Undergraduates student perceptions' of social networking sites to improve English writing skills in Malaysia

Abstract

This article presents the perception of the use of SNSs in improving English writing skills among undergraduates' students. English writing skills are among the most critical skills that every level of the student requires to empower. However, it was discoverable that university students particularly still facing trouble in English writing. Therefore, this study is to investigate the students' perception in the use of SNSs in improving English writing skills and also to identify the students' SNSs preferences to practice English writing. As to garner the data, survey questionnaires were distributed comprises of open-ended and close-ended sections that were distributed among 118 undergraduate students. The respondents were ESL learners from different faculty from MARA University of Technology Malaysia (UiTM) and University Technology Petronas (UTP) in Malaysia. The quantitative and qualitative research approach is used to interpret the collected data. Descriptive statistics are used to showcase the data gathered from the findings. The findings from the survey conducted displayed that the respondents respond affirmatively on the usage of SNSs in improving English writing skills. Thus, the inculcation of SNSs in teaching and learning activities could allow educators and learners to practice English writing. Further studies on the effectiveness of the application of SNSs should be conducted among the undergraduates' students as it is also in line with the needs of the 21st-century learning and teaching approach.