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Social media includes a variety of web-based tools and services that are designed to
promote community development through collaboration and information sharing (Arnold &
Paulus, 2010; Junco, Helbergert, & Loken, 2011). These tools provide opportunities for
individual expression as well as interactions with other users (Arnold & Paulus, 2010). Social
media can include blogs, wikis, media (audio, photo, video, text), sharing tools, networking
platforms (including Facebook), and virtual worlds. Current research has indicated that using
social media as an educational tool can lead to increased student engagement (Annetta, Minogue,
Holmes, & Cheng, 2009; Chen, Lambert, & Guidry, 2010; Junco, 2012a; Junco et al., 2011;
Patera, Draper, & Naef, 2008). By encouraging engagement with social media, students develop
connections with peers, establish a virtual community of learners and ultimately increase their
overall learning (Fewkes & McCabe, 2012; Heafner & Friedman, 2008; Jackson, 2011; Kuh,
1993; Liu, Liu, Chen, Lin & Chen, 2011; Nelson Laird & Kuh, 2005; Yu, Tian, Vogel, & Kwok,
2010).
Web-based technologies that support the social architecture of a community and enhance
the effectiveness and value of personal interactions continue to emerge. As proposed by Bruns
(2008), “the World Wide Web has been radically transformed, shifting from an information
repository to a more social environment where users are not only passive receivers or active
harvesters of information, but also creators of content”
The use of social media has surged globally in recent years. As of July 2011, Facebook
passed 750 million users, LinkedIn had over 100 million members, Twitter had over 177 million
tweets per day, and YouTube reached three billion views per day (Chen & Bryer, 2012).
Today’s college students (which consist of Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials) are
exposed to all types of technologies in many aspects of their lives (Browning, Gerlich, &
Westermann, 2011). On a daily basis they use desktop computers, laptops, e-readers, tablets, and
cell phones to actively engage in social networking, text messaging, blogging, 2 Kentucky
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Practice, Vol. 1, Iss. 2 [2012], Art. 7
http://uknowledge.uky.edu/kjhepp/vol1/iss2/7 content sharing, online learning, and much more
(Cassidy, Griffin, Manolovitz, Shen, & Turney, 2011). As documented in recent research,
students and faculty are using these emerging technologies and platforms in all facets of their
daily lives, specifically social media (Browning, et al. 2011; Chen & Bryer, 2012); yet, a low
percentage of users are engaging in such for academic practice (Chen & Bryer, 2010; Lenhart, et
al., 2010; Tiryakioglu & Erzurum, 2010).
Instructional materials in foreign language teaching can refer to a variety of things. They
can be defined as any tool that teachers use to assist their students in adequately learning the
target language; means used to increase students’ access to that language; every instrument that
contributes greatly to students’ progress; anything which is used by teachers and learners to
facilitate the learning; and the keys to have influence on what goes on in the classroom, just to
list a few (Brown, 1995; Crawford, 2002; Jones, 2009; Littlejohn, 2012; McDonough, Shaw &
Mashura, 2013; Richards, 2010;Tomlinson, 2008). As regards the use of instructional materials
to foster foreign language learning, foreign language teachers tend to employ them at the right
time and in the right proportion. Offering a myriad of benefits to both teachers and learners in
teaching and learning English as a foreign language (EFL) context, a variety of instructional
materials need to be included in the agendas of teachers. Research proves that instructional
materials highly facilitate learning and greatly draw learners’ attention to the target language
(Littlejohn, 2012; McDonough, Shaw & Mashura, 2013; Solak & Çakır, 2015; Tomlinson, 2012
