Abstract
The daily lives of university students are profoundly impacted by social media. It has a considerable influence over their thoughts and actions. Although AI-driven features of social media platforms have a pivotal role in developing the English language proficiency of ESL students in engineering programs, studies exploring this role are scarce. This study fills the research gap and explores the significance of AI-driven features of social media platforms in collaborative English language learning (CELL). The practical strategies that educators and policymakers can utilize to foster AI-mediated informal digital learning of English (AIIDLE) with the support of social media platforms and a collaborative language learning approach are also discussed in this study. The data for the study were collected from 355 ESL students in engineering programs across various universities in India using a structured questionnaire. The reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire were evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. The collected data were analyzed using percentage analysis, KMO and Bartlett’s test of Sphericity, standard deviation, arithmetic mean, and ANOVA. The results of the hypothesis testing revealed a positive relation between AI-enabled social media usage and CELL among ESL students. It is observed that the autonomy and agency provided by social media enable ESL students to reduce anxiety, engage in cognitive restructuring, self-reflection, and self-directed language learning.