Análisis sobre el uso de las redes sociales y su efectividad en el apoyo al aprendizaje formal de una segunda lengua: una revisión bibliográfica
Thesis
This systematic review of literature aims to analyze the research carried out on the use of social networks as an additional strategy in the formal learning of a second language. The review focused on quantitative research to identify the most used social networks, the activities that have been done with the same networks, the effectiveness they have had for learning, and the limitations found in those studies. Many methodological problems and limitations were found that affected the interpretation of the results, such as the lack of a control group, the need for a larger sample, the lack of direct comparison between the experimental and control group in a pre- and posttest analysis, individual differences in the previous use of social networks, more attention by teachers and more practice time for the groups using social networks, lack of clarity on how activities affected language skills and some incorrectly performed statistical analyses. In conclusion, although studies were found in which it is sought to know the effectiveness of social networks for the learning of a second language, the research on the subject is very limited. Moreover, it is not possible to speak of the overall effectiveness of all the reviewed studies because of the methodological limitations that presented by the articles.
