Secondary school students' perceptions on the use of Google+ towards improving ESL writing skills

Abstract

The use of social media in teaching has also revolutionized the way learning takes place. At higher education levels, measures have already been taken in incorporating the use of social media for learning purposes especially in the teaching of language. However, at secondary school levels, educators are still having doubts about using social media due to multiple issues. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of secondary school students and a teacher in Malaysia on the use of Google+ towards the teaching of ESL writing skills. A case study method was adopted to carry out this research. Twelve secondary school students volunteered to participate in this study. Data were collected through focus group interview on the students and an individual interview with the class teacher and field notes. The overall findings of the study are that participants had positive perceptions on the usage of Google+ towards ESL writing. They gained a number of benefits, which include: having enjoyable and attentive lessons through the interactive features of Google+, as well as engaging themselves in an active and interesting lesson. The participants felt that they were having a sense of purpose, thus becoming more engaged in the writing tasks. As for interaction, the participants were interacting more confidently in Google+ writing classes compared to conventional writing lessons. The implication derived from this study is that teachers need to be made aware of how to integrate social media as learning tools in the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL), particularly, in the teaching of ESL writing to upper secondary school students.