Analysis of Language Used in Social Media and its Impact on Students’ Writing: A Case Study of Seventh Day Adventist College of Education, Asokore-Koforidua, Ghana

The issue about the impact of social media language on the formal academic writings of students of Colleges of Education in Ghana seems unending. While some researchers report a positive impact of social media language on students’ academic performance, other researchers report otherwise. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to examine the most prevalent type of social media English found in teacher-trainees’ formal writing and its effect on academic performances of teacher-trainees at SDA College of Education, Asokore-Koforidua, Ghana. The study used the mixed methods research design. The researchers sampled 313 teacher-trainees from the SDA College of Education, Asokore-Koforidua using the stratified random sampling approach. The researchers used a close-ended questionnaire, semi-structured interview guide, and observation checklist to gather data for the study. The data gathered where analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that teacher-trainees at SDA College of Education, Asokore Koforidua, Ghana are addicted to social media and their academic writings of are full of unconventional abbreviations, punctuation and spelling errors. Also, the study concluded that social media English has very little effect on the academic performances of the teacher-trainees. Based on the conclusions of the study, it was recommended that lecturers who teach Communication Skills in the Department of Languages in the college need to up their game, and help teacher-trainees to appreciate the need to use formal writing styles in their academic writings.