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STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF UTILIZING F ACEBOOK IN WRITING CLASSROOM

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirement of the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

Reza Azka Fachrusy 112013035

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA SALATIGA 2017

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF UTILIZING F ACEBOOK IN WRITING CLASSROOM

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirement of the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

Reza Azka Fachrusy 112013035

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA SALATIGA 2017

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STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF UTILIZING F ACEBOOK IN WRITING CLASSROOM

Reza Azka Fachrusy 112013035

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are developing into a more modern one each day, and each technology when integrated appropriately can help students in their language learning classes. One of ICT forms commonly used now is Social Networking Sites named Facebook . This present study is intended to give an overview of students‟ perceptions of the potential use of Facebook in their writing classroom. This present study discusses the use of Facebook and how it helps students in their writing class. By using Mayfield (2008) aspect of Social Media that consists of Participation, Connectedness, Community, Conversation, and Openness, this paper focuses on how Facebook works best for writing class. Students‟ opinions of utilizing Facebook in their writing class are also shown in this paper to strengthen the existing theories and practices. It is expected that this present study could provide new insights on how to integrate SNS in a writing classroom.

Keywords: Students’ perception s, Facebook, writing

INTRODUCTION

Writing is a fundamental key in EFL Classroom. It holds the most essential role for higher academic purpose and in a professional environment. However, based on Gibbon‟s (2002), students tend to have difficulties in writing in English such as writing thesis statement, topic sentence, and lacking of writing capability especially as an English Language Learner. Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011) claimed that technology has a wide variety of teaching sources and it shows the young learners a new learning experience. So, based on Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011), technology should be involved because students will have access to the same tools over the web, so they can reinforce the ideas by experimenting with the simulations themselves at any time and any place. In this era of modernization and globalization, Internet has been commonly used by young students to interact with others through Social Networking Sites (SNS). One of the SNS which has the potential in a writing classroom is Facebook . It has many features that could help in a writing classroom such as file sharing, group chat, and forum Writing is a fundamental key in EFL Classroom. It holds the most essential role for higher academic purpose and in a professional environment. However, based on Gibbon‟s (2002), students tend to have difficulties in writing in English such as writing thesis statement, topic sentence, and lacking of writing capability especially as an English Language Learner. Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011) claimed that technology has a wide variety of teaching sources and it shows the young learners a new learning experience. So, based on Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011), technology should be involved because students will have access to the same tools over the web, so they can reinforce the ideas by experimenting with the simulations themselves at any time and any place. In this era of modernization and globalization, Internet has been commonly used by young students to interact with others through Social Networking Sites (SNS). One of the SNS which has the potential in a writing classroom is Facebook . It has many features that could help in a writing classroom such as file sharing, group chat, and forum

the advantages of using Facebook in their classroom to reinforce students‟ learning in writing class.

A study conducted by Sumakul (2013) showed that using Facebook Group for an English Grammar classroom attracted the students to study. It picked up students attention because they could easily access the Internet in most of their time. This is why teachers should use more modernized method to keep up with students‟ way of learning. Nowadays, learners are more

adapted with the SNS rather than using traditional method. Therefore, leaners tend to be more comfortable if teachers use SNS as the media of learning. Furthermore, a study conducted by Ardi, et al. (2013) also showed that the use of SNSs would help students in receiving feedback by the teachers, experts, and native speakers that they found on SNSs. This might proves that the utilization of SNS is affecting students‟ writing skills and motivation.

In the Faculty of Language and Arts of Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana there was a writing class that was integrating Facebook Group with the classroom to help the students. The course is in Facebook , the students of Writing Skills were given feedback by the lecturer, materials sharing, and conducting a group discussion about their writings. Based on the context of this study, this paper will discuss about how students view in using Facebook in their writing classroom. It is hoped that this study would be able to provide information on how Facebook influences students‟ writing capabilities. It is also expected that teacher could consider using Facebook as their media to teach writing and also this paper could help teachers in seeing students‟ point of view for a writing class.

LITERATURE REVIEW Language Learning and Internet

In a modern era, the internet has opened a new gate to an invention of new methods of language learning. To be more specific, Internet has Social Networking Sites (SNS), a Web 2.0 networks that have recently attracted attention from researchers who have studied the capabilities of language learning and teaching especially in a writing class. There are many SNSs that have potential to be used for writing class. Mayfield (2008) states that “Social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of online media, which share most or all of the following characteristics; they are participation, openness, conversation, community, and connectedness ” (p.5) . To clarify Mayfield statements, students could participate any discussion in a closed group (Participation), any discussion is open for students as long as it is in their classes that they attend. Students could state their opinion without any feeling of embarrassment (Openness), since students tend to feel embarrassed to state their opinion in a face to face forum with their lecturer so they need a space to open themselves to state their opinion without any obstacle such as embarrassment. Students are also able to exchange information or meaning with their peers in the comment section (Conversation), after students open with their lecturer or peers, they could exchange information to their peers in one specific topic in writing skills. Students are able to join with their peers who have the same opinion (Community), and the last students are able to connect themselves with other sources, and people inside and outside of the classroom (Connectedness). That is why Facebook becomes a convenient Social Media for language learning because its features that cover those aspects. Additionally, McCarthy (2010) states that the use of SNS may improve interactions between students and omit language barriers and shyness. McCarthy (2010) statement is in line with two of the aspects from Mayfield (2008) which are Connectedness and Openness. These five aspects of Social Media is needed by In a modern era, the internet has opened a new gate to an invention of new methods of language learning. To be more specific, Internet has Social Networking Sites (SNS), a Web 2.0 networks that have recently attracted attention from researchers who have studied the capabilities of language learning and teaching especially in a writing class. There are many SNSs that have potential to be used for writing class. Mayfield (2008) states that “Social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of online media, which share most or all of the following characteristics; they are participation, openness, conversation, community, and connectedness ” (p.5) . To clarify Mayfield statements, students could participate any discussion in a closed group (Participation), any discussion is open for students as long as it is in their classes that they attend. Students could state their opinion without any feeling of embarrassment (Openness), since students tend to feel embarrassed to state their opinion in a face to face forum with their lecturer so they need a space to open themselves to state their opinion without any obstacle such as embarrassment. Students are also able to exchange information or meaning with their peers in the comment section (Conversation), after students open with their lecturer or peers, they could exchange information to their peers in one specific topic in writing skills. Students are able to join with their peers who have the same opinion (Community), and the last students are able to connect themselves with other sources, and people inside and outside of the classroom (Connectedness). That is why Facebook becomes a convenient Social Media for language learning because its features that cover those aspects. Additionally, McCarthy (2010) states that the use of SNS may improve interactions between students and omit language barriers and shyness. McCarthy (2010) statement is in line with two of the aspects from Mayfield (2008) which are Connectedness and Openness. These five aspects of Social Media is needed by

In his paper, Yu (2014) states that combining language learning context with Facebook could improve students‟ language production even in outside of the classroom. With those five

aspects before, students are possible to produce more language functions such as writing notes in their timelines, update their status in English, and state their opinion in other group discussions. In a study conducted by Yu (2014) he showed that Facebook used by teacher and students was supposed to observe each of the student learning situation and the teacher consider what the right approach for each student, the teacher also took advantage of Facebook aspects to connect between the inside and outside of the classroom for creating more opportunities for the students for creating a language function. In addition, a paper written by Rodliyah (2016) states that teacher cannot abandon the fact that Facebook holds a great potential to be used as a mean of educational media, because of Smartphone efficiency, it makes Facebook more accessible than ever. The fact that Facebook is effective to students and teachers could help the class to be conducted effectively without any face to face interaction. In addition, Yu (2014) in his paper also states that on Facebook , students have freedom to practice and apply the Target Language inside and outside of the classroom. So with its efficiency with Smartphone, Facebook has features that could help teachers and students discussing classroom materials at anytime and anyplace.

Students’ Perceptions in Writing

As stated in the introduction, t his paper focuses on the students‟ perception towards the utilization of Facebook in writing classroom. This paper will also determine on how students As stated in the introduction, t his paper focuses on the students‟ perception towards the utilization of Facebook in writing classroom. This paper will also determine on how students

the students. In a writing course, students‟ needs, perceptions, and writing proficiencies should

be considered first before the beginning of the course in order to help teacher determines the appropriate approach for each and every one of the student . Papers which study students‟ perceptions and beliefs has shown that knowing students perceptions and beliefs beforehand is an essential aspect in developing the appropriate method to fulfill their needs. A study conducted by Mazdayasna and Tahririan (2008) as cited in Ismail (2011) showed that students in Iran were aware of their needs which were language improvement, so they were showing that they were looking interested with improvement of their basic language proficiency to pass their academic course . In writing, students also have their own perceptions on teacher‟s feedback on their writing and they tend to show their needs based on their perception of a teacher‟s feedback. If a teacher knows his/her students‟ needs, a teacher could determine the right approach for them.

Ismail (2011) also mentioned that students may acquire feedbacks as a positive or negative index of their learning progress. So, based on Ismail (2011) statement, teachers should be careful with the feedback that is given to the students if teachers do not know each of their learning situations first beforehand. So, students‟ perception in a writing class is essential to be considered by a teacher because it will provide benefit for teachers in determining an appropriate feedback for students.

Students’ Perception on Technology

In a previous study conducted by Yu (2014) it showed that the use of Facebook in a writing class in Taiwan showed that there were three aspects of Facebook use in class, they are the affordance of Facebook , students participations, and the connection between face to face In a previous study conducted by Yu (2014) it showed that the use of Facebook in a writing class in Taiwan showed that there were three aspects of Facebook use in class, they are the affordance of Facebook , students participations, and the connection between face to face

students‟ language production even outside of the classroom. Students perceive that they will not only write on the internet but they will feel more encouraged to write outside the classroom as well.

However, a different result conducted by Rodliyah (2016) found that the use of Facebook as a media to improve writing was not really successful because there were limitations to do it

such as students‟ participations were low, there were no response or discussion on the Facebook group, and there were students who became “silent readers” only. The paper suggests that teacher should give a set of rules that should be obeyed by the students at the beginning of the course. The students in Rodliyah (2016) study were not producing more language functions rather than those who write on a paper. This is caused by the limitations that occurred in the study which could be handled by teachers in the study. Another result was found by Said Ahmed (2016) showed that students‟ writing skills can be improved through Facebook group as the media of learning. Despite in focusing on the disadvantages and advantages of Facebook , this present study is focused on the advantages only since this paper is aiming to study the perceptions of students on Facebook in a writing class and compare the findings with the previous studies above.

THE STUDY Methodology

The study was conducted in a Qualitative study because it could determine the students‟ perceptions deeper. A Qualitative Study was conducted because this study needed to find and understand the phenomenon that occurred in the writing class which using Facebook as its media

of learning. The following research questions guided the study: “What are students‟ perceptions

towards Facebook utilization in writing class?”

Context

The study was conducted in English Literature Program, Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga, Indonesia. In this department, students were required to take Writing Skills class before taking a more advanced writing class. The course objective was intended to cover a number of different styles of writing, from descriptive text to instructional text and students were required to write one style of the writing as a final paper in order to pass the course. One of the classes had an online discussion forum on Facebook .

Participants

The participants for this study were students of English Literature Program who took Writing Skills Course on semester I 2016/2017 in English Literature Program, FLA, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga, Indonesia. The reason why the writer chose this class was because the participants had experienced in receiving and joining online discussions through Facebook . So, the writer used convenience sampling in order to start the interview. There will be

10 participants out of 26 students that the writer had chosen through convenience sampling. The

10 participants consist of three male students and seven female students. Pseudonyms would be used for all of the participants as Participant 1 until Participant 10. The writer reached the participants through Facebook or other messenger applications such as LINE , BlackBerry

Messenger , or WhatsApp . With the total number of the students in Writing Skills class which was 26 students, it was expected that it could produce a good result as an outcome.

Data Collection Instrument

The writer used a semi-structured interview because the wri ter could explore students‟ perceptions toward Facebook online discussion deeper. The interview questions were taken from Yang and Cornelius (2004, see Appendix I) with some adaptations and modifications since some questions were not relevant with the topic of this research. The writer conducted the interview in Bahasa Indonesia so it would be less formal that the participants could answer and gave their response confidently and comfortably. Moreover, by doing semi-structured interview the writer could ask follow up question to enrich the data that has been acquired. The interview would be translated and then transcribed.

Data Collection Procedure

First, the writer would conduct piloting sessions with two students for evaluating the interview questions. The two students were not included in the ten participants. Before conducting the data collection, the writer needed to ask permission with the lecturer for the class. The writer would contact the participants through messenger or a short text message because of its convenience. After that, the writer would work on the data collection by interviewing 10 of Writing Skills students from English Literature Program. During the interview session, the writer would ask several follow up questions to explore and ask the unclear information from the participants. The interview would be conducted in Indonesian with the use of code-switching and code-mixing in the process to ease during the interview session. The direct interview will be recorded and the interview that is conducted through applications would be manually transcribed. In the interview, information from all the participants will be transcribed.

Data Analysis

After the writer got the required information, the writer translated it and then transcribed it by using clean transcription. In the transcription, the name mentioned in the verbatim was substituted by pseudonyms and the abbreviations that were used by the participants were fixed into a more proper spelling. Then, the writer categorized each of the transcription response from the interview into the same theme which the writer acquired by using Nvivo 10. The data gathered were categorized based on Mayfield (2008) social media aspect. At the end, the data were analyzed and the writer compared them with the previous studies that had been conducted. The translated transcription would be put after the real translation later in the paper.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

After analyzing the data from the ten participants, the data was collected and grouped into five different themes based on Mayfield (2008) social media aspect. The findings are summarized in Table 1 below. No Themes

6. Other Aspect

Table 1: the findings of the interview As seen in the table above, there are five themes that were used for the data. The numbering is

done based from the aspect that is the most dominant. References mean the number that represents the aspect mentioned during the interview. For example, Connectedness has 39 references, so during the interview, aspect of connectedness was mentioned 39 times from all of the participants. All participants were found in all five themes. Those five themes then will be compared with the previous study regarding the aspect of Facebook in a writing class. The complete classifications of the interview results can be seen in Appendix two until eight.

Connectedness

“Most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to other sites, resources and people ” (Mayfield 2008, p. 5). As one of the most popular social media Facebook also connects from one source which takes place inside the classroom and Facebook “Most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to other sites, resources and people ” (Mayfield 2008, p. 5). As one of the most popular social media Facebook also connects from one source which takes place inside the classroom and Facebook

One of the participants said that she was able to learn from other student from the Facebook group, she stated that she can confirm her result of discussions by connecting through Facebook chat to confirm her work with other people that have a specific skill in writing. She stated that

Tetapi aku bisa belajar dari semua murid yang punya kelebihan misalnya kelebihannya pinter di quotation , ada yang kelebihannya di grammar, ada yang pintar di bagian narasumber, jadi aku bisa belajar dari mereka supaya tidak tertinggal. Menurutku sih kak gitu.

But I can learn from other students that have a specific skill, for instance there is someone who is good at quoting, grammar, or referencing, so I can learn from them to keep myself up in the class. That is what I thought. (Participant 9)

According to her statement, she showed that Facebook connect her to other students that have a particular skill in order to improve her writing performance.

Another student has a rather different context, she said,

Jadi Ma‟am Donna pernah upload document di grup, posting link tautan, Terus kalau ada tugas yang penting banget beliau ga segan-segan mention username Facebook mahasiswa yang sering jadi media info buat mahasiswa lain yang jarang buka grup, Jadi Ma ‟am Donna ga sekedar nulis-nulis aja di grup tapi juga memakai fitur2nya and care mahasiswanya biar pay attention sama postingan beliau

So Ma‟am Donna has uploaded a doc in a group that consists of links. Then if it is important, she was not reluctant to mention all of the students‟ that are always active on the group in order to become information media for other students that are not really active in the group. So the lecturer is not just writing in the group but using its feature for making sure her students pay attention with her posts. (Participant 4)

The lecturer emphasized the use of resource links outside the Facebook group. She mentioned all of the students that were active on the group to tell other students about the links. It means that the Facebook group here connects two aspects at once. First it connects between the lecturers The lecturer emphasized the use of resource links outside the Facebook group. She mentioned all of the students that were active on the group to tell other students about the links. It means that the Facebook group here connects two aspects at once. First it connects between the lecturers

The finding above is similar with Yu (2014) study, in his work, he said that teachers tend to motivate the Taiwanese students‟ through Facebook and connect it with outside materials such as links and sites. Related with Yu (2014) study, the students are asked with the lecturer to connect themselves with the links that are provided on the Facebook Group. In the present study also found something different that one of the students in the research connects herself with people from the outside of Facebook group who have skills in some aspects of writing. In addition, it also showed similarities with Rodliyah (2016) study, where there were silent readers and passive students. Based on the participant 4 statement, it shows that there are also passive or silent readers on the Facebook group. According to the students, Facebook helps them connect with other sources and made active students to inform the less active students about the class. Therefore in students‟ view, Facebook helps them to improve their skills through connecting to

other people and make the less active students to be more updated of the current class situation.

Openness

According to Mayfield (2008), social media provides a platform to give feedback and participate in a discussion openly and it has features that emphasize on the field such as voting, comments, and information sharing. Additionally in social media there are almost no obstacles in accessing password-protected material. Therefore, according to Mayfield (2008), Facebook has a feature that let users openly give feedback, participating in a discussion, information sharing, without any obstacles. Openness makes students to be able to openly give feedback through comment section, discuss a particular topic in a post, and share useful information with other students without disrupted by feelings of embarrassment or language barrier. In other words, According to Mayfield (2008), social media provides a platform to give feedback and participate in a discussion openly and it has features that emphasize on the field such as voting, comments, and information sharing. Additionally in social media there are almost no obstacles in accessing password-protected material. Therefore, according to Mayfield (2008), Facebook has a feature that let users openly give feedback, participating in a discussion, information sharing, without any obstacles. Openness makes students to be able to openly give feedback through comment section, discuss a particular topic in a post, and share useful information with other students without disrupted by feelings of embarrassment or language barrier. In other words,

All of the participants mentioned about openness 37 times in the interviews. They mostly stated that they were able to give and receive useful feedback from lecturer or other students freely without any feeling of embarrassment. One of the participants said that

Aku bisa mengemukakan pendapat di grup tanpa rasa malu kak, aku bisa leluasa tanya, ngasih pendapat, meskipun dihalangi sama kecanggungan takut grammar, tapi aku masih tetep bisa belajar dari itu.

I can state my opinion on the group without feel embarrassed. I was able to ask and give feedback freely. Although it was obstructed with the awkward feeling that I was afraid of my grammar, but I still can learn from it. (Participant 1)

Based on her statement, she pointed that Facebook provides a feature that let her to give feedback freely. However, she was afraid that she would make a mistake with her grammar but she encouraged that she could learn from her mistake. For her, Facebook is not only a place to openly giving suggestions but it is also a place to learn written communication in a real context as well.

Another story emerged from participant 6 who was a male student. He said that Facebook can be a field to ask for an unclear instruction and then share the result to his friends on the group.

Aku bisa tanya-tanya sama dosen kalau ada yang ga jelas di kelas, nah pas ada yang ga jelas itu, aku bisa tanya ke dosen lewat chat, karena bisa lebih terbuka juga.

I could ask the lecturer if there was unclear instruction in the class. When something like that occurred, I could ask the lecturer through chat feature since I could ask openly. (Participant 6)

Participant 6 thought that Facebook provides an open platform to talk with a lecturer about unclear instruction. Through the same chat feature on Facebook , participant 1 could ask the Participant 6 thought that Facebook provides an open platform to talk with a lecturer about unclear instruction. Through the same chat feature on Facebook , participant 1 could ask the

The result above is in contrast with Yu ‟s (2014) study, in which one of the result on the study indicated that one of the students did not want to comment or post until his grammar is perfect. This is the opposite with Mayfield (2008) openness theory since with openness the students were asked to post openly. However, in this present study, the student was eager to learn grammar from the grammar mistakes that were made. The result is similar with Rodliyah (2016) study that with openness, students like to share their opinions freely with others without any barriers and learn English in a real context at the same time on Facebook .

Conversation

“Whereas traditional media is about „broadcast‟ (content transmitted or distributed to an audience) social media is better seen as a two-way conversation ” (Mayfield 2008, p. 5). As a social media, Facebook makes people interact with others; it provides an interaction between two people or more. In Mayfield ‟s (2008) theory, he states that conventional media is about one material shared to audience, whereas social media provides a two-way conversation between two people. In a lesson which includes Facebook as the media, there should be an interaction between students and lecturer and students with students. So, in other words, interactions should occur on Facebook among students and the lecturer in the activity on Facebook .

From the interview, the participants stated that they had a communication with the lecturer through Facebook and that was a two-way communication through chat between students and the lecturer. One of the participants mentioned that he always consult with the lecturer privately through Facebook chat. He added that he could exchange information with the lecturer through the chat about his topic.

Konsultasi dalam menentukan thesis statement. Konsultasi dalam teknis penulisan, pengembangan paragrafnya lewat message fb. Sempat, via message fb debat dengan dosen mengenai topik tulisanku yang dirasa kurang relevan hanya karena aku durung nikah.

The consultation in deciding the thesis statement, writing technique, and the paragraph development were done through Facebook chat. Once from Facebook chat I exchanged information with the lecturer about my writing which felt is not relevant just because I haven‟t married. (Participant 5)

His statement showed that there was an intense interaction between the lecturer and the student in deciding his writing progress that was done through Facebook chat. It can be said that from his statement, Facebook provides a chance for him to conduct a conversation with the lecturer outside the class hours.

Other than interacting with the lecturer, the students also interact with other students. Participant 1 stated,

Kami juga sering diskusi di grup mengenai cara nulis/nentuin topic yg bener kak, terus kami biasanya juga diperbolehkan tanya-tanya dengan dosen di luar jam kerja lewat fb, tapi sejujurnya aja aku bisa berlatih berkomunikasi sama dosen. Bisa jadi tempat latihan juga buat conversation.

We always discuss on how to write and decide an appropriate topic on the Facebook group. Then we were usually allowed to ask the lecturer outside the working hour through Facebook . Honestly, I could practice on how to communicate with the lecturer. It can become an appropriate place to practice my conversation skill. (Participant 1)

Based on her statement, there were interactions between students to discuss many things for their writing improvements. Also, there was conversation with the lecturer that occurred outside the class hour. The lecturer was not limiting the interaction between students on the group and she also let the student to ask her anytime through Facebook chat. In addition, the student stated that she was able to improve her conversational skills through Facebook .

In the study conducted by Bani-Hani, Al-Sobh, & Abu-Melhim (2014) found that the students were communicating with the teacher as a moderator to ensure that the writing topic was relevant. It means that the conversation aspect would not happen without the aid from the teacher. This present study found a different result compared with Bani-Hani, et. al. (2014)

study, this present study found that the conversation aspect occurred because the students were self-aware of their writing needs and they started to interact with each other in a discussion by themselves on the Facebook group. In this case, the teacher did not act as a moderator but instead she became the facilitator of the discussion by allowing students to ask whenever possible. The study conducted by Rodliyah (2016) also found that from the interactions, students would become autonomous writers which were able to decide their own topics and act independently. This also occurred on the present research where student was discussing and even debating with the lecturer about his topic of choice. Additionally Foroutan, Noordin, and Gani (2013b) that also cited in Rodliyah (2016) suggested that interaction that occurred in the CMC is in line with constructivist theory, it encourages the use of communications and social interactions since they are important factors in developing the autonomy of language learners. Therefore, on the Facebook group, conversation occurred is important in developing autonomous writing by providing a two- way communication with others.

Participation

On a Facebook group, students have the same opportunity to participate in a discussion by stating their own opinion and receive feedback from everyone. As stated by Mayfield (2008), social media suggests participation and feedback from people who are interested and it erases the border between media and audience. As a media, Facebook motivates the students (audience) to participate in a discussion. In a discussion, participation is essential in order to see opinions from different perspectives for improving students‟ writing quality, and Facebook has given that opportunity.

From the interview, it was found that students were participating on Facebook in order to improve their writing. Since the students thought that discussion was the most important thing to From the interview, it was found that students were participating on Facebook in order to improve their writing. Since the students thought that discussion was the most important thing to

Dosen yang memberi tips-tips bikin kalimat, thesis statement gitu, nah mahasiswa- mahasiswanya nanti ada yang respon-respon atau tanya-tanya kak. Karena fb bisa menjadi lahan diskusi dengan dosen dan juga diskusi adalah bagian terpenting saat menulis.

The lecturer gave us the tips on how to make a sentence and thesis statement. Then, the students will respond to it or ask about it. Since Facebook can be a discussion platform with the lecturer and discussion is the most important part for writing. (Participant 2)

Based on her statement, it can be indicated that Facebook provides a platform for a discussion for every student. Students were participating through that platform and felt motivated with the importance of discussion.

Another student emphasized that even though there were passive students, the participation of other students was still on-going, she stated

Aku juga jadi bisa diskusi sama temen-temen di grup, bahas soal writing pokonya. Saling mengemukakan pendapat gitu, yah meskipun temen-temen Cuma beberapa yg ikut tp masih tetep membantu kok kak.

I also was able to discuss with my friends on the group, basically we were discussing about writing. We were stating our own opinion even though there are only some students who joined the discussion it was still helping on my writing. (Participant 7)

Here, the students who participate in the discussion were only a number but it still helped the students‟ discussion progress.

From the research finding, it found a similar finding with Ahmed ‟s (2016) study, in his work the students felt motivated to participate in a discussion and it improved their grammar skills for improving their writing skills. In this present research finding, students tend to have a self-motivation about the importance of participation for improving their writing quality. The students in this study and Said Ahmed (2016) study showed a similar behavior towards the From the research finding, it found a similar finding with Ahmed ‟s (2016) study, in his work the students felt motivated to participate in a discussion and it improved their grammar skills for improving their writing skills. In this present research finding, students tend to have a self-motivation about the importance of participation for improving their writing quality. The students in this study and Said Ahmed (2016) study showed a similar behavior towards the

Community

The least theme that is found on this research is community. It involves students with the same interest or perspective to communicate effectively in a group. In his book Mayfield (2008) states that social media lets people to quickly form a community that gathers people from the same perspective and interests. Furthermore, social media lets people to interact with others easily in that same community. Also, it can be said that students who are within the community with the same perspective will improve their knowledge of a topic and try to fix their mistake within the community by interacting with others who have the same idea and perspective.

Taken from the interview, it was found that students were sharing their ideas and opinions with each other on Facebook in order to improve their writing. They could expand their knowledge of writing based on their community that always helped each other. One of the participants claimed that he always shared his ideas with his community

Untuk temen-temen sendiri, komunikasiku di grup fb itu sendiri aku sharing materi, sharing yg aku tahu sama mereka sharing apa yang mereka tau, jadi aku update, mereka update juga fair lah kak jadinya.

For my own friends, my communication on the group consists of material sharing. I share what I know and they share what they know, so I became updated and so did them, so it is fair for all of us. (Participant 10)

Based on his statement, it can be indicated that Facebook group was able to form community between students efficiently and students who were in the community could discuss their ideas and exchanging knowledge.

Another student added that through the community, he could fix his mistakes and even point the others‟ mistakes, he stated

Interaksinya ya ,ya seperti itu tadi bahas tugas, bahas topic-topic tertentu, aku bisa dapet ilmu, aku juga bisa berbagi ilmu (kalau aku ada ilmune). Terus aku bisa tau aku salahnya di mana menurut temen2 aku jg bisa ngasih kritik/saran ke temen2 soal tulisan mereka di grup, kita bs salig berbagi

The interaction was like before, discussing assignments, discussing particular topics, I could get knowledge and I could share my knowledge (If I had one). Then, I could know where my mistakes according to my friends and I was able to give critics and suggestions about their writing on the group. We were able to share each other. (Participant 6)

Through the commun ity, students were able to share each other, revise each other‟s work and as

a result, an improved writing could be achieved.

According to the findings, it is in contrast with Rifai (2010) study, in his paper the students were surprised that they had to have a team work on Facebook . In Rifai (2010) study, some students tend to work individually rather than forming a group or community. In this present study, it was found that most of the students were active on the Facebook and formed a community subconsciously to share the knowledge that they had. They subconsciously shared their ideas with the other students who have the same perspective on a particular topic. In addition, Al-Shehri (2011) found that Facebook gives students a positive online environment for language learning and provides the abilities to summarize opinions and facts from different resources. Compared to Ahmed (2016) study, the findings are similar. In Said Ahmed (2016) it was found that the students‟ grammatical and writing skills were enhanced because of many different functions of Facebook that provide a community to discuss, stating their opinion, collecting from many sources, and sharing their thoughts with the lecturer or their peers. In this According to the findings, it is in contrast with Rifai (2010) study, in his paper the students were surprised that they had to have a team work on Facebook . In Rifai (2010) study, some students tend to work individually rather than forming a group or community. In this present study, it was found that most of the students were active on the Facebook and formed a community subconsciously to share the knowledge that they had. They subconsciously shared their ideas with the other students who have the same perspective on a particular topic. In addition, Al-Shehri (2011) found that Facebook gives students a positive online environment for language learning and provides the abilities to summarize opinions and facts from different resources. Compared to Ahmed (2016) study, the findings are similar. In Said Ahmed (2016) it was found that the students‟ grammatical and writing skills were enhanced because of many different functions of Facebook that provide a community to discuss, stating their opinion, collecting from many sources, and sharing their thoughts with the lecturer or their peers. In this

Other Aspects

Other themes that were found on this present study were involving students‟ overall impression in using Facebook and its drawbacks. Understanding s tudents‟ view on Facebook and how Facebook drawbacks obstruct students in learning would help teachers for using Facebook optimally so all students could enjoy their teaching and learning process.

Taken from the interview, mostly students enjoyed their time using Facebook for their writing class since Facebook was efficient and helped them to save their writings on Facebook group, i.e. having a back-up data of their writing, so that they were not afraid of losing it. One of the students stated:

Very good! Soale membantu banget buat murid yang agak lola dan pelupa kayak aku hehe, jadi bisa mengerti tanpa harus tanya berulang kali dan ditambah lagi, aku jd ga takut kehilangan materinya karena everything is on facebook dan semuanya udah pake teknologi kak

It is very good because Facebook was so helpful for students who were slow learners and tend to be forgetful, like me for example. So we could understand without having to ask over and over again and furthermore, I am not afraid to lose the material since everything is on Facebook and everything is done with technology. (Participant 8)

However, there was one student who disagreed in using Facebook for the class. She stated:

Not good menurutku. Murid yang kreatif ga keliatan kreatif, yang kritis jadi ga keliatan kritis, malah cm yg jago koar-koar di sosmed doang yg berani kritis di fb. Pas kelas melempem. Jadi

yg di fb itu kebanyakan bisa komen tok tp di kelas malah diem kak.

It is not good. Students who are creative do not seem to be creative and the ones who tend to

be critical will not seem like they are critical. Instead, there were some students who only could state their statement on the social media but in the classroom they were unable to give their opinion. So, the ones who were mostly active on Facebook only able to comment on Facebook but they were unable to state their opinion in the classroom. (Participant 7)

Based on their statements, students view Facebook as a medium in saving their useful materials and assignments. Students were not afraid in losing their work since everything is on Facebook. However, one student viewed that Facebook was intended to students who were able to be openly active on Facebook . She emphasized that Facebook distinguished the students who tend to be active in the classroom and active on Facebook .

Other than their impression, there were drawbacks found from students‟ experience. Mostly, students added that Facebook made them not feel motivated to do the assignments given. One student stated:

Tetapi ga mesti pada membaca karena banyak mahasiswa yang ngentengin instruksi-instruksi itu, mentang-mentang ga face to face mereka jadi ga ngikutin perintah dgn baik kak. Nah Facebook juga kadang bikin males mahasiswa kak, kalau lewat facebook kan kita ga di kelas, kita malah ada alasan buat menunda kerjaan, jadi ga ada motivasi buat ngerjain.

However, there were students who did not read since they were underestimating the instructions given through Facebook since it was not given face to face so they did not follow the instruction well. Facebook also made students tend to feel lazy, if we were using Facebook we were not in a classroom situation that made us to procrastinate our assignments, as a result we did not have any motivation to do it. (Participant 4)