ARTICLE
TITLE

Four Characteristics of Facebook Activities for English Language Learning: A study of Malaysian University Students’ Needs and Preferences

SUMMARY

This paper identifies Malaysian university students’ needs and preferences for online English language activities on a Facebook group that supports their formal learning. Two methods of data collection were employed; content analysis of the Facebook interactions, and semi structured interviews. Four main learning preferences or characteristics of online activities are identified; a) teacher-led activities (tasks and learning content provided by teachers), b) teachers’ presence (one or two authority figures to facilitate learning and keep group lively), c) topics or content (entertainment-oriented, grammar quizzes, opinion-based discussions), d) structure of the group (optional and ungraded). The passive participants found the activity beneficial in improving their online communication ability, while the more active participants felt a boost of confidence to use English in a more public space like Facebook. The findings indicate that the students are in need of technological changes in learning, but are dependent on teachers’ instructions to initiate the process. They exert selective interests in learning topics and content, and demonstrate partial autonomy in negotiating the online group’s structure. The theoretical and practical implications, and recommendation for future research are briefly presented. 

 Articles related

Harmita Sari Anita Hafid Kartini Kartini Sukmawati Tono Palangngan A. Nurhayati 10.26858/retorika.v14i2.18881 Views : 62 times    

This study aims to describe: (1) the treatment of women and (2) the causes of oppression of women, based on the multicultural feminism perspective. This study is qualitative. The data in this study are in the form of text and images of contextual element... see more


Carel Jansen,Rose Richards,Liezl van Zyl    

For almost a hundred years now, readability formulas have been used to measure how difficult it is to comprehend a given text. To date, four readability formulas have been developed for Afrikaans. Two such formulas were published by Van Rooyen (1986), on... see more


Sivakumar Anandan    

The present study investigated on the mechanical characteristics of different types of steel fibre substituted high strength concrete. Influence of steel fibre volume fraction and its complex profile characteristics on the strength properties of various ... see more


Roberta Mullini    

Mayster Brendiche of Braban in the anonymous Play of the Sacrament and the Poticary in John Heywood’s The Foure PP are the first medical practitioners in English drama. The article studies both characters in the light of early modern medical science in o... see more


Piyada Low    

The study examined menu descriptions of Thai restaurants on how appealing the menus communicated with customers. Data were taken from restaurant websites with ‘Thai SELECT Premium’ certifications in the UK. 673 menu items were obtained and analyzed in fi... see more