TY  - JOUR
T1  - The influence of social media on the balance of cultural identities of bilingual users
AU  - Cupi, Deniz
AU  - Alimerko, Rudina
PY  - 2025
DA  - July
Y2  - 2025
JF  - Turkophone
PB  - Bekir İNCE
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 2148-6808
SP  - 64
EP  - 78
VL  - 12
IS  - 1
LA  - en
AB  - Social media provides a unique space for bilingual individuals to engage with native speakers and authentic content in both languages, facilitating real-world language use scenarios that are often lacking in traditional language learning environments. This study examines the impact of exposure to bilingual content on social media platforms-such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter-on the cultural identity and language proficiency of bilingual users. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research examines how frequent interaction with bilingual content affects not only vocabulary acquisition, syntactic comprehension, and general communicative competence, but also knowledge of different cultures and civilizations. A sample of bilingual participants completed language proficiency assessments, detailed surveys of social media use, and in-depth interviews to provide quantitative and qualitative insights into their language development experiences. The results show a significant positive correlation between engagement with bilingual social media content and improvements in language skills, particularly vocabulary expansion and cultural adaptability. The findings highlight the role of user-generated content (UGC) and interactive features on social media platforms, such as commenting and sharing, in fostering not only language growth, but also cultural fluency and identity balance. These interactive environments help bilinguals navigate and reconcile their bilingual identities while facilitating exposure to everyday language used by native speakers, which enhances pragmatic understanding. The study highlights the potential of social media as a powerful tool for bilingual language development and offers practical applications for language learning in digitally mediated environments. Limitations include variability in content quality and the informal nature of social media language. The research will explore the platform-specific effects and improve the best practices for the integration of social media into language learning programs.
KW  - Language Proficiency
KW  - Bilingual Content Exposure
KW  - Language Learning
KW  - User-Generated Content (UGC)
KW  - Native Speaker Interaction
KW  - Digital Language Learning
KW  - Cultural Fluency
CR  - Arie Wibowo, G., & Hanna, & Ruhana, F. & Arif, F. & Usmaedi. (2023). The Influence of Social-Media on Cultural Integration: A Perspective on Digital Sociology. International Journal of Science and Society. 5. 363-375. 10.54783/ijsoc.v5i4.792.
CR  - Androutsopoulos, J. (2015). Networked multilingualism: Some language practices on Facebook and their implications. International Journal of Bilingualism, 19(2), 185-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006913489198
CR  - Barrot, J. S. (2021). Social media as a language learning environment: a systematic review of the literature (2008-2019). Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(9), 2534–2562. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1883673
CR  - Block, D. (2007). The social turn in second language acquisition. Edinburgh University Press.
CR  - Costa, A., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2014). How does the bilingual experience sculpt the brain? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(5), 336–345.
CR  - Crystal, D. (2011). Internet linguistics: A student guide. Routledge.
CR  - Chaffey, D., (2005). Global social media statistics research summary, access on the web, February, https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/
CR  - De Costa, P., & Norton, B. (2016). Identity in language learning and teaching: Research agendas for the future. In The Routledge handbook of language and identity (pp. 586-601). Routledge.
CR  - García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging in education: Principles, implications, and challenges. In Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism, and education (pp. 119-135). Springer.
CR  - Gardner-Chloros, P. (2009). Code-switching. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511609787
CR  - Godwin-Jones, R. (2011). Mobile Apps for Language Learning. Language Learning & Technology, 15, 2-11.
CR  - Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Harvard University Press.
CR  - Gumperz, J. J., & Ch, E. H. (2017). Cognitive aspects of bilingual communication. In Language use and social change (pp. 111-125). Routledge.
CR  - Higgins, C. (2015). Intersecting scapes and new millennium identities in language learning. Language Teaching, 48(3), 373-389.
CR  - Kecskes, I., & Albertazzi, L. (Eds.). (2007). Cognitive aspects of bilingualism. Springer.
CR  - Lackaff, D., & Moner, W. J. (2016, September). Local languages, global networks: Mobile design for minority language users. In Proceedings of the 34th ACM International Conference on the Design of Communication (pp. 1-9).
CR  - McKinney, C., & Norton, B. (2024). Identity, Language, and Learning. In The Routledge Companion to English Studies (pp. 225-237). Routledge.
CR  - Muftah, M. (2024). Impact of social media on learning English language during the COVID-19 pandemic. PSU Research Review, 8(1), 211-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/PRR-10-2021-0060
CR  - Nasrudin, N., Akhir, N. M., & Aziz, M. N. (2024). Exploring TikTok’s impact on English speaking skills: Perceptions of undergraduate students. Quantum Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 5(5), 382-389. DOI: 10.55197/qjssh.v5i5.51
CR  - Nasution, A. K. P. (2022). Social media used in language learning: Benefits and challenges. Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching (JLLLT), 1(2), 59-68.
CR  - Norton, B., & De Costa, P. I. (2018). Research tasks on identity in language learning and teaching. Language Teaching, 51(1), 90-112. doi:10.1017/S0261444817000325
CR  - Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2011). Identity, language learning, and social change. Language Teaching, 44(4), 412-446. doi:10.1017/S0261444811000309
CR  - Poplack, S. (1980). Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in Spanish y termino en español: Toward a typology of code-switching. Linguistics, 18(7-8), 581–618.
CR  - Preece, S. (2016). The Routledge handbook of language and identity. Routledge.
CR  - Prichard, C., (2013). Using Social Networking Sites as a Platform for Second Language Instruction. TESOL Journal. 4. 10.1002/tesj.113.
CR  - Reinhardt, J. (2017), Social Networking Sites and Language Education. In: Thorne, S., May, S. (eds) Language, Education and Technology. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02237-6_30
CR  - Reinhardt, J. (2019). Social media in second and foreign language teaching and learning: Blogs, wikis, and social networking. Language Teaching, 52(1), 1-39.
CR  - Sheikh, M., (2025) Social media demographics to inform your 2025 strategy. Access on me web, February, https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/
CR  - Shi, X. (2024). The Impact of the Development of Social Media on Education. International Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1). DOI: 10.70088/qbfdgj62
CR  - Stevenson, M. P., & Liu, M. (2010). Enhancing language learning through social network interactions: The potential of Facebook. Language Learning & Technology, 14(2), 21–38.
CR  - Sykes, J. M., Oskoz, A., & Thorne, S. L. (2008). Web 2.0, synthetic immersive environments, and mobile resources for language education. CALICO Journal, 25(3), 528–546.
CR  - Tagg, C. (2020). English language and social media. In The Routledge handbook of English language and digital humanities (pp. 568-586). Routledge.
CR  - Thorne, S. L., & Black, R. W. (2007). Language and literacy development in computer-mediated contexts and communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 27, 133–160.
CR  - Walker, U. (2020). Discursive construction of social presence and identity positions in an international bilingual collaboration. In Social Presence and Identity in Online Learning (pp. 57-79). Routledge.
CR  - Zainal, Z. & Rahmat, N., (2020). Social media and its influence on vocabulary and language learning: a case study. European Journal of Education Studies. 7. 10.46827/ejes.v7i11.3331.
CR  - Zaw, H. (2018) The Impact of Social Media on Cultural Adaptation Process: Study on Chinese Government Scholarship Students. Advances in Journalism and Communication, 6, 75-89. doi: 10.4236/ajc.2018.63007.
CR  - Zhao, Y., & Wang, M. (2023). Digital sociology: origin, development, and prospects from a global perspective. The Journal of Chinese Sociology, 10(1), 19.
CR  - Zhou, Y. (2021, December). Impacts of social media on language learning: A review of literature. In 2021 4th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2021) (pp. 743-749). Atlantis Press
UR  - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/turkophone/issue//1600179
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/4434632
ER  -