The need to improve English proficiency and inclusion of social media in language teaching have resulted in teachers having to develop new teaching strategies incorporating digital tools. In South Africa, English teachers in township settings have to develop teaching strategies suitable for teaching English using social media platforms, especially in resource-constrained secondary schools. From literature and education policies, teaching of digital literacy is strongly recommended, but teachers in some township environments are not pedagogically capacitated to teach and use social media in teaching English. To explore the experiences of such teachers, this study explored the use of social media for the teaching of English as a second language in township schools. The study used an interpretivist qualitative approach in an exploratory case-study design to understand teachers’ initiatives and strategies in teaching English as a second language using social media. Data collection was done using semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions and document analysis. Teachers’ voices, actions and documents on the use of social media were analysed inductively and thematically. The research findings indicate that the sampled English teachers used social media for collaboration, networking, communication and out-of-school digital literacy practices as their initiatives. These digital initiatives lead to the utilisation of digital connection platforms for socialisation and teaching and learning English. In addition to dividends of connectivism, visual communication and cyber linguistics were found to have become critically important practices for learners learning English as a second language. The implication is that the education policy-makers and planners in South Africa need to revisit the policy on e-learning and Information Communication Technology (ICT) usage in schools to incorporate the methodological requirements and competences for teachers to use in the teaching of English using social media. In addition to improvements in policy measures, English teachers in resource-constrained township secondary schools need to improve their digital literacy skills to line up themselves for online and out-of-school literacy learning requirements.

中文翻译：

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社交媒体在英语作为第二语言教学中的创新运用

由于需要提高英语水平并在语言教学中融入社交媒体，导致教师不得不开发结合数字工具的新教学策略。在南非，乡镇环境中的英语教师必须制定适合于使用社交媒体平台进行英语教学的教学策略，尤其是在资源紧张的中学中。从文学和教育政策上，强烈建议进行数字扫盲教学，但是在某些乡镇环境中，教师的教学能力不强于教授和使用社交媒体进行英语教学。为了探索此类教师的经验，本研究探索了使用社交媒体在乡镇学校中英语作为第二语言的教学。该研究在探索性案例研究设计中使用了解释主义的定性方法，以了解教师使用社交媒体将英语作为第二语言进行教学的主动性和策略。数据收集使用具有开放性问题和文档分析的半结构式访谈进行。对教师使用社交媒体的声音，行为和文件进行了归纳和主题分析。研究结果表明，抽样的英语教师将社交媒体用作协作，网络，交流和校外数字素养实践的举措。这些数字计划导致了利用数字连接平台进行社交和英语教学。除了连结主义的好处外，对于以英语为第二语言的学习者而言，视觉交流和网络语言学已成为至关重要的实践。这意味着南非的教育政策制定者和计划者需要重新考虑学校使用电子学习和信息通信技术（ICT）的政策，以纳入教师在英语教学中使用的方法要求和能力。社交媒体。除了改善政策措施外，资源紧张的乡镇中学的英语教师还需要提高其数字素养技能，以适应在线和校外素养学习的要求。这意味着南非的教育政策制定者和计划者需要重新考虑学校使用电子学习和信息通信技术（ICT）的政策，以纳入教师在英语教学中使用的方法要求和能力。社交媒体。除了改善政策措施外，资源紧张的乡镇中学的英语教师还需要提高其数字素养技能，以适应在线和校外素养学习的要求。这意味着南非的教育政策制定者和计划者需要重新考虑学校使用电子学习和信息通信技术（ICT）的政策，以纳入教师在英语教学中使用的方法要求和能力。社交媒体。除了改善政策措施外，资源紧张的乡镇中学的英语教师还需要提高其数字素养技能，以适应在线和校外素养学习的要求。