THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ABBREVIATIONS AND SLANGS ON

STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKROUND OF THE STUDY

Once social media was introduced, it enabled a new way for people, particularly the
younger generation, to connect with one another, based on common interests, goals
and even values. - Raymond Arroyo (2012).

It is no doubt that the emergence and advancement of technology in communication has caused an
irreversible evolution to the world of communication. The internet revolution changed the
information world as regard sharing of information, speed, storage and retrieval of information in
whatever form regardless of the people’s location. Since the advent of social media network sites
years ago, communication with friends has taken a new look through the help of the internet. The
internet is more than just a means of seeking of information, but it has given people the ability to
connect with anyone, anywhere with just a few clicks of the button on either a smartphone or
personal computer for business, commercial, educational and other purposes. Through the internet,
a number of web terminologies emerged, and one technology that is making waves with regards to
information sharing and communication is the social media networks. The growth of technology
towards the end of the 20 th century, propelled by the emergence of the internet, satellite, etc. led to
what is called social media. Social media has transformed and impacted on communication,
education, research and learning in general (Ekaette, 2019). Every day, people adopt new
information, lifestyle, technologies, and language etc. And nowadays digital social media (Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, yahoo messenger, google plus, Snapchat, Tik-Tok) are very popular among the
present generation and they are influenced more by them. They feel what they are pursuing on these
sites is up to date and if they follow the trends on these sites, people will find them smart and
trendy. However, nowadays there are influences of digital social media in language acquisition of
young learner, because young people are now most connected with the other people through this
medium of communication, and intentionally or unintentionally they are following the trend of
language acquisition.

The ability to spell words effectively prepares a ground for educational distinction which is key in
the intelligibility quest and pursuit of all students. It plays a crucial role in an individual assignment
within academic and non-academic institutions hence producing possible ways and mechanism of

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how people’s academic achievements can be enhanced in all ramifications by spelling words
effectively and correctly has become a priority and a phenomenon of concern (Olubiyi, 2012).

Academic accomplishment and its imperativeness in determining one’s success is multifaceted and
largely dependable on many factors some of which are, the ability to spell words correctly, the ability
to construct a good sentence in written form and the ability to use language appropriately. They
determine one’s academic capability in both institutions of learning and career development
(Kyoshaba, 2009). Spelling excellence which contribute immensely to academic excellence remains
one of the goals of numerous establishments if not all, is however ascertained and measured
through examination results therefore spelling excellence and academic excellence are the end
result of education.

In the opinion of Ramkin (2010), it was expressed that the use of abbreviations and slangs in instant
messaging has left a significant damage to student’s spellings and grammar development skills. This
results in into the deviation of learners from the actual standard usage of English. On the other
hand, Goldstuck (2006) explains that language is changing with time. For example, ‘laughing out
loud’ is abbreviated as ‘LOL’ which also has a good impact in text messaging and quick use of
communication technologies, because it saves time and allows one to send as many number of
words as possible while saving cost at the same time. In the digital social media the young
generations use some popular terms like LMAO (Laugh my Ass Out), ROTFL (Rolling on the Floor
Laughing) which is developed into unique words because it has a meaning greater than the original
abbreviation, ROTFL, LMAO are now used like a type of punctuation to add an amusing or funny
intonation to messages. It doesn’t indicate literal laughter.

Though the young ones are using it with their friends informally, unintentionally they are acquiring
these languages, and they use it in their formal writing and speaking. These types of texts shorthand
is now emerging as a language of its own. As a result they are now using these languages formally in
public places, inadvertently destroying their language and writing skill. Digital social media users
requires some unique adaptations, but it also provides us a new of communication.

According to Freeman (2016), social media can be a useful tool for educational activities when
approached in the right way.

Similarly, Bright (2014) submits that social networks are resource centers for teaching of English
language. Akinjobi (2013) is also of the opinion that social network sites should be explored as
supplements to classroom activities while Yunus & Salehi (2012) opine that Facebook page enables
proficiency in students’ use of English.

In a related manner, Fatimayin (2015) asserts that social media can be used to accommodate both
the social and educational aspects. They can be tools for supporting teaching/learning on one hand
and a means of socializing on the other. She, however went on to state that social media has both
advantages and disadvantages. One of its disadvantages is its impact on the way secondary students
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spell words and write. Secondly, is the negative influence on students’ time management, study
behavior, and copying of wrong ideas. For Paul & Gelish, (2011) the use of mobile phones for
sending short messages and accessing social media may and may not result in students’ lower
academic performance.

However, from classroom observation, social media language is infiltrating students’ formal writing
exercises and impacting it negatively. This supports Selwyn’s (2009) assertion that Facebook use
must be seen as identity politics of being a student rather than enhancing students’ engagement
with formal studies. During classroom interaction with students, one finds that most of the students
write using incorrect spelling, grammar and punctuation marks. Many use abbreviations profusely,
while others have formed the habit of using text-to-speech (originally designed for people with
blindness). This affects the structure of sentences used as well as their spellings, which in turn does
not augur well for students’ vocabulary acquisition. Again, based on classroom observation of
happenings in Odogbolu Local Government Area, lack of teachers (qualified or not), coupled with
large student population sometimes, makes detailed checking of errors difficult. They only skim
over students’ work or ask that fellow students do the marking. This may result in some students
being unaware of the difference between formal and informal writing. To compound the problem,
majority of the students struggle with grammar, concord, meaning and comprehension.

Similarly, a report by Will (2017) state that 73% of teachers in a survey conducted by YouGov on
behalf of Dictionary.com , think that social media and texting negatively affect their students’
grammar and spelling skills. The survey also found that students often struggle with grammar,
meaning and comprehension and that 75% of the teachers are bothered when students use popular
slang or “text-to-speech” in their work while most teachers do not give more reference to grammar
and spelling when grading students work. Text-to-speech provides an easy and cheap way of
communication among the youths (students), most of whom ordinarily must have had difficulties
with the not-so-uniform rules of the English language grammar and spelling (Egbe and Ekpe, 2007).
A report published in 2010 by Clarion University shows that social media language is mostly
informal and allows non- standard orthography and grammatical errors. Furthermore, Ofuokwu
(2010) submit that scholars are expressing concern about how social media language is affecting
Nigerian students’ usage in formal contexts especially in written essays. Similarly, Ekah (2007)
states that the informal language of texting is slowly ‘but steadily encroaching on formal texts’.
(p.88). Egbe and Ekpe (2007) state that they noticed evidence of spellings associated with text
messages in secondary school students’ composition during the marking sessions of the May/June
and Nov/Dec examinations of the West African Examination Council(WAEC)and the National
Examination Council(NECO). They further outlined the techniques employed in writing text
messages and by extension, social media messages. These include:

1. The use of pidgin forms: dem-them, how una de-how are you? Waka-go.
2. Deletion of last letter: wl-will, stil-still, hav-have, lov-love.
3. Spelling in numerals: 2-to, 4-for, 4rm-from, 4get-forget, in2-into, gr8-great.
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 4. Single letter spelling: u-you, c-see, n-and, b-be, r-are, d-the.
5. Consonant clusters: gdnt-goodnight, ppl-people, dt-that, bt-but, urs-yours.
6. Use of phonemic: evri-every, oda-other, tot-thought,tnx-thanks, sori-sorry, bin-been, beta-
better.. (Egbe&Ekpe, 2007:40-44)

Despite the general concern about social media language creeping into students’ academic writing, it
is not going away any time soon. That does not mean teachers should turn away from correcting
students and doing the needful.

Students and adults are frequently using the social media platforms. It is very popular among
students many of who subscribe to more than one of them. They also spend hours chatting,
blogging, posting information and connecting with friends and family. They are therefore
consistently using social media language which may undermine their writing skills as a result of
daily exposure to informal new ways of writing and language usage which do not correspond to
acceptable standard writing techniques. Some features of social media language include constant
and consistent use of abbreviations, lack of grammatical rules and others. These easily slip in when
students write especially students who are average and below average. Students also stand the risk
of becoming lazy at writing as social media encourages abbreviation of word and sentence. The aim
of this study was to examine the effect of social media on secondary school students’ written
English. Specifically, the study sought to ascertain the impact of social media language use on
students’ writing and spelling. It is a fact that technology which has brought a lot of innovations to
all spheres of human lives including education. For example, there is the use of computers in class
rooms in place of chalkboards, the use of projectors in interactive classrooms, online tutoring like
the one made available in City of Knowledge Group of Schools (CKGS. In addition, a large number
of students use smart phones as complementary notebooks, get free e-books and internet-based
learning).

Students and adults are frequently using the social media platforms to contact new friends, interact
with families and search for information. Social media provides a platform for students to get
needed pieces of information, share learning problems with friends on Skype, Facebook and get
solution to difficult assignment by sharing it with friends online, read e-books, surf for information
and connect with the world. These, however may undermine their writing skills as students are daily
exposed to informal new ways of writing and language usage which do not correspond to acceptable
standard writing techniques. Some features of social media language include constant and
consistent use of abbreviations, lack of grammatical rules and others. These easily slip in when
students write especially students who are average or below average. Students also stand the risk of
becoming lazy at writing as social media encourages abbreviation of word and sentence.

The use of slangs is now very common in societies especially, among students and teachers feel very
strange to use these slangs but they are of the view that they need to learn these slangs otherwise
people will make fun of them and possibly see them as being outdated and uncool (Olsen, 2000).

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The base of these slangs is from Short Messaging Service (SMS) which is a compressed typographic
forms of writing that finally leads to send messages in code words rather than proper standard
language (Thurlow and Brown, 2003). Furthermore, this result to finding an ease in communication
and thus the kind of communication is totally different from what is found in semiotic situations.

Today, electronic communication (social media abbreviation) has resulted in serious grammatical
and spelling errors which have changed the language of student’s assignment from formal to
informal (Barseghyan, 2013). Barseghyan further explains that the misuse of language has been
found to be very common among secondary school students such as the use of slangs like OMG (Oh
My God), BRB (Be right back) TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) etc. Many of these slangs have been
made permanent part of their dictionaries.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is important to note that one of the most common techniques to assess students’ performance is
in their writing and grammatical skill. With over 100 social networking sites and over a billion
registered users in these sites, social networks today has become a way of life. From these
development of increasing number of users emerges a new behavior that has become a part of
popular youth culture (pop culture) across the continent, most especially among the younger
generation.

It is clear that almost all the students of secondary and tertiary levels of education are connected
with the digital media and they spend most of their time on those social networking sites. Therefore
there is no doubt social media won’t influence the writing and speak-ability of the students. “Online
social networks commonly refers to the way people are connecting online, as well as the platform
they’re using to do this” (Tyson, 2009). So the students are getting platforms to practice their
productive skill (English writing and speaking) on social media sites. Though parents are worried
about students’ constant use of social sites, many students continue to utilize these sites on a daily
basis. It therefore follows from the divergent views of scholars that social networking sites
negatively influences Students’ academy achievement even though there are positive influences too.
It is against this background that this research is being carried out to ascertain the negative
influence of students’ use of social media sites in their academic performance.

1.3RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the research will be to investigate the impact of social media abbreviation and
slangs on students’ performance in English Language. Other specific objectives of the study will
include;

. To investigate the extent at which online abbreviation and slangs has impact on students’ grammar
and spelling.

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. To know the extent of English abbreviation and slang words use in their learning environment.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i. What is the effect of social media slangs on students’ communication skill?

ii. Is there any effect on the usage of abbreviation on student’s English writing skill?
iii. What is the effect of social media abbreviations on students’ spelling and use of
punctuation
iv. Do social media motivate students to improve their writing and communication skill?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Ho: There is an effect of abbreviation and slang on students’ writing skill

H1: There is an effect of abbreviation and slang on students’ writing skill

H02: There is an effect of abbreviation and slang on student’s communication

H12: There is an effect of abbreviation and slang on student’s communication skill

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study will be significant as it aims to explore the impact of social media abbreviations and
slangs in damaging students’ writing skills. This study will help learners to pay serious attention in
order to avoid the usage of abbreviations and slangs to improve their writing deficiencies. This will
also be useful for parents to monitor their children activities in using technological devices.
Moreover, it will lead to development of necessary measures to improve students’ writing skills.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Conceptual Review

2.1.1 Concept of Social Media

The term social media was first introduced in 1994-1995 when the first web-based Social
Networking Site “Geocities” was founded. Later, in 1997, AOL instant messenger and
Sixdegrees.com were launched; however, social networking sites emerged when Friendster took off
in 2002, followed by LinkedIn and MySpace in 2003. Then, the most popular site “Facebook” was
dropped in 2004, followed by “Twitter” in 2006. Facebook has become the most successful social
media because of its unique platform and that made the word “Social Media” spread across the
world. These personal profiles can include any type of information, including photos, video, audio
files, and blogs. 
Social networks include Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. They are unique web-based services that
allow people to: “construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a
list of other users with whom they share a connection, and 3view and traverse their list of
connections and those made by others within the system” (Boyd & Ellison, 2008) which permits
users to communicate with people who already are part of that social network. Although the
difference, for many, especially in popular discourse, the term “social media” is used
interchangeably with Social Networking Sites.
Among many social networking sites, Facebook is the most widely used social networking site used
by various ages from children to adults. When it was created in 2004, it was used to facilitate social
interaction among students of Harvard University. According to the Harvard Institute of Politics
(2011), more than 90% of students reported that they were Facebook users. Davies (2012) stated
that Facebook has become the most popular site and source for news updates and online
communication, with more active users than any other social networking site.

Social media is the fastest growing web application in the 21 st century. This phenomenon is made
usable by means of the internet and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well
as the advent of smart phones. There are many social media platforms. Some readily available ones
in Nigeria include Facebook, Skype, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Tik-Tok, Snapchat. Activities on
social media are for socializing, getting and sharing information, discussing assignments and
projects, debates, chats, collaborating and networking.

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 Social networking sites (SNS) are popular among the young generation all over the world now.
Social networking sites are an online platform where people can create their own profile and can
interact with the people all over the world. According to Alassiri et al (2014), a social networking sites
provide interactive platform that enables its users communicate with other members to establish
social relations to share information and knowledge relative to individual experiences activities in
real life.

Social media refers to social software in the form of websites and other online communities, such as
social networking and micro blogging created by a large group of people known as (users) to share
information, ideas, personal messages, conversations, or to develop social and professional contacts.
Devis et al (2012), defined social media technology (SMT) as web based and mobile applications that
allow individuals and organizations to create, engage, and share ideas or existing content in various
forms of communications in digital environments. In short, social media is the online communities
in which people interact with other people in different locations.

The users can create and arrange a profile for themselves, edit and comment on each other’s posts
and share information with others. Helbergert & Loken, (2011) stated that social media involves a
variety of the work tools and services that are used to encourage community development through
collaboration and communication. (Kaplan, 2010) defined social media as “a group of internet-based
applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web which allow the
creation and exchange of user-generated content”. They refer to the internet-based social websites
like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter etc. which allow users to interactively communicate with each
other. Social media also refers to those “web based technologies which are used to turn
communication into an interactive dialogue between organizations, communities, and individual.
The media allows its users to meet new people, exchange ideas, images, videos, audios, and most
importantly stay connected. Since their invention, they have become more increasingly popular in
different countries all over the world, (Chetan, 2018).

Social media has made everyday communication easy for family, business associates, friends, and
acquaintances easier, more accessible and independent of circumstances and locations, (Reider,
2017). As a result, if you have a family member or friends who live very far from where you are and at
a different time zone to yours, you can use instant message or “FaceTime” to get connected. In
addition, emoji as well as acronyms such BRB (be right back) have added major elements of
nonverbal communication. So, if someone is unable to see you at the present time, you’re still able to
express yourself by using emoticon. Hence, (Verster, 2010) observed that social media are fast
becoming the default mode of internet communication, interaction and collaboration. In Nigeria, for
example, the social media sites especially Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok and Snapchat have become
common among the youths most especially. Snapchat and Tik-Tok are the ones currently making
waves. These apps are video sharing apps that allows someone start up a challenge that other users
can jump on and recreate something similar if not exactly the same. A typical example is the
#Cratechallenge that is all over the social network sites where you will see a person climbing quite a
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number of crates arranged in form of a staircase going up and down. Anyone interested in showing
interest can easily recreate it and the trends goes on and on till another trend takes over, talk about
trend table.

These applications are one of the essence of young people getting comfortable and connected to
their smartphones leaving most of the other chores undone, which includes assignments and
projects.

Social media is a broad term and has many categories:

. Social networking: is a subset category of social media. The use of dedicated websites and
applications to interact with other users, or to find people with similar interests to one's own. Social
networking is the use of Internet-based social media sites to stay connected with friends, family,
colleagues, customers, or clients. Social networking can have a social purpose, a business purpose, or
both, through sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

. Social news: interact by voting for articles and commenting on them. Twitter makes it possible
for people to do a popular opinion poll for events and trends. Companies also use the poll from
other sites to either do an online survey to get feedback on a particular product or service they have
rendered or are rendering e.g. the ongoing Big Brother Naija, sponsored by DSTV and Showmax (A
TV program whereby young people are made to live in a house for some a few months, they cohabit,
tolerate and compete against each other for a prize) make use of twitter poll to know people’s
favorites among the participants for the sake of eviction, and how many audiences they’re able to
reach through the internet. Yahoo news for example uses this polls to get feedbacks and positive
comments, and when this happens it makes the article to be seen as a good one. This is a good
development for Yahoo because it will be seen as the most reliable news site because it allows people
voice out their opinion on certain issues. Twitter presently has been banned in Nigeria because they
have been allegedly accused by the federal government to be a site that promotes tribalism when the
administrator of the app deleted a post that had a malicious content towards the Igbo tribe in
Nigeria. This indirectly has favored Yahoo news because the divided attention is restored, and that is
a good business for them because it helps create traffic on their sites.

 Social bookmarking: is another category in which websites are tagged and allowed to
search through websites bookmarked by others.
 Social photo and video sharing: applications like Snapchat, Tik-Tok, most especially
makes this happen by creating an hashtag of different trends. Filters and other amazing
features are added on this sites so users can share videos and photos with other users that are
following them on that site. The other users are able to comment on this posts.
 Wikis: interaction by adding articles and editing articles that are already existing for users to
be able to access new information about the topic. (Wikipedia, Wikia).

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2.1.2 Concept of English Language

The origin of English language in Nigeria is connected with the colonial period. Today the English
language could be named as one of the most widely used languages in the world. It appears to be the
second language in lots of countries. English is the official language of Nigeria. It is an international
medium of communication that is being used as the second language (L2) in Nigeria. Dates as far
back as the colonial period during the British rule. After independence in 1960, Nigeria like other
colonized countries was left to adopt English language as an official language. The adoption of
English language was necessary because Nigeria as a country is multicultural, and each of the
different ethnic groups wants its local language to be given national recognition. Hence Nigeria, was
not able to choose a lingua franca or adopt one indigenous language as a national language.
Bamgbose asserts that the indigenous languages in Nigeria are about 400 (Uche, 1999). What is
certain, however, is that there are major Nigerian languages – Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa – which are
given national recognition.

The multi-lingual nature on Nigeria has resulted in a policy that adopted English Language as the
medium of instruction (MOI) for the educational system in the whole country. At the primary level
(classes 1 – 6), the National Policy on Education (Federal Government of Nigeria, 2014) states that
the school curriculum shall include four languages: language of the nuclear environment, English,
French and Arabic. This policy also states that the MOI in the primary level shall be the language of
the environment for the first three years (primary 1-3 classes). During this period English language
shall be taught as a subject. The policy further states that, from the fourth year, English shall
progressively be used as an MOI, and the language of the immediate environment shall be taught as
a subject. However, (Ndukwe, 2015) posits that this policy lacks effective execution mechanisms.
This is due to the non-availability of qualified teaching staffs, lack of materials in the appropriate
language, inadequate supervision for proper implementation and coordination for improving the
usage of the MOI.

2.1.3 Effects of Social Media on Student’s Academic Performance

 The use of social networks has become an integral part of the lives of many students,
because they introduce them to a world of different possibilities, especially in their field
of study. However, these networks are like double-edged sword. If students do not
manage the use of these networks, they will be addicted to them, and will have to face
different consequences, especially in relation to their academics.
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According to Metropolitan school of business and management (2013), there is no doubt
that social networking communities are here to stay because since the last decade, the
popularity of these sites have increased rapidly. In many ways, social media has left to
positive changes that cannot be overemphasized in sharing information and interaction.
This is not to say that it doesn’t have its own negative impacts, matter of fact, the
negative side of the social media on the part of students outweighs its advantages. With
the sites having well over 1 billion users, there is no doubt that students are actively
engaged in these networking sites. It has been proven that students who are too active on
the social media tend to perform poorly in their academics compared to the ones that
spend lesser time. It is very easy to get distracted by the various activities that goes on
these sites in which students are more likely to be faced with the temptation of surfing
the internet, chatting with friends and visiting different webs instead of getting their
assignments and schoolwork done in time. For English language students, the negative
impacts of the social media network on their academic performance includes;

i. Decrease in Productivity: Students tend to spend too much time on these networking
sites, that they lose track of time and this leads to a reduction in their productivity. The
amount of time that is required to be spent on a homework for it to be done appropriately
will be shortchanged and the amount of productivity expected from such assignment will
reduce because such a student is distracted while getting assignments done he or she is
also trying to catch up with numerous activities going on these sites. There will be
reduction of focus on the right activities which is replaced by a distraction that can be
avoided.
ii. Anxiety
The fact that social media is a too for curiosity about other people’s activities, students
become curious about knowing what other people are doing rather than spending time
for themselves. Those who spend more time on social media become victims of depression
and anxiety because it adversely affects the thought processes and mood. Good mental
health is important for study, career, and personal life. Students who use social media
heavily do not spend enough time on activities that definitely increase mental abilities,
skills, and physical movement. Those who exercise daily, their body releases endorphins
that signal our brain to stay positive and reduce depression. Thus decreased activities
reduce the secretion of endorphins, and it is causing depression, a common problem.
iii. Poor Grammar Usage: The active usage of the social media not only encourages bad
grammar usage, it also encourages bad spellings, as most students are likely going to use
slangs and shortened form of texts in their interaction as they feel it speeds up the
conversation and it makes them feel they are up to date. Twitter, for example, limits its
users to only 140 characters per tweet, therefore, users cannot go beyond that number
which in turn will make them try as much as they can to make sure whatever message
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 they are about to write, or whatever thoughts they’re about to convey must fit into that
number of characters. Users have no other option than to abbreviate their texts so that
they will not leave anything out. After all the app only made provision for 140 characters
and there is so little that can be done with that number. While there are other embedded
links on the application as a reward for pursuing those connections, the fact still remains
that students will need to rely on spell checkers because there is excessive usage of
compressed English words, slangs and abbreviation. The only consolation for the minimal
number of text characters is that it makes the hashtag mostly used on Twitter easy to read
and make comments about. This does not in any way help a student write standardized
English words. This results in the reduction of their command over English language and
also their writing skills (David, 2014).
iv. Internet Addiction

Uncontrolled social media usage among students can lead to internet addiction. The more time
students spend on social media, the more they become exposed to new stories and ideas they want
to explore. This habit eventually turns into an addiction that, if not handled early, can affect their
school performance, mental health, and even personal development. Addiction to these social
networks will turn students to walking-zombies because they’re most likely controlled by what they
see on these sites which can become very addictive that they lose track time and are unable to get
other important things done. A student who is addicted to the social media is likely to spend even
the eight-sleeping hour (9pm-4am) irrespective of time zones on the site because he or she does not
want to miss out on any activity. This will definitely lead to a reduction in academic performance
because the ample time meant for the body to be in a state if rest as being used on a most likely
unprofitable activity and drowsiness sets in, that’s one of the reasons a student can be found dozing
or sometimes sleeping during a class. This will in turn lead to poor grades

v. Social Isolation and reduction in reality participation or human contact

There is a statistical relationship between the use of social media and social isolation. When
students see pictures or videos of a party where they were not invited, it can bring anxiety. It is
known as “fear of missing out” or FOMO. Most of the time, students believe they are
connecting to different persons using social media, but actually, they are out of the present moment
and their lives. It can become a cause to feel more isolated and a reason for FOMO. The fact that
they are not able to effectively communicate with people in person puts them at a disadvantage
because effective communication skill is one of the keys to have a successful career in the real world
and employers are getting more dissatisfied with these emerging development as a result of these
issue.

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

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 Piaget's theory of constructivism argues that “people produce knowledge and form meaning based
upon their experiences” (1975, 6th ed). Piaget's theory covered learning theories, teaching methods,
and education reform. Two of the key components which create the construction of an individual's
new knowledge are accommodation and assimilation. Assimilating causes an individual to
incorporate new experiences into the old experiences. This causes the individual to develop new
outlooks, rethink what were once misunderstandings, and evaluate what is important, ultimately
altering their perception. Accommodation, on the other hand, is reframing the world and new
experiences into the mental capacity already present. Individuals conceive a particular fashion in
which the world operates. When things do not operate within that context, they must accommodate
and reframing the expectations with the outcomes. This theory asserts that technology, especially,
Facebook, incisively shape how individuals think, feel, act and how societies organize themselves
and operate.

The relevance of the theory to this study cannot be overemphasized. The constructivist theory has
altered our environment to the extent that students have the opportunity to be exposed to other
ideas, cultures, and forums on global issues. Students can work on collaborative projects, which may
come in form of a networked writing project, or the building of separate phrases of engineering
project that enables them to receive and give instant responses. Students can also easily share ideas,
photos, videos, likes and dislikes, in the process offer humanity a chance to engage one another in
study irrespective of distance, culture and social class strata.

2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW

Orji (2019) examines the influence of social media language on the usage of English language among
senior secondary students in Enugu Education zone. The study concluded that there is a significant
difference in the mean scores of make and female students on the influence of social on English
language usage In that zone abd tgere is a significant difference also in the mean scores of students
in the urban areas. In the same vein, Ekaette (2019)explored social networking sites usage and its
negative influence on student’s academic achievement in secondary schools in Uyo Senatorial
District, Akwa Ibowm State. The study findings revealed that student’s academic performance was
impeded by their use of the social media, time spent, gender usage, the most visited sites, poor
grammar and spellings. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended amongst others that,
all educational stakeholders should regularly and adequately ensure students become aware of the
impeding danger associated with the negative influences of these sites.

Also David (2014) carried out a research on the effects of facebook on student’s academic
performance. It shows that 26% of respondents agreed that the use of facebook affect their
academics positively, 32% are not affected in anyway by the usage of these sites while 42% are
negatively affected. The larger percentage shows that most students are affected by the usage of

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these sites. This study is related to the present study because the two studies seeks to find out the
effects of the social language on stduents academic performance, most especially in their
examination, and also, descriptive surveys research design and questionnaires are used to seek
information from the respondents.

Obi et al. (2012), observed that majority of students that often explore social media routinely have
coined and adopted peculiar practices of writing and abbreviating words in formal settings and
during chatting which is grafually becoming an integral part of their writing skills. For example
stduents now use 4rm in place of from, D in place of the, and 4 in place of for. These necessitated
the establishment of detoriration in the usage of English grammar by users who are mostly students,
therefore this explains in clear terms that abbreviation of words while interacting has a direct link
with the class assessment of stduents as it alters the standard and convetional way of spelling words
professionally.

Junco (2012) investigated the impact of facebook being a socio-communication medium on

students’ performance on academic courses. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of
Facebook being a social interaction medium on students’ performanceon academic courses. The
study used descriptive survey research design. The research analyzed data from 1834 respondents
studying 4 years degree in residential institutes of Northeaster USA to find trends o frequency of
Facebook visits and activities, time spent on the site, time spent on class preparation, and academic
grades of students under research. Analysis of th collected data revealed that time spent on
Facebook and frequent visitation to these site are larely related to students’ performance in terms of
GPA, however, there is slightly negative correlation between the time spent in studying for class. He
further adds that although, the time spent on social media and academic performance is negatively
correlated but, this relationship in real world situations does not really pose a great threat in
academic success. Rouis and Salehi (2001) investigated the effect of using Facebook on academic
performance of undergraduate students at Lulea University of Technology, Sweden in relation to
their personality gtraits. Their analysis of 239 students’ data revealed very significant results. This
research established that using Fcaebook has strong negative impact on academic performance of
students with extrovertic personalities. However, the self-regulation factor among students greatly
reduced this negative impact as they had high level of effective self-control while using social media
platform. Cognitive absorption, which defines the extent of deep involvement, is another personality
factor taken into consideration while undertaking this research. The studies succesfully make the
observation that the extent to which the cognitive absorbs the contents and activities on the site
determines the frequency and duration of the usage of such site.

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 CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION

This research methodology shall include the research design, population of study, sample and
sampling techniques, research instrument, validity of research instrument, procedure of data
collection, and the method of data analysis all of which are discussed below,

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

Descriptive survey will be used for this study, survey research according to Check and Schutt(2012)
is the collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions.
This type of research allows for a variety of methods to recruit participants, collect data, and utilize
various methods of instrumentation.

3.3 POPULATION OF STUDY

The population of this study shall consist of senior secondary school students of Ijebu-ode Local
Governemnt Area of Ogun State. The research will focus mainly on all students of both public and
private secondary schools within the study area.

3.4 SAMPLE AND SAMPLE TECHNIQUE

A concise and random technique will be used to select (25) respondents each from 4 randomly
selected public and private senior secondary schools withi the study area of Ijebu-ode Local
Government Area of Ogun State. However, a total of one hundred (100) students of the said schools
will be taken as the sample for this study due to accessibility of the environment and availability of
the respondents.

3.5 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

A personally designed close-end structured questionnaire will be given for data collection. The
questionnaire will be divided into three (3) sections, i.e. section A, B, and C. section A will sought for

15
the personal demograohic data of the respondents. B will be for the first part of the research
objectives in roder to test the hypothesis and the part C will be the concluding part of the
hypothesis. The questionnaire will be close-ended with the responses partitioned into the following
item, Agree (A), Strongly Agree, Disagree (D), Strongly Disagree (SD) and Maybe (M).

3.6 VALIDITY OF THE INSTRUMENT

The research instrument (questionnaire) will be validate by the lecturer in charge of the study in
order to make the instrument more valid and suitable for the objectives it was created for in this
research.

3.7 PROCEDURE FOR DATA COLLECTION

Firsthand information will be obtained by distributing the questionnaires to the randomly selected
public and private senior secondary school students, within Ijebu-ode Local Government Area of
Ogun State. The questionnaires will be distributed and retracted for analysis purpose.

3.8 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS

Data collected from section A part of the questionnaire will be analyzed usin the descriptive
statistics, which involves frequency counts and percentage. Analysis data collected for the section B
part will be based on Likert rating scale (Nworgu, 2006) and inferential chi-square will be used to
test the hypotheses using SPSS software (Statistical Packae for Social References) version 20.

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REFERENCES

Alassiri,

Barseghyan L 2013. On some aspects of interest slang. Graduate School of Foreign Languages N,
14: 19-31

Boyd, D. M. & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: definition, history, and scholarship.

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), (210-230).

Chetan, R. Bhamare, (2018). Effects of social media on communication skills/The Knowledge

Review. Retrieved from: https://theknowledgereview.com/effects-socialmedia-communicationskill/

David, S. (2014). Advantages and disadvantages of facebook. Journal of Business Education, 1(2),
155-162.

Davies,

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