Learners’ Attitudes Towards the Use of the Social Networks in Developing Speaking Skills

Abstract

In Algeria, English is considered as a foreign language where opportunities for authentic oral practice are few throughout the learning period. The students cannot converse freely in English because they receive insufficient practice in speaking skills. Indeed, this skill needs to be learned and require active behavior. Nevertheless, the latest technological developments create a big chance to make communication as a necessity for every person during his/her lifetime, this necessity pushed on to the creation of social networks that has become popular and useful nowadays. The present paper focuses on investigating the attitudes of EFL learners towards the use of social networking to enhance their speaking skills. Master two students of English at Abdelhamid Ibn Baddis University of Mostaganem confirm that the use of social networks can help them improve their speaking skills. The results of the research show that social networking websites can help the learners to interact easily with their peers in a meaningful way that stimulate their interest in learning the language. In different words, the social networks have created new opportunities for the language learners to interact and collaborate in authentic ways. This means that the social networks is a useful learning strategy in improving one’s performance in the foreign language.