Facebook as a learning environment for language teaching and learning: A critical analysis of the literature from 2010 to 2017

The increasing popularity of Facebook has prompted scholars and educators to explore its potentials as a learning environment for various fields of education. Along this line, several reviews of literature have been written about the educational use of Facebook; however, none of them have focused on a specific field of interest such as language pedagogy. Thus, this paper defines the contour of scholarly literature on Facebook as a technology‐enhanced learning environment in language teaching and learning. Using Scopus database as a source, 41 scholarly documents were retrieved and analysed. The demographics of the selected studies show that most of the published research came from Asia and were conducted in the higher education context. In terms of foci of interest, most of the studies focused on developing students' general language proficiency and productive skills. Although a great majority of the studies relied on self‐report data and preexperimental research, the current literature suggests the viability of integrating Facebook into language pedagogy. Suggestions for future studies are discussed.