THE USE OF FACEBOOK GROUPS IN
TEACHING EFL WRITING AT UNIVERSITY
LEVEL
A Case Study at Private University in Jakarta
A PAPER
Submitted to the English Department of FPBS UPI in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
By:
Fikri Rasyid 0801188
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
The Use of Facebook Groups in
Teaching EFL Writing at University
Level
Oleh Fikri Rasyid
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Fikri Rasyid 2013 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Februari 2013
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
PAGE OF APPROVAL
THE USE OF FACEBOOK GROUPS IN TEACHING EFL WRITING AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL
A Paper By
Fikri Rasyid 0801188
Approved By
First Supervisor Second Supervisor
Ika Lestari Damayanti, S.Pd., M.A.
NIP. 197709192001122001
Pupung Purnawarman, M.S. Ed., Ph.D.
NIP. 196810231998031001
Head of English Education Department Faculty of Language and Arts Education
Indonesia University of Education
ABSTRACT
The research entitled “The Use of Facebook Groups in Teaching EFL Writing in University Level” is aimed to describe how Facebook Groups was used in teaching EFL writing at university level, advantages and disadvantages of the use of Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing, and classroom writing performances used in the Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing. This research was conducted in two EFL classes in a private university in Jakarta. This research used case study design. The data was collected from interviews and document analysis. The interview involved the lecturer and six students who were considered to represent the classes' perspective while the document analysis involved the Facebook Groups used by the participant. The data was analyzed using framework developed from Zahidi et al.(2011), Yunus et al.(2011), and Brown (2001) which classified reasons of using Facebook Groups, how Facebook Groups was used, advantages and disadvantages of the use of Facebook Groups, process of writing, classroom writing performances, and aspects of writing. The process of analyzing the data consisted of coding, categorizing, and interpreting the data (Alwasilah, 2000). This research found that in teaching EFL writing, Facebook Groups was used to enable students to submit assignments, to exchange information with the lecturer, to practice English, and to contact the lecturer. In terms of the advantages, the use of Facebook Groups was found beneficial to help the students to plan their writing and to submit their writing assignment on time. In terms of disadvantages, the findings of this research found that students were reluctant to initiate discussion in the Facebook Groups and the use of Facebook Groups enabled the less motivated students to commit plagiarism since they could see their peers’ writing easily. Regarding of the classroom writing performances used, this research found that real writing and display writing were two classroom writing performances used in the Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing. Furthermore, display writing was found to be used more frequent in the wall of Facebook Groups observed.
ABSTRAK
Penelitian berjudul “Penggunaan Facebook Groups Dalam Pengajaran EFL Writing Pada Tingkat Universitas” ini bertujuan untuk medeskripsikan bagaimana Facebook Groups digunakan dalam pengajaran EFL writing pada tingkat universitas, kelebihan dan kekurangan dari penggunaan Facebook Groups dalam pengajaran EFL writing pada tingkat universitas, dan classroom writing performance yang digunakan dalam Facebook Groups untuk pengajaran EFL writing pada tingkat universitas. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada dua kelas EFL di universitas swasta di Jakarta. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode studi kasus. Data pada penelitian ini dikumpulkan dari wawancara dan analisis dokumen. Proses wawancara melibatkan dosen dan enam mahasiswa yang diperkirakan mewakili perspektif kelas sementara proses analisis dokumen melibatkan Facebook Groups yang digunakan oleh partisipan. Data pada penelitian ini dianalisis menggunakan framework yang dikembangkan dari Zahidi et al. (2011), Yunus et al. (2011), dan Brown (2011) yang mengklasifikasikan alasan penggunaan Facebook Groups, bagaimana Facebook Groups digunakan, kelebihan dan kekurangan penggunaan Facebook Groups, proses menulis, classroom writing performance, dan aspek-aspek menulis. Proses analisis data terdiri dari koding, kategorisasi, dan interpretasi data (Alwasilah, 2000). Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa dalam pengajaran EFL writing, Facebook Groups digunakan oleh mahasiswa untuk mengumpulkan tugas, bertukar informasi dengan dosen, berlatih Bahasa Inggris, dan menghubungi dosen. Dalam hal keuntungan, penggunaan Facebook Groups didapati membantu mahasiswa dalam proses perencanaan tulisan dan membantu mahasiswa untuk mengumpulkan tugas tepat waktu. Mengenai kekurangan, temuan dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa mahasiswa memiliki keengganan untuk memulai diskusi dalam Facebook Groups dan penggunaan Facebook Groups membuat mahasiswa yang malas melakukan plagiarisme karena mereka dapat melihat tugas rekan mereka dengan mudah. Mengenai classroom writing performance yang digunakan, temuan dalam penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa real writing dan display writing adalah dua classroom writing performance yang digunakan dalam Facebook Groups yang digunakan untuk pengajaran EFL writing. Lebih spesifiknya, display writing didapati lebih sering digunakan di Facebook Groups yang diobservasi.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION ... i
PREFACE ... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... iii
ABSTRACT ... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS... vi
LIST OF FIGURES ... xi
LIST OF TABLES ... xii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background ... 1
1.2 Research Questions ... 3
1.3 Purpose of Research ... 3
1.4 Scope of The Research ... 4
1.5 Significance of The Research ... 4
1.6 Clarification of Key Terms ... 5
1.7 Organization of The Research ... 7
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW 2.1 Writing and Teaching Writing ... 9
2.1.2 Characteristics of writing ... 10
2.1.3 Aspects of writing ... 11 2.1.4 Process of writing ...13
2.1.5 The importance of writing skill ... 15
2.1.6 Teaching writing ... 16 2.1.7 Teaching EFL writing at university level ... 17
2.1.8 Teaching writing and teaching EFL writing in Indonesian context ... 19
2.1.9 Classroom writing performance ... 20
2.2 The Use of Facebook for Teaching Writing ... 22 2.2.1 The use of technology in language learning ... 22
2.2.2 The use of Facebook in language learning ... 24
2.2.3 The use of Facebook Groups for teaching writing ... 27
2.3 Concluding Remark ... 29
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD 3.1 Research Design ... 30
3.2 Research Site and Participants ... 31
3.4.1 Document Analysis ... 33
3.4.2 Interview ... 34
3.5 Data Analysis ... 36
3.5.1 Data from document analysis ... 38
3.5.2 Data from interview ... 38
3.6 Concluding Remark ... 38
CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 How Facebook Groups Was Used in EFL Writing Class ... 40 4.1.1 The purpose of using Facebook Groups in EFL writing class ...41
4.1.2 Facebook Groups’ features used and left unused in EFL writing class ... 43
4.1.3 How the lecturer and the students accessed the Facebook Groups in EFL writing class ... 47
4.1.4 Steps in using Facebook Groups for EFL writing class ... 50
4.2 The Advantages and Disadvantages of The Use of Facebook Groups in Teaching EFL Writing at University Level ... 51 4.2.1 The advantages of the use of Facebook Groups in EFL writing class ... 52
4.2.1.2 The use of Facebook Groups enabled the students to
learn new vocabulary from their peers’ writings ... 54
4.2.1.3 The use of Facebook Groups enabled the students to
reduce errors in spelling ... 55 4.2.1.4 The use of Facebook Groups forced the students
to recheck their writing ... 57 4.2.1.5 The use of Facebook Groups was able to be used
as a medium for encouraging students ... 58
4.2.1.6 The use of Facebook Groups helped the students
to submit their writing assignment on time ... 59
4.2.2 The disadvantages of the use of Facebook Groups
in EFL writing class ... 60 4.2.2.1 Not everything are suitable to be discussed in the
Facebook Groups ... 61 4.2.2.2 The guidance from the lecturer was still needed ... 62 4.2.2.3 The openness nature of Facebook Groups gave a space for
plagiarism ... 63 4.2.2.4 Fear of making mistakes which will be seen by their peers
prevented students from being actively participated in the Facebook Groups ... 64 4.3 Classroom Writing Performances Used in
4.4 Concluding Remark ... 67
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Conclusions ... 68
5.2 Recommendations ... 70
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 72
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1 ... 14
Figure 3.1 ... 34
Figure 4.1 ... 42
Figure 4.2 ... 44
Figure 4.3 ... 48
Figure 4.4 ... 48
Figure 4.5 ... 51
Figure 4.6 ... 56
Figure 4.7 ... 59
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 ... 12
Table 3.1 ... 35
Table 3.2 ... 37
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Among four skills in the practice of teaching and learning English, which are reading, listening, speaking, and writing (Brown, 2001), writing is
acknowledged as the most difficult skill for learners to master (Richards and Renandya, 2002). As Richards and Renandya (2002) further elaborate, the
difficulties lie from high level skills, such as planning and organizing ideas, to low level skills, such as spelling, punctuation, word choice, etc. Despite its difficulties, it is important for students to master the skill of writing (Barras, 2005;
Harmer, 2004). Harmer (2004) points out the fact that most examinations or tests in academic settings require students to write in order to measure their
understanding. In similar fashion, Barras (2005) agrees that both in academic and career settings, people nowadays are often being judged by their ability to express their ideas through their writing.
In Indonesian context, Indonesians are known to have the lack of abilities in writing which is shown by small number of Indonesian intellectuals who
publish their own writing (Alwasilah, 2005). Narrowing down to the scope of EFL writing, Indonesian students are known to have difficulties in generating ideas, making a thesis statement, structuring the writing, and discussing their
According to Warschauer and Healey (1998), technology, specifically computer, has been used for helping language learning, including writing, for more than fifty years. One of the recent ways of involving technology in teaching
language, specifically writing, is the use of Facebook as a teaching tool (Suthiwartnarueput and Wasanasomsithi, 2012; Wu and Hsu, 2011; Al-Smadi,
2013; Shih, 2011; Yunus and Salehi, 2012). Facebook is the most popular social networking sites (SNS) on the web with more than one billion active users (Etherington, 2012; Fitzgerald, 2012; Lee, 2012). SNS is a web service which
allows individuals to construct public or semi-public profile within bounded system to create a connection with other users so they can view their list of
connections within the system (Boyd and Ellison, 2007).
Recent research discover that Facebook is beneficial as a teaching tool for language learning because Facebook enables students to study at their own pace
and enhance their grammatical knowledge, vocabulary, writing competence, and confidence by enabling them to connect with teacher and their peers (Suthiwartnarueput and Wasanasomsithi, 2012; Wu and Hsu, 2011; Shih, 2011;
Yunus and Salehi, 2012). Narrowing down the scope to teaching ESL writing, Yunus et al. (2011) reveal that Facebook Groups, one feature of Facebook, can help students‟ writing especially in the planning process before the actual writing
is done. Students show that they tend to read their writing first before posting it to the Facebook Groups and they also feel comfortable posting their ideas or
Given the background of this research explained above, this research is aimed to describe the use of Facebook in teaching EFL writing by describing the use of Facebook, specifically one feature of it named Facebook Groups, in
teaching EFL writing at university level specifically in Indonesian context. Hence, this research is titled “The Use of Facebook Groups in Teaching EFL Writing
at University Level”.
1.2 Research Questions
This research is conducted to answer the research questions formulated below:
1. How is Facebook Groups used in teaching EFL writing at university level?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level?
3. What are classroom writing performances used in Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing at university level?
1.3 Purpose of Research
Having the background of the research stated above, this research aims to:
1. Describe the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level.
2. Investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the use of Facebook Groups
3. Describe the classroom writing performances used in Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing at university level.
1.4 Scope of the Research
The scope of the research is limited to describe the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level. The items analyzed in this
research are how Facebook Groups is employed in the activity of teaching EFL writing at university level, the advantages and disadvantages of the use of
Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level, and classroom
writing performances used in Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing at university level.
1.5 Significance of the Research
The result of this research is expected to provide a clear picture of how
Facebook Groups is employed in teaching EFL writing at university level. Description of advantages and disadvantages of its implementation and classroom
writing performances used in Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing are also expected. This particular information has significance to:
1. Teachers or Lecturers, to give a clear description of how Facebook Groups
can be used as teaching aid in teaching EFL writing at university level and later can be used as foundation of how to do so.
3. Future research, as a foundation of further research toward the utilization of
Facebook Groups and SNS in general.
4. General readers who want to know more about the use of Facebook Groups
in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) writing, specifically teaching EFL writing at university level.
1.6 Clarification of Key Terms
In this research, there are terms that need to be clarified to make sure that
both the researcher and the reader of this research are in the same understanding about the terms used. The terms which need to be clarified are:
1. Social Networking Sites (SNS)
According to Boyd and Ellison (2007), social networking site (SNS) is a web
service which allows individuals to construct public or semi-public profile within bounded system to create a connection with other users so they can view their list of connections within the system. Myspace, Facebook, Cyworld
and Bebo are examples of SNS.
2. Facebook
Facebook, located at http://facebook.com, is a SNS which provides a free service for people to share and connect with their friends through status updates, photo sharing, video sharing, etc. For the time being, Facebook is the
3. Facebook Groups
Facebook Groups is one of Facebook features which allows users to create a private space so they can share any specific information with specific users
who are added to the private space. The closed environment nature of
Facebook Groupsis suitable to be used as class‟ private group where students
are able to share links, announcements, pictures and event to other students (Fontana, 2010).
4. Students
Any use of the term students in this research specifically refers to the participants of this research. University students are selected as participants of the study considering the implementation of Facebook Groups on their class
and their familiarity to the use of Facebook on their daily life.
5. English as Foreign Language (EFL)
The term EFL in this research refers to English as Foreign Language, a term which describes to the role of English which is not widely used in the learners‟ immediate social context which might be used for future use, or
studied as a curricular requirement, but with no immediate practical application (Saville-Troike, 2006).
6. Writing and teaching writing
Any use of the term writing and teaching writing in this research refer to EFL writing and teaching EFL writing instead of referring to writing and teaching
7. Classroom writing performance
The use of the term classroom writing performance in this research refers to the term coined by Brown (2001) to describe the kind of writing which is
performed in the classroom. This term needs to be clarified since the term
performance is commonly associated to Chomsky‟s linguistic performance
(Chomsky, 2006: 102) which means “the actual observed use of language”.
This clarification emphasizes that the use of the term classroom writing performancein this research refers to Brown‟s term, not Chomsky‟s term.
1.7 Organization of the Research
This research is presented in five chapters as follows:
Chapter I: Introduction
This chapter presents the background of research, research questions, aims of the
research, scope of research, research methodology, clarification of terms, and organization of the research.
Chapter II: Theoretical Review
This chapter explains theoretical foundations which are relevant to the topic discussed in this research, such as definition of writing, characteristics of writing,
aspects of writing, process of writing, the importance of writing skill, definition of teaching writing, classroom writing performances, the use of web-based technology in classroom, the use of SNS specifically Facebook in teaching,
Chapter III: Research Methodology
This chapter elaborates the methodology used in this research, including the design of the research, research participant, data collection, and data analysis.
Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion
This chapter describes the result of data analysis in form of findings and discussion which answer the research questions that have been stated in the
chapter I.
Chapter V: Conclusions and Suggestions
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
This chapter describes the procedure used in this research to answer the three research questions stated in chapter I. This chapter covers research method, site participants, research procedure, data collection and data analysis used in this
research.
3.1 Research Design
This research employed qualitative approach due to its emphasis on holistic interpretation of a phenomenon which is further recognized by its
naturalistic, broad, observant, non-deterministic, representing views of its participants, constructivist, contextual, and noninterventionist characteristics (Yin,
2011; Stake, 2010) which is suitable to answer research questions which have been stated in chapter I.
In relation to qualitative approach, case study was employed as research design due to the situation of this research where “how” or “why” question is
asked about set of events while no control of the situation is available because the
3.2 Research Site and Participants
This research was conducted in two classes in a private university in Jakarta. Each of the classes used Facebook Groups as a teaching tool and was
taught by the same English lecturer. This research site was chosen for at least two reasons. First, the university was known to have awareness towards information technology (IT). Thus, its students were expected to be familiar with social
network sites (SNS), specifically Facebook. Second, the lecturer who agreed to participate in this research had used Facebook Groups as a teaching tool
numerous times before. It should be mentioned that the university itself actually had its own in-house web-based learning management software (LMS) so the lecturer would have her own reasons to further use Facebook Groups as a
teaching tool.
The two classes involved in this research came from different faculties and
different class size where English as foreign language (EFL) writing was taught. The first class came from English Savvy course, an English course for upper-beginner students with TOEFL score between 433 to 463, which had 40 students.
The second class came from English Entrant course, an English course for lower-beginner students with TOEFL score between 310 to 393, which had 65 students.
3.3 Research Procedure
This research was conducted by following research procedure as follows.
ideas about how Facebook Groups was implemented as a teaching tool in participant’s classes and to request accesses to participant’s Facebook Groups
which was used as teaching tools (Alwasilah, 2000). Second, after the general
ideas about the use of Facebook Groupsin participant’s classes were gained and accesses to participant’s Facebook Groups were given, the process of data
collection was started in form of document analysis from Facebook Groups used and the data collected was analyzed right away. Third, after the data from the Facebook Groups was collected and analyzed, deeper data was further collected
by conducting interview to participants consisting of a lecturer and six students from two different classes who used Facebook Groups as a teaching tool. Fourth,
after all data was collected, the data was analyzed using framework developed from Zahidi et al. (2011), Yunus et al. (2011), and Brown (2001), which classified reasons of using Facebook Groups, how Facebook Groups was used,
advantages and disadvantages of the use of Facebook Groups, process of writing, classroom writing performances, and aspects of writing. The process of analyzing the data consisted of coding, categorizing and interpreting the data (Alwasilah,
2000). Next, necessary confirmation to participant was conducted for data that need to be clarified. Last, the data collected was linked to proper literature so the
conclusion could be developed and research questions could be answered.
3.4 Data Collection
data in this research. There were two methods of data collection used in this research which were document analysis and interview. Initially, classroom observation was planned to be used in this research. However, according to the
lecturer who became participant in this research in pre-research interview on December 4, 2012, it was known that very few, even almost no, instructions
involving Facebook Groups were given in the classroom due to its role as self-regulated study tool for students which happened outside the class. Therefore, it was suggested by the participant that a classroom observation to investigate
Facebook Groups usage in the classroom would not be efficient since there would be no evidence that could be found. Thus, observation as a method of data
collection in this research was decided to be dropped.
3.4.1 Document analysis.
Document analysis can be defined as transferring information from anything that was made in case site and ensuring that it was properly labeled as source so it could be treated as data item (Bassey, 1999). Documents which were
analyzed in this research were every post, any kind of information, such as text, photo, video, question, or file, which was posted on the Facebook Groups’ wall.
Comment, a text response given to the Facebook Groups’ post, posted in the classes’ Facebook Groups’ wall, a space where members of the group post, (Facebook, 2012), was also analyzed as data source in this research. The graphic
Figure 3.1. Facebook Groups’ wall, post and comment
The data collected for document analysis was all Facebook Groups’ posts and comments posted between September 18, 2012 and January 23, 2013.
3.4.2 Interview.
To gather further information related to the research questions, the lecturer
and three selected students from each of the two classes who were considered representing class’ opinion were interviewed. Those three students from each
class were the class’ group leader, a student who actively participated in
Facebook Groups by posting and commenting, and a student who did not actively participate in Facebook Groups by posting and commenting. The interviews were
Hancock and Algozzine, 2006). Eighteen questions for lecturer and twelve questions for students were developed based on the frameworks chosen (Zahidi et al., 2011; Yunus et al., 2011; Brown, 2001) as basic guidelines for the
semi-structured interviews which were aimed to gather data to answer the research questions stated on chapter I (see Appendix A). The semi-structured interview
questions prepared (see Appendix A) were made to cover following topics which are stated in table 3.1 below.
Table 3.1. Topics covered by semi-structured interview questions (see Appendix A)
developed from Zahidi et al. (2011), Yunus et al. (2011), and Brown (2001).
Topics Reflected on Questions No. For Lecturer For Students
Reason of the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing
1 1
How Facebook Groups is used in teaching EFL writing at university level
2 - 8 2 - 8
Advantages of using Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level
9 - 13 9 - 14
Disadvantages of using Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level
14 - 15 15 - 16
Process of writing using Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level
16 17 - 18
Classroom writing performance used in Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing at university level
To acquire as much data as possible, follow up questions for the interview were given according to participant’s response to the guideline questions prepared
above. To ensure participants’ fluency in answering questions and to get in-depth
response, the interviews with the students were conducted in Bahasa Indonesia. However, the lecturer had no problem to be interviewed using English. The
interviews with the students were conducted in mini-groups form by interviewing three students from the same class in a group at the same time to create relaxed, versatile and open environment, foster creative forum, and enable diversity of
response (Keegan, 2009) on January 29, 2013. Due to the lecturer’s full schedule, the interview with the lecturer was conducted through email on January 25, 2013.
3.5 Data Analysis
The data collected from document analysis and interviews which have
been mentioned above had no meaning until it was classified, organized, and interpreted (Alwasilah, 2000). To interpret the raw data, the data was analyzed in three steps: coding, categorization, and interpreting the data (Alwasilah, 2000).
First, the data was coded using codes developed from Zahidi et al. (2011), Yunus et al. (2011), and Brown (2001). The codes can be seen in table 3.2 below.
Table 3.2. Codes for analyzing the data collected, developed from Zahidi et al. (2011), Yunus et al. (2011), and Brown (2001).
Code Means
Code Means
How How Facebook Groups is used in teaching EFL writing at university level
Adv Advantages of using Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level
Disadv Disadvantages of using Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level
Pow Process of writing using Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level
Perf Classroom writing performance used in Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing at university level
Asp Aspect of writing noticed in the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level
To further precisely classify the data, sub-codes were developed and used
based on the codes mention on table 3.2 (see Appendix B). After being coded, the data was categorized according to the codes produced from the previous step.
Next, categorized data was linked to the proper literature so the data could be interpreted to answer research questions which have been mentioned on chapter I.
3.5.1 Data from document analysis.
The data analyzed from document analysis process showed the actual use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level and classroom
writing performances used in the Facebook Groups. Thus, the data from this source was able to reveal general themes found in this research. The result of this
3.5.2 Data from interview.
The data analyzed from the interview revealed deeper information about how Facebook Groups was used in teaching EFL writing at university level and
the advantages and disadvantages of the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level. The result of this analysis will also be discussed in chapter IV of this research.
3.6 Concluding Remark
This chapter has presented the methodology used in this research, including its research design, research site and participants, research procedure, data collection, and data analysis. This research was aimed to describe how
Facebook Groups is used in teaching EFL writing at university level, the advantages and disadvantages of the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL
writing at university level, and classroom writing performances used in the Facebook Groups for teaching EFL writing at university level. Case study was employed as research design and the data used in this research was collected from
a private university in Jakarta where this research was conducted. The data was analyzed using Zahidi et al. (2011), Yunus et al. (2011), Brown (2001) and
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents conclusions that can be drawn from this research and recommendations for teacher, policy maker, and future researcher regarding the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level.
5.1 Conclusions
This research focuses on the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing at university level. This research aims to describe how the Facebook
Groups is used, the advantages and disadvantages of using Facebook Groups, and
the classroom writing performances used in the Facebook Groups in context of teaching EFL writing at university level.
Previous researchers have conducted the research about the use of
Facebook Groupsto enhance students’ engagement in self-regulated learning, the
use of Facebook Groups in teaching ESL writing, and classroom writing
performance. This research confirms findings of the previous research that the
Facebook Groups was used in various time and asynchronous manner for
fulfilling students’ need through its features which were wall, comment, and
notification. The Facebook Groups was also found benefitting students in writing class in the process of pre-writing, specifically the brainstorming phase, learning
given by their peers, and enabling discussion. However, the use of Facebook
Groups was also found having disadvantages which were not suitable for all kind
of discussion and guidance from the lecturer were still needed
(Zahidi et al., 2011; Yunus et al., 2011; Brown, 2001).
The findings of this research signified that in EFL writing class, Facebook
Groups was used to enable students to submit their assignments through Facebook
Groups’ wall, to create a space for exchanging information, to give chances for
students to practice English, and to enable students to privately contact the
lecturer. In using the Facebook Groups, considering the number of the students, the students were instructed by the lecturer to post their writing as a comment to
existing post unless no post of similar topic had been posted to the Facebook
Groups to keep the Facebook Groups readable. Facebook Groups’ features such
as file sharing, private messaging, and like button were also known useful in EFL
writing class to share information and to help students show their support to their friends’ writing without submitting a comment due to their fear of writing and
making mistakes. This research found advantages of the use of Facebook Groups
which were helping students in process of planning of writing by enabling them to identify aspects of writing from their peers’ writing and helping students to keep
up with the writing assignment deadline that had been set. However, the disadvantage of the use of Facebook Groups was also found which was students were found reluctant to initiate discussion in the Facebook Groups because they
of the writing of the students enabling the less motivated student to do plagiarism. This research also found that two classroom writing performances was used in the wall of the Facebook Groups used for teaching EFL writing. They were display
and real writing, where display writing was used more frequent rather than real writing.
5.2 Recommendations
Based on the findings, discussion, and conclusions of the research,
recommendations regarding the use of Facebook Groups in teaching EFL writing can be drawn as follows.
First, it has been found that the use of Facebook Groups in EFL writing class enabled students to learn from their peers’ writing. Thus, teacher and policy
maker can use Facebook Groups in EFL writing class to facilitate peer learning.
Future researchers are suggested to study the efficiency of the use of Facebook
Groups in EFL writing class specifying in how the students could learn from their
peers’ writing through the use of Facebook Groups.
Second, it has been found that the writing posted on the Facebook Groups
was dominated by display writing. Students were found reluctant to initiate and
participate in the discussion in Facebook Groups in form of writing a real writing which was caused by the fear of making mistakes. This means that teacher and policy maker can use Facebook Groups to facilitate students’ writings in form of
display writing. However, teacher and policy maker can also use Facebook
remove the reluctance by overcoming students’ fear of making mistakes. This can
also be used as a topic of research for future researcher.
Last, future researcher can conduct a research with similar topic but using
different method and approach to gain more objectivity. Conducting research which extends this research’s findings such as describing the use of Facebook
Groups for teaching other skills or discovering the use of Facebook Groups for
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