EDU 706

Research Seminar

Reflection of Best Practices in Research

EDU 706
Research Seminar

Title of Study: Utilizing Facebook Groups in Teaching Writing: Jordanian EFL

Students Perceptions and Attitudes
Authors: Nedal A. Bani-Hani, Mahmoud A. Al-Sobh & Abdel-Rahman H. AbuMelhim

Affliation:

Saiful Hairin bin Rahmat 2013

Wan Zahirah binti Wan Mohamed 2013
Noor Salina binti Omar
2013196455
Nor Shazwani binti Mohd Hanapi 2013
Nurulasyiqin binti Ikhwan Nasir
2013

Dr. Siti Salina bt Ghazali

17th April 2015

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Research Seminar

Summary of the Paper

This paper investigates the perceptions and attitudes of Jordanian EFL
students at Irbid University College-Al-Balqa Applied University towards
utilizing Facebook groups in teaching writing. It also seeks to investigate the
role that Facebook groups play in enhancing the writing performance level
and brainstorm ideas at the pre-writing stage. A survey consisting of ten
questions was used to assess these factors. The participants were of 42 girls
of EFL students aged 19-25 at the department of English Language and
Literature. The informants participated in Facebook group named Write Out
Clear designed by the researchers themselves. Findings in this paper
revealed that Facebook groups can be effective in teaching EFL writing.
Furthermore, results illustrated that students can actually develop their
vocabulary by being exposed to fellow group members' posts, in addition to
checking for misspelled words. Finally, such findings may help EFL
educators in incorporating ICTs into their teaching of various language.
Introduction.
The article chosen has a clear direction and it is organized. The reader
can find the information needed in the abstract and this allow them to continue
reading deeper into the article. The reader are exposed to the authors
intention of conducting the research as he realizes the importance of
incorporating technology into his classroom. Backed up previous research
and important information that matches our groups objective, which is to
incorporate technology into the classroom to help ESL students learn English
better.
The author has listed all the important elements of an article by giving a
clear problem statement. It is compact and precise to convey intended
meaning to the reader. From there, the author generated three research
questions, which pertains to the problem mentioned beforehand. The
questions also showed a continuity of idea, from the introduction to the
problem statement and it asked from a general point of view to a much
focused question. The author does this by asking about the possible
contribution Facebook groups has on the development of writing, which is a
general question to a question that is much focused which is the possible
effect Facebook Groups have on the students affective domain. This will lead
the reader to area the author was intending to do research, which is spelling.
The researcher also gathered information about students likeness towards

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Research Seminar

the use of Facebook Group as a medium to teach writing compared to the

traditional approach of teaching writing. The findings is as expected of our
groups intention of using technology into the classroom. Almost all of the
research participants agree with the use of Facebook group page has helped
them with their spelling and learned new vocabulary at the same time. These
are just some of the advantages of using technology in Education which many
researchers in the same field are discovering.
The article also highlighted some of the disadvantages of using
Facebook group page such as the distractions that Facebook itself has, for
example, looking at other peoples posting, online game or shopping to name
a few. Also there is less than half of the number of participants would prefer a
classroom environment when discussing rather than in Facebook group.
Although the number did not exceed half of the sample size, it is still not
substantial to conclude that students prefer the Facebook group environment
than a classroom setting.

Strength of the Study

In referring to the strength of the paper, there are a few areas that we
would like to give a highlight on. Based on our discussion, we unanimously
agreed that the title of the research is very clear and concise as its
independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV) were clearly stated.
The DV of the research is students perception and their attitudes towards
writing and will be measured by the IV of Facebook group. We also agree that
this study is relevant and current to the present time as Facebook is one of
the most popular social network among adolescents nowadays and there is a
need for more empirical studies on the issue. The research used a mixed
method approach where the respondents completed a survey after they
participated in online writing activity on the Facebook group named Write Out
Clear which were designed by the researcher. The survey consisted of
concise and self-explanatory questions that were easily understood by
respondents. The implementation of peer feedback as part of discourse
analysis in the Facebook group was beneficial to the study because it was in

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Research Seminar

accordance to the Constructivist theory as mentioned by Vygotsky where

meaning to new knowledge will be given when people use what they are most
familiar with (Rankins, 2011). The final design of the study is where the
discourse analysis by the researcher on the students final work which were
submitted via Facebook. By having these sets of data obtained from three
different angles, the researcher is able to execute triangulation. According to
Creswell, triangulation is where multiple data sources enables the data to be
more reliable. The other highlight of this study is the direct involvement of the
researcher in the study as the moderator of the Facebook group. By doing so,
the researcher was able to monitor and oversee the whole process.
In regards to the execution of the study, the study was conducted by the
conduct of purposive sampling where only on 42 female students who
enrolled in the course of Writing I participated in it. According to Fraenkel,
Wallen & Hyun (2012), this sampling method is a strength to study because it
the researcher has prior information of the sample and able to assume it
relatability to the current study.

2) Mixed Method Triangulate

Quanti/ Questionnaire/
Quali/ Experimental/Empiral
90.5% agreed that FB helped correct spellings
(Creswell, 2013 Tiangulation multiple data sources make
data more reliable)
3)Monitoring moderator : get the whole data.
4) Purposive Sampling (Fraenkel/Wallen/Yun, 2012) - relatable to our
research
5) Current issue - 2014

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Research Seminar

References:
Rankin, S. L. (2010). The impact of text messaging language shortcuts on
developmental students' formal writing skills (Order No. 3427225).
Available from ProQuest Central; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Global. (807418333). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/807418333?accountid=14782