4

THE PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF USING

FACEBOOK ON STUDENTS WRITING
PERFORMANCE

An Action Research
Presented to
The Faculty of College of Education
PHINMA-Cagayan de Oro College

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
Eng 020-Language Research

By

Regina Mae F. Pacudan

BSED – IV

Danica Ysabel A. Satur

BSED – IV

Emerald A. Famas
BSED – IV

March 2016
THE PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF USING FACEBOOK ON STUDENTS
WRITING PERFORMANCE
 5

An Action Research
Presented to
The Faculty of College of Education
PHINMA-Cagayan de Oro College

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
Eng 020-Language Research

By

Regina Mae F. Pacudan

BSED – IV

Danica Ysabel A. Satur

BSED – IV

Emerald A. Famas
BSED – IV

March 2016
APPROVAL SHEET
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This Action Research attached hereto, entitled, THE PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF

USING FACEBOOK ON STUDENTS WRITING PERFORMANCE prepared and
submitted by Regina Mae F. Pacudan, Danica Ysabel A. Satur and Emerald A.
Famas, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Course Eng 020 –
Language Research is hereby accepted.

Grace B. Lumacang
Adviser

Mary Jean P. Castro, MAED

Chairman

Marco Ray M. Ruanto

Panel Member

Jenica Toni M. An
Panel Member

Daisy Jane M. De Arca

Panel Member

Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Course Eng 020-
Language Research.

_________________________
Dean

________________________
Date

Acknowledgement
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This research paper was made possible through the help and supports of
our parents, teachers, family, friends, and of course our Almighty God. We would
like expressed our gratitude towards the following significant advisor and
contributors. First and foremost, I would like to thank Mrs. Mary Jean P. Castro
for her consideration and patient upon reviewing our drafts and final papers.
Second, we would like to thank Mrs. Grace B. Lumacang for her support and
patience to read our paper and offered valuable detailed advices on grammar,
organization, and revision of the content. Third, Mr. Roscel Mark Lugo for
checking and validating our research instrument as well as the computation of
the results. Finally, we sincerely thank to our parents, family, and friends, who
provided the advice and financial support for the completion of our Action
Research. The product of this research paper would not be possible without all of
them.

Table of Contents
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Abstract 1
Introduction 2-5
 Background of the Study
 Statement of the Problem
 Scope and Limitation
 Significance of Study
 Conceptual/Theoretical
Framework

Methodology 6 - 10

 Design
 Instrument
 Sampling
 Data Analysis

Summary of Findings 11
Conclusion 12
Recommendation 12
Reference 13
Appendices 14-20

Abstract

Facebook was a vital means of communication and social interaction. This

research aimed to find out the perceived effects of using Facebook on student’s
writing performance. The respondent of this research were 2 nd year English Major
Students in English for Specific Purposes. There were 94 total respondents as
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computed based on the given formula. The researchers used Likert Scale
questionnaire to measure beliefs, attitudes and opinions which had fixed choice
response format. The questions used statements and a respondent then, the
response scales such as 1 = Strongly Agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Disagree, 4 =
Strongly Disagree. The data were analyzed using descriptive method and finding
the statistical mean. The mean distribution of grammar was accumulated 1.86
which means the students were agreed upon the statements. Also, the mean
distribution of spelling was 1.17 and the mean distribution of sentence
construction was 1.73. And the results fell under the interval of “Strongly Agree”.
The overall total of the collected data, students were clearly agreed that
Facebook improved their grammar, spelling and sentence construction.

Introduction

Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows

registered users to create profiles, send messages and keep in touch with
friends, family and colleagues. According to Daniel Nations (2016), he stated that
Facebook is a social network founded in February of 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg.
Originally a social network for students of Harvard University, it became a hit on
campus and expanded to other colleges. In 2005, Facebook opens itself to high
schools, and in 2006, it was open to everyone. Since Facebook holds the most
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number of active users it became a medium of instruction and used as an

authentic material for learning. It allows the students to creatively express
themselves by sharing their thoughts, communicate and interact via post and
comments. Also, it allows immediate feedback for the students to improve their
writing skills. There where space for the students to control the content and the
direction of their learning but as for certain limitations. The researchers are
interested about the topic because the students are now active users of
Facebook. Facebook provides an authentic and personalized context in which
the learners can aid their writing. The researchers want to identify if Facebook
has positive effects on student’s writing performance and its perceived effects of
in terms of grammar, spelling and sentence construction. There are certain
problems that the researchers need to focus that involve grammar, spelling and
sentence construction. Thus, Facebook makes the students to efficiently
generate ideas and built upon through the response and feedback given by the
peers.

Background of the study

Nowadays, most of the students are using social networking like

Facebook. Facebook is the most powerful social networking site which is used
for interaction and communication (Golder et al., 2007). Due to this extensive
social media application of Facebook students are able to share interesting facts
and opinions, giving comments to other works or ideas, create a story and
making announcements. This research focuses on the “Perceived Effects of
Using Facebook on Students’ Writing Performance”. It gives emphasis on how
Facebook can be used as a medium for English grammar, spelling and sentence
construction.

According to Grade and Robert B. Kaplan, writing is a technique, a set of

skill that must be practiced and learned through experience. Facebook can be a
medium for this by developing students’ writing skills in 21st century learning.
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The students are free from writing their thoughts and ideas through Facebook but
in terms on their writing performance in school it needs to be guided and
facilitated by the teacher. The teachers can benefit this research because it helps
them to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the students and improve their
teaching style. The students also can benefit this research to improve their
grammar and spelling, discover new words and sentences and develop their
writing constructively. Through feedback, they are able to voice out their
concerns regarding the learning of English and they would be able to make
immediate changes if necessary to correct their linguistic skills. Finally, this
research would benefit future researchers to gain awareness of the perceived
effects of using Facebook on students writing performance.

Statement of the Problem

A lot of criticism has been leveled at social media especially in Facebook.

Facebook is the most powerful social networking site which is used for interaction
and communication (Golder et al., 2007). Facebook can be a tool where students
are encourage to use their creativity combine with personal expression to
improve and strengthen their writing. And the researchers look for the means to
improve students’ way of writing. Specifically …

1.) Does Facebook has positive effects on student’s writing performance?

2.) What are the perceived effects of using Facebook in terms of grammar,
spelling and sentence construction?

Scope and Limitation

This study was conducted to find out if Facebook has positive effects of
on student’s writing performance and its perceived effects in terms of grammar,
spelling and sentence construction. integrating Facebook in 21 st century learning.
This examined the use of Facebook on student’s writing performance. The
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population consisted of 123 students with its 94 target respondents in English

Major enrolled in PHINMA-Cagayan de Oro College in 2 nd semester of the school
year 2015-2016.

Significance of the Study

This study would be significant to the following specific groups of people:

Teachers - they can efficiently identify the students’ strengths and weaknesses
in writing and also improves their teaching style integrating Facebook.

Students - they can interact through writing facts and opinions, construct
sentences effectively and improve their grammar and spelling by reflecting the
comments and post from their peers.

Future researchers – they can gain awareness of the effects of using Facebook
on student’s writing performance. Thus, the students’ perspectives might be a
useful source for this research in making Facebook to become a valuable and
effective medium for teaching and learning.

Theoretical Framework

This research used Theoretical Framework to hypothesize, understand

and give meaning to the relationships among the elements that influence, affect
or predict the events or outcomes that specified by the researchers. This study
was supported by the New Media Theory of Composition which focused on how
writing was created and the effects that could come from utilizing new media, like
new textual experience and new ways of representing the world.
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Methodology

This research used Descriptive Method to collect the data about The
Perceived Effects of Using Facebook on Students’ Writing Performance. The
design used in this research was Quantitative and Qualitative design to find out
The Perceived Effects of Using Facebook on Student’s Writing Performance by
collecting measurable data through surveys and provide interpretations.

The researchers used Likert Scale questionnaire to measure beliefs,

attitudes and opinions which had fixed choice response format. The questions
used statements and a respondent then, the response scales such as 1 =
Strongly Agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Disagree, 4 = Strongly Disagree.
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The researchers used non-probability sampling specifically Convenience

Sampling, where the subjects were selected just because they were easy to pick
out for the study and their convenient accessibility and proximity to the
researchers. The total population of the target respondents are 123 2 nd year
English Major Students. And the total sample size based on the computation was
94 from the 3 sections of English for Specific Purposes.

The sample size was based on this formula:

The researchers used standard deviation to find out the statistical mean of
each effects using Facebook on student’s writing performance. The researchers
used Likert Scale survey questions to sum up the responses to several items.
Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed in this study.
The data was collected and then recorded according to the participant’s group by
entering in the information in Excel spreadsheets. All test items were individually
scored and computed accordingly to its statistical mean.

Results and Discussions

The information were presented according to the analysis and findings of

the data gathered from the survey. The figures considered the perceived effects
of using Facebook on student’s writing performance that indicates the key
factors, the grammar, spelling and sentence construction

Table 1

Guidelines of Data Interpretation in Survey Questionnaire

Legend Interpretations Scale

1 Strongly Agree 1.00-1.75
2 Agree 1.76-2.50
3 Strongly Disagree 2.56-3.25
4 Disagree 3.26-4.00
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The results of the survey revealed the following findings:

Problem 1: Does Facebook have positive effects on student’s writing

performance?

Table 2

Positive Effects SD

Grammar 1.86 0.67

Spelling 1.71 0.61
Sentence Construction 1.73 0.57
Total 1.76 0.62

Based on the findings, the overall total accumulated in Table 2 Mean

Distribution of Grammar was 1.86. It was found that majority of the participants
agreed that Facebook had successfully improved their grammar. In the mean
distribution of spelling, it was found that majority of the participants strongly
agreed that Facebook efficiently help them in spelling with 1.71 total statistical
mean. In the mean distribution of sentence construction was analyzed and
interpreted as strongly agreed upon the statements which accumulated 1.73. The
result showed positive effects on students writing performance in terms of
grammar, spelling and sentence construction. Therefore, majority of the
participants strongly agreed that Facebook improved their spelling and sentence
construction but in grammar the result was interpreted as agree. The researchers
could say that majority of the findings was positive.

These findings were somehow similar to Mariam Ibrahim (2013) she

mentioned on her study that there were effective and obvious effects in using
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Facebook on improving students’ writing skills especially in mechanics of writing

(capitalization, punctuation and spelling), usage (word order and subject-verb
agreement) and the effect of using Facebook on improving and strengthening the
students’ sentence formation was not so clear. But in this study, the students’
sentence construction was evidently improved according to the result in Table 2
mean distribution of Sentence Construction. Mahmud (2012) in his survey
research had deliberately explored in Sunway College ADTP students’ feedback
on how Facebook could be a helpful learning tool in the English Language.
Generally, the findings and results of the research showed positive feedback and
promoted language learning activities among students. The results from his
survey the responses of students towards their writing skills through Facebook.
This showed that Facebook improved their creativity and expressing of ideas.
Depending on the creativity of the students, social network sites could be a fun
way of sharing and organizing information. (Ramirez, 2009)

Problem 2: What are the perceived effects in terms of grammar, spelling

and sentence construction?

Table 3

Questionnaire Results of Students’ Responses towards Facebook in Writing

Mean Distribution of Grammar

Statements SD

I use English grammar correctly when I write. 1.82 0.59

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I learn more new words when reading my friends’ 1.87 0.79

post

I can use different word forms in English 1.95 0.65

I improve my grammar skills through reading shared 1.69 0.61

stories and articles

I learn to form using tag questions 1.69 0.71

TOTAL 1.86 0.67

Mean Distribution of Spelling

Statements SD

I observe proper capitalizations and punctuations in 1.95 0.69

posting my status
I learn to spell out the words correctly 1.69 0.67
I read unfamiliar words in my news feeds and use it 1.80 0.60
on my writings
I observe proper way to write a word using the 1.70 0.55
correct order of letters
I learn how to correct my misspelled words 1.66 0.54
TOTAL 1.71 0.61

Mean Distribution of Sentence Construction

Statements SD

I am able to improve my style in writing 1.74 0.53

I learn to organize my thoughts before the actual 1.69 0.53
writing
I learn new sentences or writing structures by 1.72 0.59
reading the comments and posts from my Facebook
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friends
I write short sentences that are preferable and more 1.70 0.56
effective,
I avoid using sentence fragments.  1.79 0.65
TOTAL 1.73 0.57

Based on Table 3, students’ responses towards grammar covered

questions number 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Majority of the students were evidently agreed
upon the statements that Facebook helped them strengthen their grammar skills.
The statements of numbers 4 & 5 accumulated 1.69 which means that the
students were strongly agreed upon the statement “I improve my grammar skills
through reading shared stories and articles and “I learn to form tag questions”. In
questions 1, 2, & 3, the students were agreed upon the statements “I use English
grammar correctly when I write, “learn more new words when reading friends’
post and “I use different word forms in English.

The statements in spelling covered questions 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The

overall total accumulated 1.71. Question number 10 “I learn to correct misspelled
words” accumulated 1.66 which means that students strongly agreed upon the
statements. These showed that Facebook improved their spelling ability.

The statements in sentence construction covered questions 11, 12, 13, 14

and 15. In questions number 12, 13 and 14 the accumulated statistical mean
were 1.69 , 1.72 and 1.70. The results showed that the students were strongly
agreed on these following statements “I learn to organize my thoughts before the
actual writing”, “I learn new sentences or writing structures by reading the
comments and posts from my Facebook friends and “I write short sentences that
are preferable and more effective. Therefore, that Facebook improve students
writing performance in terms of grammar, spelling and sentence construction.

According Jordan (2012), web technologies like Facebook that proved as

an ideal way of encouraging young people to write confidently about things they
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enjoy and this improved writing skills. Also, Facebook was a webpage that used
to express or share thoughts, ideas and information that leads the student to
develop a better writing constructively (Nadzrah Abu Bakar (2010). Through
feedback, they were able to voice out their concerns regarding the learning of
English and they would be able to make immediate changes if necessary to
correct their linguistic skills.

Summary of Findings

The results of the survey revealed the following findings:

1. In spelling, it has 1.17 accumulated statistical mean. This showed that

majority of the students positively response towards the statements in
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spelling especially in statement number 10 “I learn how to correct my

misspelled words” with the accumulated mean 1.66.

2. In sentence construction, it has 1.73 accumulated statistical mean. This

showed that most of the students were strongly agreed that the
perceived effects of using Facebook gave positive result especially in the
statement of question number 12 “I learn to organize my thoughts before
the actual writing.

3. In grammar, it has 1.86 accumulated statistical mean presented in Table

2. It was found that majority of the participants agreed that Facebook
had successfully improved their grammar. Most of them strongly agreed
upon the statements in question 4 and 5 “I improve my grammar skills
through reading shared stories and articles and “I learn to form tag
questions”

Conclusion

There are 94 total respondents and majority of them agree that Facebook
does help them improve their writing. They use English grammar correctly when
they write, read unfamiliar words in their news feed and use it on their writings.
Also, Facebook improves their style of writing and learn to organize their
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thoughts before the actual writing. The results in this study demonstrate that
students are agree on the perceived effects of using Facebook on their writing
performance and this indicates that Facebook gives positive effects towards
grammar, spelling and sentence construction. Among these 3 perceived effects,
majority of the students show positive response.

Recommendation

Based on the results of the study, the following are suggested and
recommended to teachers, students and future researchers. The grammatical
knowledge, spelling and sentence construction through the use of Facebook on
the enhancement of student’s writing performance. For teachers, may initiate
activities on Facebook similar to those conducted in the classroom such as invite
the students to comment upon a quotation, express opinions concerning literary
fragments, and get involves in providing their own explanations for newly
introduce words. Teachers are highly encourage to give an immediate feedback
towards students’ writing performance. For students, Facebook stimulates
students’ curiosity, creativity and higher order thinking skills. It gives ample
opportunities for students to practice and improve their writing skills. They can
express their thoughts based on facts or opinions. They might read unfamiliar
words and learn to organize their thoughts before the actual writing. Students
also discover new words and new sentences or writing structures by reading the
comments and posts. For the future researchers, they can gain awareness that
Facebook has positive effects towards writing specifically improving their
grammar, spelling and sentence construction.
Reference

Related Articles and Textbook

Miler, R. (2005). Motives for Writing. Ameras, New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.
 22

Saidna Zulfigar Bin Tahir (2011). Improving Students’ Writing Skill Through
Facebook. Igra Bin, Jakarta. Retrieved from www.academia.edu

Teiler, J. (2008). How to do Everything: Facebook Application. United States

America: McGraw-Hill Inc.

Vota, Wayan (2010). 4 Reasons why Facebook is an educational tool for

students. December 3, 2010. Retrieved from www.ictwork.org

White, Jeremy (2005). The Use of Facebook to Improve Motivation and

Academic Writing. Litsumeikan University, Japan. Retrieved from
www.academia.edu

Yunus, Melor et. al (2012). The Effectiveness of Facebook Groups on Teaching

and Improving Writing: Students Perceptions. Bangi Silangor, Malaysia: Volume
6, 2012.

Online Reference

http://www.savap.org.pk/journals/ARInt./Vol.3(2)/2012(3.2-47).pdf

http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v9n22012/suthiwartnarueput.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_theory_of_composition

http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Media_theory_of_composition

https://scholar.najah.edu/sites/default/files/Mariam%20Ibrahim_0.pdf

Dear Respondents:

We are 4th year Education students, who are conducting a survey about
“The Perceived Effects of Using Facebook on Students’ Writing Performance”. In
this regard, we would like to ask for your participation by honestly answering our
survey. The information obtained from this survey will be kept confidential and
only be used for academic purposes. Thank you for your kind cooperation.

The Researchers
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Instruction: Read and answer the questions carefully. Please put a check mark
(√) on the item that best indicates your responses in the statements below:

1- Strongly Agree 2 - Agree 3 - Strongly Disagree 4 - Disagree

Responses Towards Facebook in Writing 1 2 3 4

1) I use English grammar correctly when I write.
2) I learn more new words when reading my
friends’ post
3) I can use different word forms in English
4) I improve my grammar skills through reading
shared stories and articles
5) I learn to form questions by using tag
questions.
6) I observe proper capitalizations and
punctuations in posting my status
7) I learn to spell out the words correctly
8) I read unfamiliar words in my news feeds and
use it on my writings
9)  I observe proper way to write a word using the
correct order of letters.
10) I learn how to correct my misspelled words
11) I am able to improve my style in writing
12) I learn to organize my thoughts before the
actual writing
13) I learn new sentences or writing structures by
reading the comments and posts from my
Facebook friends
14) I write short sentences that are preferable and
more effective,
15) I avoid using sentence fragments. 

Documentation
TALLY
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SURVEY
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APPENDICES