Foundation Year Students’ Perceptions of Using Social Network Sites for Learning English in the Saudi Context

The major aim of this study is to better understand the university students’ perceptions and attitudes towards using social network sites for learning English as well as to identify if there is a difference between male and female university students in terms of using social networking sites for learning English inside and outside the classroom. The study also attempts to identify the social networking sites that are most frequently used by male and female university students in order to learn English. The participants of this study were 20 female and male foundation year students at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The tool of the study was a questionnaire. The finding of this study showed that male students had positive perceptions and attitudes toward using social network sites for learning English more than female students who had negative perceptions and attitudes. The results also showed that YouTube website was the most frequently used social network site for learning English by male students while the majority of the female students did not have any favorite social network sites because they did not use social network sites for learning English.