Seton Hall University eRepository @ Seton Hall Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs) Summer 8-17-2014 Social Media Use: A Critical Analysis of Facebook's Impact on Collegiate EFL Students' English Writing in Thailand Tharinee Kamnoetsin [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Higher Education Commons, Special Education and Teaching Commons, and the Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons Recommended Citation Kamnoetsin, Tharinee, "Social Media Use: A Critical Analysis of Facebook's Impact on Collegiate EFL Students' English Writing in Thailand" (2014). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 2059. https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2059 SOCIAL MEDIA USE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK’S IMPACT ON COLLEGIATE EFL STUDENTS’ ENGLISH WRITING IN THAILAND By Tharinee Kamnoetsin Dissertation Committee Eunyoung Kim, Ph.D. Joseph Stetar, Ph.D. Michael Reed, Ph.D. DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Seton Hall University 2014 South Orange, New Jersey © 2014 Tharinee Kamnoetsin ii Abstract In this technology era, a new trend of using Social Media or Social Networking Sites (SNSs) has been recently highlighted. Social media influences people’s lives in many aspects including education and English language learning. The purpose of this study is to examine whether using Facebook online impacts the type (formal or informal) of English EFL students use for in-class writing or not, as well as to understand the students’ perceptions on how the use of Facebook helps to facilitate or inhibit their English writing skills. The study was conducted by using qualitative research methods to explore EFL college students’ writing behavior on the Facebook platform and understand the perspectives of students involved in using Facebook. The data collection methods were observation and interviews. Participants consisted of 32 students, mostly freshmen college students. The site for this study was Center Bangkok University (CBU, pseudonym) in Thailand, a university located in Bangkok. The study took place during a 5-week period from November 11, 2013 until December 12, 2013. The interviews were conducted with 16 students from the 32 and two teachers, each lasting about 45-60 minutes. After the data was coded and analyzed, three major findings that answer the research questions were emerged. iii Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude and deepest appreciation to Dr. Eunyoung Kim, my mentor. Without her assistance and guidance, I would have been lost through this endeavor. All the feedback and support from her is what helped me get through these three and a half years in New Jersey. I could not have asked for a better mentor. I am also very thankful for my two other committee members, Dr. Joseph Stetar, and Dr. Michael Reed for their invaluable time and comments. I especially want to thank Dr. Stetar for I believe this journey began because of him. I am also very grateful to Dr. Reed who readily said yes when I approached him to be one of the readers on the committee. I am thankful to my family in Thailand, my mom, my brother, and my sister, for their emotional support. I sincerely appreciate my sister, Monthathip Uthensut and brother, Saksin Kamnoetsin, who helped make this journey easier for me. They provided huge assistance by taking care of my mom while I was far away from home. They were very supportive and always there for me. Thank you Mrs. Adissaya Mackin, my new sister, for her care and support while I have been in New Jersey. I am also grateful to Petom Kochawatta for all his help, support, encouragement, consolation and patience with me during this arduous process. With his love and care, my journey has come to a magnificent completion. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my American family, Mom and Dad Mortimer, and my good friend, Denise Keller for their unlimited support, financially, emotionally and non-stop encouragement and advice. My life in the US was better and easier because of their love and assistance. I must also acknowledge another good friend, Mrs. Sue Iden who helped check my grammar and also proof read my work. I gratefully iv appreciate her time, encouragement and support. I know she was always there for me. I owe a huge “Thank You” to all of them for believing in me. In addition, I am indebted to Assumption University, my home Thai University, for their full financial sponsorship allowing me to complete my doctorate program at Seton Hall. It is an honor for me that Assumption University saw the potential in me and gave me this opportunity. I also would like to extend a special thanks to Seton Hall University for offering me a GA (Graduate Assistant) position. Without this scholarship this journey might not have happened. I also would like to acknowledge the English Institution at Center Bangkok University (CBU, pseudonym) for allowing me to conduct this study. I am also grateful to the two lecturers of English I for allowing me access to their students as participants in my research. Last but not least, I want to thank the students of the two sections of English I for their collaboration, participation and time to participate on the tutorial lab and in the interviews which made this project possible and successful. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES..........................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES ..........................................................................................................ix Chapter I INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 Background .......................................................................................................... 2 Social Media and College Students’ Life……………………………….. 5 Facebook................................................................................................................ 6 The Application of Social Media and Facebook in College Learning and EFL Settings………………………………………………7 Research Context and Motivation ………………………………………………. 9 Research Problem ……………………………………………………………….13 Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………………..16 Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………………..16 Research Questions………………………………………………………………17 Significant of the Study …………………………………………………………17 Definition of Terms and Abbreviations………………………………….............18 Chapter II LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………….19 Introduction……………………………………………………………………...19 Technology……………………………………………………………………....19 Social Media……………………………………………………………………..21 Facebook…………………………………………………………………………23 Facebook in College Teaching and Learning …………………………...26 The Application of Facebook in English Language Learning (ELL) Settings …………………………………………………………..27 Studies Review…………………………………………………………………..28 Advantages of Facebook in English Language Learning (ELL) Environments……………………………………………………..30 Advantages of Facebook in English Language Writing…………………32 Disadvantages of Facebook in English Language Learning (ELL) Environment……………………………………………………....35 Disadvantages of Facebook in English Language Writing………………36 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….38 Directions for Further Research……………………………………………….…39 Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………………..40 Chapter III METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………..45 Research Design …………………………………………………………………45 Site Selection …………...……………………………………………….46 Selection of Student Participants ………………………………………..47 vi General Background of the Participants ………………………………...49 Teacher Participants……………………………………………………...51 Research Procedures…………………………………………………………......51 Research Instrument………………………………………………………….......53 Data Collections………………………………………………………………….54 Observation………………………………………………………………55 Interviews…………………………………………………………….......58 Interview Questions for Students ……………………………………......61 Interview Protocol for the Teacher………………………………………62 Data Analysis Procedures………………………………………………………..64 Writing Observation……………………………………………………...65 Interview Via Chat……………………………………………………….66 Role of Researcher and Reflexivity……………………………………………...68 Validity…………………………………………………………………………..69 Limitation………………………………………………………………………...70 Chapter IV RESEARCH FINDINGS……………………………………………………72 Overview of the Chapter ………………………………………………………...72 Findings from Observation Data…………………………………………………73 Students’ Writing on Facebook Page VS Students’ Writing in a Classroom……………………………………………………………73 The Comparison of Writing on Facebook to Classroom Writing…………………………………………………………………...85 Findings from Interview Data…………………………………………….……...94 Students’ Perception of the Use of Facebook …………………………...94 Breaking space-time constraints…………………………………94 Providing pleasant experience…………………………………...96 Negative viewpoints of using Facebook…………………………99 Students' Perspective on the Use of Facebook as English Learning and Writing Facility…………………………………………..100 Learning outcomes from Facebook use………………………...101 Impeding or Assisting Writing …………………………………111 Facilitate. ……………………………………………….111 Mixed feeling: Both facilitate and impede. …………….113 Make little difference. ………………………………….113 Can students differentiate the formal and informal writing? ………………………………………………………...115 Where do students learn informal writing? …………………….116 Teachers’ Perception on Students’ Writing and the Use of Facebook