Moein Shokri (English Language Department, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran) & Dr. Hadi Salehi (Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Isfahan, Iran)
We are witnessing a growing interest in the use of LinkedIn as a popular Social Networking Service (SNS) among which are post graduate EFL students. The present study was twofold. Firstly, it aimed at investigating the impact of Iranian post graduate EFL students’ LinkedIn membership on their writing skill improvement. Secondly, there was an attempt to figure out about students’ perceptions on learning writing skill via this platform. Participants included 12 Ph.D. candidates selected through the convenience sampling method. They were assigned into experimental and control groups. Next, a writing pretest was conducted for ensuring both homogeneity of the groups and determining participants’ initial level of writing proficiency. Participants in the experimental group were LinkedIn members who received their instruction virtually. However, in the control group the routine procedure for teaching writing skill was followed. Finally, a post test was conducted. The comparison of participants’ scores on their pretest and posttest revealed their amount of progression on each group separately. In addition, using a questionnaire, students’ perception on the impact of LinkedIn as a platform for EFL learning was explored. The findings showed that (as we are analyzing the obtained data, we do not know what the results will be until after data analysis and interpretation).
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The International Conference on Current Issues of Languages, Dialects and Linguistics (WWW.TLLL.IR), 2-3 February 2017, Ahwaz.
