FB Chat N SS Writing (Facebook Chat and Students’ Writing)

Abstract

Social networking websites are not only famous in Malaysia but all around the world. Schill (2011) stated that social media sites only encourage negative effects. It became so serious that academicians are still researching how these social networking sites like Facebook are affecting students’ language performances. In line with those statements, this study focused to find out what were the characteristics of Facebook Chat, to examine the reasons for students to use those characteristics and to find out whether students used those characteristics in their academic writing tasks. The methodology revolved around questionnaires and written work whereby students were asked to answer questionnaires and write essays on three given topics. The respondents for this research were 40 TESL undergraduates from a local public university. Samples were those who had Facebook accounts and were active Facebookers. It was apparent that 42.5% of the samples spent more than 3 hours on Facebook in which 45% of them used Facebook specifically to chat. It was shocking as 50% of the samples agreed that they used Facebook Chat features like abbreviations in their academic writing. Besides that, 55% of them agreed that they were approached or scolded by their lecturers for using those features. As for the written work of the students, a staggering 74% of the essays had Facebook chat features in them. Frequent use of chat language may impact one's ability to communicate effectively in formal settings. Over time, individuals may struggle with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as well as clarity and coherence in their writing. Furthermore, frequent use of chat language may impact one's ability to communicate effectively in formal settings. Over time, individuals may struggle with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as well as clarity and coherence in their writing.