The Impact of Social Media on Students’ Cultural Awareness at Upper Secondary School

The article explores the impact of social media on the development of cultural awareness among upper secondary school students in the context of the modern information environment. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing role of social media as a primary source of information about other cultures in the context of globalization, digitalization and ongoing socio-political challenges. In modern conditions, upper secondary school students increasingly perceive cultural diversity through media representations rather than direct intercultural interaction. This tendency is particularly significant in Ukraine, where the information environment is shaped by external influences and requires a high level of critical media awareness.

The aim of the article is to investigate the impact of social media on the development of cultural awareness among upper secondary school students, to identify the peculiarities of their perception of intercultural content and to determine the potential of integrating media literacy into foreign language teaching.

The methodological framework of the research is based on Michael Byram’s model of intercultural communicative competence, with a particular focus on the component of critical cultural awareness. The empirical part of the study involved a survey conducted among 92 students of grades 10-11 from secondary schools in Zhytomyr and the Zhytomyr region.

The results of the study demonstrate a high level of students’ engagement with social media and reveal significant exposure to English-language content, which creates favorable conditions for developing intercultural communicative competence in the EFL classroom. Social media are shown to contribute to upper secondary school students’ awareness of cultural diversity, their openness to other cultures and motivation to learn foreign languages. At the same time, the level of critical evaluation of media content and fact-checking skills remains moderate, indicating the need for pedagogical support.

The study concludes that social media can serve as an effective tool for fostering cultural awareness when integrated into EFL teaching at upper secondary institutions. It highlights the importance of developing students’ critical thinking, media literacy and ability to interpret cultural representations in an informed way.