Philippine E-Journals

Engaging Students In Enhancing Writing Competency: An Integration Of Social Media As A Learning Tool

Rhea Joy Deligero-monte

 

Abstract:

Social media nowadays has necessarily become a part of the daily life of millions of people all over the world and has created a tremendous impact upon every facet of our personal and professional lives. One of the most popular social networking websites where people could interact with each other is Facebook. The objective of this paper is to examine whether social media, specifically Facebook, would be an effective learning tool to enhance the students’ writing competency. A study using the One Group Pretest-Postest Design was conducted to 69 grade eight students of Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School (MOGCHS). The study revealed that the use of Facebook to enhance the students’ writing competency has been effective. Using paired samples t-test, the mean scores between the pretest and posttest results of the students revealed there has been an improvement on the students’ competency in terms of punctuation, organization, grammar rules and usage, and composition as a whole and individually on their grammar and writing skills. Results also showed that the integration of social media has developed positive attitudes among the students and has created a collaborative learning environment among the students themselves, the teacher and social media. Taking these findings into account, this study concluded that Facebook has now become an alternative learning tool, providing teachers and students a more convenient and attractive means to engage in discussions and activities. Hence, a module containing the activities used during the intervention has been crafted to aid future teachers in integrating Facebook in their classes as well.