The Effect of Using WhatsApp on EFL Students' Speech Acts Performance

This study examined the effect of using WhatsApp on EFL students' speech acts performance. The participants of the study were 60 male students from two sections of eleventh-grade students from a public school, Fawzi Al-Mulki Secondary School in Al Mafraq, Jordan. An intact section was assigned as a control group taught by the Teacher's Book guidelines. Another section was chosen as an experimental group and was taught WhatApp according to the instructional program. The training lasted eight weeks during the second semester of the academic year 2021/2022. The instrument used to collect data was a test—the instructional program that offered the participants opportunities to improve their speech acts performance. The findings of the study showed that there were statistically significant differences at (α= 0.05) between the students' performance on the speech acts test in favor of the students in the experimental group. The improvement in the students' speech acts performance could have resulted from the speech acts activities in which the participants were engaged during the instructional program. The use of WhatsApp offered the participants the chance to interact effectively. Several recommendations were made for EFL teachers, researchers and the Ministry of Education