EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE WRITING SKILLS OF STUDENTS IN SELECTED SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Page – – – – – – – – – i
Declaration Page- – – – – – – – – ii
Approval Page – – – – – – – – – iii
Dedication Page – – – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgement Page- – – – – – – – v
Table of Contents- – – – – – – – – vi
Abstract – – – – – – – – – vii

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the Study – – – – – – – 1
1.2. Statement of the problem- – – – – – – 6
1.3. Purpose of the Study – – – – – – – 7
1.4. Research Questions- – – – – – – – 7
1.5. Significance of the Study- – – – – – – 7
1.6. Scope and Limitation of the Study- – – – – – 8
1.7. Operational Definition of Terms- – – – – – 9

CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction – – – – – – – – – 10
2.1 History of Social Media- – – – – – – – 10
2.2 Types of Social Media- – – – – – – – 12
2.3 Reasons Why the Students [Youths] Like Social Media – – 15
2.4 The Concept of Writing- – – – – – – – 17
2.5. Types of Writing – – – – – – – – 19
2.5.1 Narration- – – – – – – – – 20
2.5.2 Description- – – – – – – – – 22
2.5.3 Argumentative Writing – – – – – – – 23
2.5.4 Expository Writing – – – – – – – – 23
2.5.5 Letter Writing – – – – – – – – 24
2.5.6 The Article – – – – – – – – – 25
2.5.7 Technical and Scientific Writing – – – – – – 26
2.5.8 Speeches- – – – – – – – – 26
2.5.9 Creative Writing- – – – – – – – 27
2.6 Negative Effect of Social Media on the Writing Performance of Students- 27
2.7 Summary of Literature Review – – – – – – 32
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design- – – – – – – – – 34
3.2 Population and Sample- – – – – – – – 34
3.2.1 Population of the Study- – – – – – – 34
3.2.2 Sample of the Study- – – – – – – – 35
3.3 Sampling Technique- – – – – – – – 35
3.4 Instrument for Data Collection – – – – – – 36
3.4.1 Description and development of instrument – – – – 36
3.5 Validity of the Instrument- – – – – – – 36
3.6 Reliability of the Instrument- – – – – – – 37
3.7. Procedure for data collection- – – – – – – 37
3.8 Method of Data Analysis – – – – – – – 37

CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Data Presentation- – – – – – – – 39
4.2 Discussion of Findings- – – – – – – – 42

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of the Study- – – – – – – – 44
5.2 Conclusion- – – – – – – – – 45
5.3 Recommendations- – – – – – – – 45
References – – – – – – – – 47
Appendixes – – – – – – – – 50

Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate effect of Social Media on English language learning of Senior Secondary Schools students in Jos North Local Government Area. The research employed the survey research design. The population of the study comprised of SS 2 students of five (5) selected schools which were selected out of 72 secondary schools in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. The sample of this study consisted of 150 students, 30 students were chosen from each of the schools. The sampling technique applied to this research was the random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was the questionnaire. The data was analyzed using mean scores with the criterion score of 2.5 as the acceptance level. The findings of the study indicated that: social media does not improve writing and reading; time spent on social media reduces time for academics and studies; social media also distracts the students during reading which is shown; use of social media affects your spelling and grammar in formal writing; students sometimes sleep late as a result of social media this is evident; confusion of correct spelling, contraction of words, low performance in writing, chatting on social media even while in class, divided attention, short attention span and lack of fluency in reading. In the light of the findings, the following recommendations were made: social networking sites should be expanded and new page should be created to enhance and promote standard academic activities to avoid set back in students spellings, grammar and school work; parents, guidance and counselors should monitor, inform and advice students against excessive usage of social media at the detriments of the students’ academic work especially in English; the students should focus on creating a balance between the time they spend on social media and their academic activities; Federal ministry of education should formulate a policy on the usage of social media during school period.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the Study
The world is today celebrating the improvements in communication technology which has broadened the scope of communication through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Modern Technology in communication no doubt has turned the entire world into a “Global village”. But as it is, technology like two sides of a coin brings with it, both negative and positive sides. It helps people to be better informed, enlightened, and keeping abreast with world developments. Technology exposes mankind to a better way of doing things. Social media include: Twitter, Yahoo Messenger, Facebook Messenger, Blackberry Messenger (BBM), Whatsapp messenger, 2go messenger, Skype, Google talk, Google Messenger, iPhone and Androids. These networking sites are used by most people to interact with old and new friends, physical or internet friends (Asemah & Edegoh, 2012).
Most of the members to these social networking sites are young people who are still in school. Al-Rahma and Othman (2013) inform that there is no doubt that social media has gained wider acceptability and usability and is also becoming the most important communication tools among students. A large percentage of teenagers in Nigeria spend their time online either using smart phones or their computers and other handheld gadgets such as ipads and tablets browsing these social media. Students at all levels of education seize every opportunity they get to access social media to check on status on Facebook and what is trending on Twitter. Teenagers have learnt to multitask as they switch from one social network to another.
The use of social media among students has reached high levels and has affected their study time, poor grammar and wrong spellings when socializing on social media as well as diverting their attention from their studies (Ndaku, 2013). Students spend much of their study time on social networks than in their academic undertakings and it has affected their Grade Point Average (GPA). Reports find that youths spend nearly ten (10) hours per day using some form of technology with socially networked media playing a large role in their daily lives (Rideout, Foehr & Robert 2010).
English has now acquired the title of the world’s leading “global language” (Crystal 2003) because it is used for business, science, and politics. When we use the term English, readers may assume that we are referring to a standard of usage that everyone agrees upon. Readers may think that we must mean British Standard English or American Stan¬dard English because the English that exists in such places as Africa, Asia, the West Indies, the Philippines and Sin¬gapore is not real or standard English. Readers may also think that teachers of English as a second language (ESL) must be teaching British or American Standard English because that is what their learners want to learn. In fact, the issue is not as straightforward as we may think; there is neither an agreed-upon definition of Standard English, nor is there agreement on what students of ESL need or want to learn. This leads to the following ques¬tion: Has rapid change in the status of English as a global language left the classroom practices of many Eng¬lish language teachers lagging behind learners’ desires or even their needs?
In 2009 English was the native language of more than some 320 million speakers (www.ethnologue.com) and if you add the number of speakers with English as their second language to that list, English reaches close to half a billion speakers worldwide. Now, ten years on the number is even greater. English is undoubtedly a large and influential language and the importance of knowing and being able to master English is well known. The syllabus for the English subject for upper secondary school states that “Knowledge of English increases the individual’s opportunities to participate in different social and cultural contexts, as well as in global studies and working life” (Engelska, 2001).
There are four language skills which should be mastered, they are: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Listening is part of the transactional of communication process; the receiver’s responses have a direct impact on the direction of conversation. Speaking is an expression of ideas, opinions, or feeling to the other by using words or sounds of articulation in order to inform, to persuade and to entertain that can be learned through teaching and learning process. Reading is the process of constructing meaning from the written text.
Writing is the language skill that should be constantly improved from time to time. It means that this skill requires clear thinking about what to write. Students should be taught how to express their ideas though written from language without regular practice. Writing can be bored and outraged to students who learn English as the target language, because they did not enjoy or they have not ideas which developed when they write. Principally, the main function of writing is as an indirect device of communication. By writing, the students will be able to explain their thought or their purpose.
Writing is foundational to success in academics, in the work place and in the global economy. In an increasingly demanding world of literacy, the importance of ensuring students’ proficiency in writing can never be overemphasized. The ability to write well, hitherto a luxury is now a dire necessity (Gallagher, 2006). Writing is vital to students’ developing literacy skills. In light of this, teaching learners to write well should be top priority of a worthwhile education system. Gallagher observes that a school that “teaches its children the curriculum without concurrently teaching them how to write well is a school that has failed” (p. 170).
To Yiljep (2018), writing skill is the fourth and last of all the language skills. It is generally termed as the most difficult and complicated skills to master. The first two skills tend to come naturally especially in L1 situation. It is an expressive skill. It is a viable medium of communication to readers whatever the writer wants to convey. He further defines writing as an assemblage of sentences in such a way as to produce a meaningful account of an object or an event. Unlike speaking which is learned informally, naturally and unconsciously from the beginning, writing requires conscious and formal effort to learn. Due to the technicality of writing, it is pertinent to note that any error in spelling, syntactic structure, diction and punctuation, may distort the meaning of the message entirely.
A direct relationship exists between Social media usage and the academic performance of students in secondary schools. However the darker side within technological evolution has resulted in dilemmas such as the setback of real values of life especially among students who form the majority of users interacting through the use of social media. Social media focus on building and reflecting social associations among people who share interests and or activities. With so many social networking sites displayed on the internet, students are tempted to abandon their homework and reading times in preference for chatting online with friends. Many students are now addicted to the online rave of the moment, with Facebook, Twitter etc.
Today most youths and students possess Facebook accounts. The reason most of them perform badly in writing might not be far- fetched. While many minds might be quick to blame the poor quality of teachers, they might have to think even harder, if they have not heard of the Facebook frenzy (Oche & Aminu .2010). Olubiyi (2012) noted that these days, students are so engrossed in the social media that they are almost 24 hours online. Even in classrooms and lesson hours, it has been observed that some students are always busy pinging, 2going or Facebooking, while lessons are on. Times that ought to be channeled towards learning, academic research and innovating have been crushed by the passion for meeting new friends online, and most times busy discussing trivial issues. Hence most students’ academics suffer setback as a result of distraction from the social media. To Obi, Bulus, Adamu & Sala’at (2012), it was observed that the use of these sites also affects students’ use of English and grammar. The students are used to short forms of writing words in their chat rooms; they forget and use the same in the classrooms. They use things like 4 in place of for, U in place of You, D in place of The etc. and this could affect their class assessment.
In the light of the above discussion, the researcher has seen the need to investigate into the effects of social media on the academic performance of students in English language in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State with particular attention to writing as a skill.
1.2. Statement of the problem
The rate at which students perform poorly in writing has become a source of concern to the teachers and educational stakeholders. Over the years, researchers have sort for causes of poor writing among students in secondary schools. Most researchers have blamed parents, government, teachers, among other factors as being threats to the performance of students in writing. However, little attention has been given to students as being the architects of their own failure. In a developing society like Nigeria, people, especially youths are eager to try out new innovations that find their ways into the country. The heavy use of the social media has become a nuisance to our youths, especially the young students in secondary schools, whose minds are still feeble and yearning for directions. Often times, students find themselves spending more time on social media than on their books. This has led to the poor concentration and subsequently the weak performance of these students.
This research therefore, will look into the effects of social media on the academic performance of students in writing in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State with the aim of proffering a lasting solution at the end of the research.

1.3. Purpose of the Study
This research work is purpose driven. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of social media on the writing performance of students in secondary schools in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Other specific objectives are to:
i. Substantially confirm the effect of social media on writing skills of students.
ii. Find out the aspects of writing affected by social media.
iii. Proffer the solutions to the problems posed by social media in secondary Schools students’ writing in Jos North Local Government Area.
1.4. Research Questions
In order for the research to have a guide, the following research questions have been postulated to serve as a guide in which by the end of the research, answers will be provided to these questions:
i. What are the effects of social media on writing skill?
ii. What are the aspects of writing mostly affected by social media?.
iii. What are the solutions to the problems posed by social media in secondary Schools students’ writing in Jos North Local Government Area?
1.5. Significance of the Study
The significance of this study cannot be overemphasized, especially now that the society is worried about the rate of failure among students in English language, especially in WAEC and NECO examinations. This study will be of benefit to the teachers, parents, government and the students as well.
The study will be of benefit to the teachers in such a way that they will come to know that excessive use of social media has negative consequences on the students performance in writing, therefore, they will take up measures to curtail or control students’ use of it at the detriment of their academics.
There is time for everything; therefore the parents will get to know that gadgets like ipads, smartphones, etc are not a must for the students at the secondary school level. They will come to realize that such gadgets are time-consuming; as such they will ensure their children are using such items for academics.
Government is one of the major stakeholders in education. As such, the government will get to know the negative aspect of social media on the writing performance of who are in secondary schools. Therefore, they will inculcate in the curriculum important aspects that will need the students to go on research using the internet which will have a positive contribution on their academic. This will stop them from spending more time on social media doing what will not benefit them academically.
To the students, they will learn to concentrate in the classrooms when lessons are going on, instead of spending all their time on the social media making friends and chatting idly, they will use it for academics purposes.
1.6. Scope and Limitation of the Study
Every research has an area of coverage. The research investigated the effects of social media on the academic performance of students in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. Though the research is limited to selected secondary schools in Jos North Local Government Area, the findings might be generic. This is to say that the findings can be generalized to other parts of the country.
1.7. Operational Definition of Terms
In the research, there are some terms that are used in the course of the investigation. For clarification, these terms are defined based on how they have been used in the research. The following terms were used:
Effect: This is the consequence of an event, phenomenon on a place, thing or person.
Social Media: They are forms of electronic communication which facilitate interaction based on certain interests. Social media include Web and mobile technology. Kaplan and Hellen (2010) define social media as a group of internet based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user generated contents.
Writing: This is the art of putting down ideas on papers. This sort of skill is against the speaking skills.