |
female |
Senior High School |
assistant |
2013 |
|
P#20 |
40 |
male |
Senior High School |
assistant |
2017 |
Table 2. Expressions of the participants on their accounts
in Facebook:
|
Partici- pants list |
Number of expressions used during July-December 2022 |
Description |
Relevant/ Irrelevant |
|
P#1 |
42 expressions |
1) Wedding Day ... 2) #Late post 3) Enjoying
Christmas with family
4) Story Book Children' 5) 2nd Christmas with My Big Boss 6) Merry
Christmas Everyone..!! 7) Jogging... Comments: 8) Thank you ... 2x (Picture) 9)
Let’s
Go! (emoticon) 10)
With...
my big boss (Picture) Comments: 11) “Happy
Sunday” Comments: 12) Blessed (emoticon) (Picture) Comments 13) The ... Song Comments 14) Thanks ... 6x 15) Happy
Weekend 16) Coast
Guard..!! 17) Spot... 18) #5YearsAgo 19) #SelfieOnTheToilet 20) With... 21) #ProudOfYouDear...#Selfie Comments: 22) Congratulations My Dear Niece ... 23) Runner-up 24) Goodness
of God 25) Day 3... with ... Owner ... #Stand... 26) With My
Dear Grandchild... 27) Day 1. 28) ... My Beloved Daddy... 29) Don't
look back with
regret, look forward with hope – picture 30) Before
Worship 31) “Happy
Thanksgiving Day” 32) ... Badminton Open
Tournament ... 3rd
Place... Not bad... #ThankGod 33) Protection, Health & Strength Our
LORD JESUS Certainly Give To You,
Your Little Famly and For All Of Us .. Amen .. !! With...
My Big Boss 1st Place ... Badminton Open Tournament
...Thank you ... 34) Baptist
Church Concert 35) SOLID PLUS PRODUCTION 36) Cousin Birthday
Party #1st 37)
Morning Routine ... Grandpa + Baby
sitter 38)
Wedding Anniversary ... 39)
43 years old ... The Goodness of God 40)
Tutorial ... Be A Super
Grandpa.. !! ...#Status...#Grandpa 41) Welcome ... 42) To God Be The Glory |
R |
|
P#2 |
4 expressions |
(Picture) Comments: (emoticons) 1) Thank you Thank you so much 2) Morning
Too...God Bless (Picture) 3) God Bless 4) Happy
Sunday |
R |
|
P#3 |
45 Expressions |
1) ... HAPPY New
Year 2023 2) Last Day of 2022 3) Goodbye
2022 ... Welcome 2023 4) Amen 5) Merry Christmas (video
Cap Cut) 6) Thank you 7) Time to
sleep 8) ... close order... 9) Late post 10) On the way complex 11) Joy to the World (emoticon) 12) On the sidelines of my busy life I don’t forget
to capture it 13) Thanks! 14) Take Care... 15) God bless... 16) Let’s
Go 17) Be strong 18) Be happy 19) For your to day
work 20) Jesus Bless Me 21) Ready guys 22) Dinner... 23) Squad 24) Happy
birthday Bestie ... 25) Happy
Sunday 26) With ... 27) Me & the only girl 28) Miss you... 29) Next ... 30) Happy weekend 31) Welcome
... 32) New the best squad 33) Fellowship 34) Chef Stay 35) Good vibes (emoticon) 36) Triple .... 37) Bye 38) Zoom blessing 39) ... In Jesus’
Name... 40) Food lovers 41) Cappucino lovers 42) ... the
best for ... 43) Love U
forever My husband 44) Do not pray for easy lives. Pray
to be Stronger men. (picture) |
R |
|
P#4 |
Expresions: 3 |
1)
Wedding Day ... 2)
That time with my little family the most
beautiful moments Singapore, Singapore “Our little family wouldn’t be this great without you, my husband. I’ll be forever
grateful for your struggles for us. Happy
Birthday Dear Love Husband” 3)
Birthday Party
... |
R |
|
P#5 |
Expressions: 10 |
1)
Happy Sunday 2)
Happy birthday my boy I
hope you’re getting smarter,
better be filial to parents, success always,
always healthy, and hopefully you’re
achieve future goals.
Today is your happy day, you’re finally 15th, God bless you as always. 3)
Party 4)
Faith Voice VG 5)
#Wedding
Party ... 6)
Rest in peace ... 7)
Soft
opening cafe (Curated & Hut) 8)
Happy
wedding ... 9)
Late post 10)
Me and ... |
R |
|
P#6 |
Expressions: 1 |
Have a nice trip GBU |
R |
|
P#7 |
Expressions: 8 |
1) Happy
New Year 2023 2) On the way to Pasteur agains home 3) ... Morning 4) Congratulation 5) Happy Birthday ... 6) That time! 7) Thank
You Lord *Journey completed!! 8) Journey with ... |
R |
|
P#8 |
Expressions: 4 |
1) .... with ... 2) .. Home 3) Late post 4) Thank You Lord |
R |
|
P#9 |
|
No English
status updates or comments |
|
|
P#10 |
Expressions: 16 |
1) Thank You Lord for every thing 2) With .... and her sister and...., and
me at ... 3) Quality
time with my fam and my systa fam ... lunch together for Christmas eve. 4) Late post. .....
with my belover
sister.... and my 5) family. and lunch
together. 6)
For all my families and friends Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year 2023.
God bless you
always. 5 (video) A Mother’s Prayer 7) Late post. ... 8) Carolling Christmas ... 9) Wedding
Party ... and ... 10) Quality
time with ... 11) With my lovely
grand daughter 12) Welcome
my second Grandson... Thank you Lord. 13) Healing. healing 14) Refreshing ... 15) Dear...
your beloved husband... 16) 15 Sunday Service ... 15 ... our n travel
... 16 Deep
condolence... |
R |
|
P#11 |
|
No English status
updates or comments |
|
|
P#12 |
|
No English status
updates or comments |
|
|
P#13 |
Expressions: 2 |
1 Late Post Birthday my dearest sister ...#refreshing #with... |
R
2 |
|
P#14 |
Expressions: 8 |
1) Thanks fb, hello 2) Late post with. @ the plaza 3) Enjoy
Every time... 4) Happy birthday, God bless 5) #gathering... 6) Old Shanghai... 7) Happy day... 8) .... with ... |
R |
|
P#15 |
Expressions: 24 |
1) ... Happy
New Year. ... 2) Happy Birthday in Heaven 3) ..... after ... 4) Effect
... 5) ... and ... Good job ... 6) God bless you All 7) Happy Sweet Seventeen ... 8) Special
Event ... 9) #Late Post 10) Family
is Everything 11) Come n join
... Christmas Celebrate at 07.00 PM 12) Thanks
God 13) Happy
Wedding Anniversary...Love You my wife
...Love You my son.... Love You my daughter 14) ...Love
You All My Big Family 15) Thanks
God... Special thanks:... 16) Official... 17) The Children Choir of ... 18) Happy wedding ... 19) Sunday Service with My Fam 20) The Best 21) Moment
... 22) Checkpoint ... 23) Live Streaming 24) Vocal
Group |
R |
|
P#16 |
Expressions: 20 |
1) Thanks ... 2) ... Bless 3) ...*Late Post 4) Special decoration for my fam 5) ...dress code...
Tutorial ... 6)
My mom is always
going to be the first
woman I ever love. She is
the role model of my life, and a lifetime
of inspiration for me. May God bless you with all the hapiness in the world
on your birthday, and forever, Mom.
Happy Birthday. 7)
Enjoy
with bestie... 8)
Rest in peace... 9)
Wishing
my son, who is so brave and great, a Happy
Birthday! You are the most special person that I know,
and today’s my favorite day. ... 10)
We
will never know the exact moment when friendsip
is formed. We will only know that it has been
there. 11) Go God bless
you all. 12) Launching... 13) Proud
of you ... We love you
... 14) FIELD
TRIP ... Infrastructure & Property... 15) Know and How ... 16) one day
tour 17) ... work shop ... 18) ..minus..., long life, always healthy, full of joy, happy
with family, n Lord
Jesus bless you... 19) Launching ... cafe by ...
July ... 20) Event ... Maritime Youth Summer Camp ... |
R |
|
P#17 |
|
No status update
or comments in English. |
|
|
P#18 |
|
No status update
or comments in English. |
|
|
P#19 |
Expressions: 8 |
1) Happy new year... GBU 2) ...team
NOTARY OFFICE... 3) Happy birthday ...Prayer ... 4) Happy wedding day ... 5) Stay ... have a nice day n GBU 6) …guys ... 7) ... Free... Let’s go... 8) ... Big thanks
... |
R |
|
P#20 |
|
No status
update or comments in English. |
|
Discussion
Findings confirming the research question is answered through observing the participants’ Facebook accounts data are as follows:
Most of the participants have wide groups of friends with whom they may communicate, with some possibly being able to use English language in communication, whether in personal or one- on-one conversations or in group conversations. Being fluid withn the conversation or communication, participants of this study would then, also naturally, reply using English expressions to the English expressions conveyed to them, as form of comprehension.
Based on the answers to the interviews collected, the participants have interest in using their Facebook usage abilities to explore possibilities of enhancing English language skills.
Most participants are positive in willing to learn the English language through Facebook, while it might be also a means to obtain additional English skills for free and to learn silently or secretly, without comments or suffering the embarrassment to perform in front of peers, relatives, classmates, colleagues, or others.
Reviewing the data obtained from the partcipants’ answers on the questionnaire, there is a strong possibility that seniors aged 40-60 and above will find a means of learning English as a Second Language on social media, namely Facebook, ascertained by the characteristics of the participants’ use of the Facebook platform – frequency, which groups they join, participation in available English language learning groups, chat groups, etc.
Conclusion
Being active on Facebook and
conducting communications in the English language most certainly will enhance a
social media user and account holder’s English language ability, however to
achieve the target of being able to communicate in the English language
accurately and fluently, progressive steps of lessons mastering is strongly
advised.
Suggestions for senior
learners to be able to learn English on Facebook; (1) it would be indeed very
helpful if content creators and vloggers would focus and emphasize on English
language mastering skills, using not only communication skills in general –
which are mainly listening and speaking skills – but also set a foundation of
structured English learning: grammar and structure, vocabulary, etc, (2) the
message of mastering grammar, structure, vocabulary must be communicated at front
in order to encourage senior learners of the importance of learning and
mastering these subjects in order to become and accurate and fluent English
language speaker.
Tutorials on using Facebook
utilities for English language lessons content should be communicated as well;
it is estimated that many seniors should prefer to conduct self-study, which is
actually possible with the technology we have at present. It would help senior
learners to learn more effectively on Facebook if they were entirely accustomed
to all Facebook facilities, such as joining chat groups, replaying videos,
pausing, forwarding shorts or reels and other help tools the Facebook may have.
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Copyright holder: Margareth Jane Tanos (2023) |
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First publication right: Syntax Literate: Jurnal Ilmiah
Indonesia |
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