english self-learning with print media and electronic

ENGLISH SELF-LEARNING WITH PRINT MEDIA AND

ELECTRONIC MEDIA OF RMUTP UNDERGRADUATE

ENGINEERING STUDENTS

BY

MS. TATIYA YUKTIWATTANAMATE

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH FOR CAREERS

LANGUAGE INSTITUTE

THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC YEAR 2015

COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH SELF-LEARNING WITH PRINT MEDIA AND

ELECTRONIC MEDIA OF RMUTP UNDERGRADUATE

ENGINEERING STUDENTS

BY

MS. TATIYA YUKTIWATTANAMATE

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH FOR CAREERS

LANGUAGE INSTITUTE

THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC YEAR 2015

COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

(1)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to survey the needs of RMUTP

undergraduate engineering students for the improvement of English skills, to

investigate the use of print media and electronic media in English self-learning and to

find their preferred media use as English self-learners. The participants were 80

students from the 1th

and 4th

year in Electrical and Mechanical departments, twenty

from each group. The research instrument was a questionnaire consisting of three

sections. The first section is about background information of learners, self-rated

English skills and ranking English skills which the students would like to improve.

The second section is about the frequency of the media use for English self-learning.

The third section is about ranking of the media which learners found useful for

English self- learning. The results indicated that the students rated reading as their

best skill while listening and speaking skills required improvement. English books

were the most popular print media while Facebook and YouTube were the electronic

media most often used for improvement of the four English skills. The top five print

media that students found useful were English books, posters, leaflets, English comics

and pamphlets. The top five electronic media that students found useful are Facebook,

YouTube, electronic cartoons, electronic stories and Twitter. In addition, the use of

electronic media was more popular than that of print media for English self-learning.

Independent Study Title ENGLISH SELF-LEARNING WITH PRINT

MEDIA AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA OF

RMUTP UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING

STUDENTS

Author Ms.TatiyaYuktiwattanamate

Degree Master of Arts

Major Field/Faculty/University English for Careers

Language Institute

Thammasat University

Independent Study Advisor Associate Professor Sripathum Noom-ura

Academic Years 2015

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Keywords: self-learning, print media, electronic media

(3)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would firstly like to express my gratitude to my dear advisor, Associate

Professor Sripathum Noom-ura, for her valuable suggestions and assistance. Her

advice always enlightened and encouraged me to produce good research. This

research would absolutely not have been completed without her support.

Another expert that I would like to express my thanks to is Ajarn Alisa

Ratanapruks, for rechecking the findings and correcting the English sentences and the

references.

I also would like to sincerely thank to Ajarn David Young, who checked

and edited the overall English sentences in the research report.

In addition, I am very grateful to all the respondents studying in the

Engineering Faculty of Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakhon

(RMUTP) for supporting me to complete my study, leading to my graduation.

Moreover, I wish to extend my sincere thanks to all the lecturers in the

Language Institute of Thammasat University for passing on their knowledge and

experience throughout my two years of study.

Lastly, my deepest appreciation goes to my father, Mr. Sakchai

Yuktiwattanamate; my mother, Mrs. Aungsana Yuktiwattanamate; and my brother,

Mr.Thanayot Yuktiwattanamate and Mr. Piyapong Pankaew, who all supported me in

many ways.

Ms. Tatiya Yuktiwattanamate

Thammasat University

Bangkok, Thailand

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT (1)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (3)

LIST OF TABLES (If any) (7)

LIST OF FIGURES (If any) (8)

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Research questions 3

1.3 Research objectives 3

1.4 Definition of terms 3

1.5 Significance of the study 3

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 5

2.1 Self-learning 5

2.1.1 Meaning of Self-learning 5

2.1.2 How to improve skills of English by self-learning 5

2.2 Media for English self-learning 9

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2.2.1 Print media 9

2.2.1.1 Books 9

2.2.1.2 Newspapers 10

2.2.1.3 Magazines 11

2.2.1.4 Publications 11

2.2.2 Electronic media 12

2.2.2.1 E-Books 12

2.2.2.2 Web browsers 12

2.2.2.3 Social networking websites 13

(1) Facebook 13

(2) Twitter 14

(3) Blog 14

(4) Youtube 15

2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of media 15

2.3.1 Advantages and disadvantages of print media 15

2.3.1.1 Advantages of print media 15

2.3.1.2 Disadvantages of print media 16

2.3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of electronic media 16

2.3.2.1 Advantages of electronic media 16

2.3.2.2 Disadvantages of electronic media 16

2.4 Previous related studies 16

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

3.1 Participants 19

3.2 Research instrument 19

3.3 Data collection 20

3.4 Data analysis 20

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3.5 The follow up meeting 21

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS 23

4.1 Demographic data 23

4.2 English skills rated by students & Needs for improvement 24

4.3 The media use for improving English skills 25

4.4 Print and electronic media that students found useful

for English self- learning 30

4.5 Finding from the follow up meeting 32

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 36

5.1 Summary of the study 36

5.1.1 Objectives of the study 36

5.1.2 Participants and research instrument 36

5.2 Summary of the findings 36

5.3 Discussions 37

5.3.1 Best skill and worst skill 37

5.3.2 Preferred print media and electronic media 38

5.4 Conclusion 39

5.5 Recommendations for further research 39

REFERENCES 40

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A 46

BIOGRAPHY

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LIST OF TABLES

Tables Page

4.1 Demographic of RMUTP undergraduate engineering students 23

4.2 English skills rated by students & needs for improvement 24

4.3 Overall rating of self-rated of English skills & needs for improvement 25

4.4 The frequency of the media use for improving reading skills 26

4.5 The frequency of the media use for improving writing skills 27

4.6 The frequency of the media use for improving listening skills 28

4.7 The frequency of the media use for improving speaking skills 29

4.8 The frequency of media use to improve four skills 29

4.9 Print media that students found useful for English self- learning 30

4.10 Electronic media that students found useful for English self- learning 31

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Page

4.1 Comparing between self-rated of English skills and needs

for skill improvement 25

4.2 Print media that students found useful for English self-learning 31

4.3 Electronic media that students found useful for English self- learning 32

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The Engineering Faculty of Rajamangala University of Technology Phra

Nakhon (RMUTP) has played a major role in producing qualified engineers by

emphasizing students’ real practice before entering the labor market over the years.

However, most of the students have poor performance in English and lack confidence

in communicating in English. My younger brother is one of the examples of students

who lack English skills. He is studying in the Faculty of Engineering at RMUTP. He

has communication problems in terms of listening, speaking, reading and writing in

English in his internship programs. Whenever he has to read foreign textbooks or

translate some sentences into English in his assignments, he makes significant

mistakes in comprehending the text or finds it very difficult to make himself

understood. There are a few more students, with whom I had informal conversations,

who are not satisfied with their English ability. They do not feel ready for the job

market because of their low English abilities. Therefore, the development of English

skills is very important to prepare for future work for engineering students.

Besides English learning in the classroom, self-learning or learning done by

oneself, without a teacher or instructor, is one form of studying which certainly helps

improve one’s skills. Nowadays, independent learners can use both print media and

electronic media for supporting English self- learning to improve English

performance.

Some important print media instruments that help in learning a language are

books, newspapers, magazines and publications. Azizifar, Koosha, and Lotfi (2010)

showed that textbooks are major resources to help learners for the learning process in

classroom and self-learning. Gulzar (2014) stated that interesting print media in the

form of newspapers and magazines can be employed to enhance reading skills and

enhance positive attitudes towards the use of materials to English self-learning.

Tavakoli (2013) further supported the idea that the use of print media provides many

benefits in developing the reading ability of learners. If leaners well understand the

structure of the text, it will lead them to read with more understanding. Moreover,

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students can see coherence of reading and writing from situations in print media. In

part of comic strips, Kobayashi (2011) showed that the comic strips enhanced

understanding of reading and retelling in the task of writing. In addition, it decreased

the learners’ awareness in reading and supported the retention of the text in retelling

tasks.

Another type of learning instruments is electronic media. Presently, the

internet network via computer and smart phone is easily accessible anywhere,

anytime. Therefore, electronic media in the form of web-based instruction, web

applications or social networking websites play a major role in our society. English

learning from these media on the internet is one way to increase effectiveness of

English self-learning for the development of several English skills. Students can

practice language by choosing topics and levels of lessons from a wide variety of

activities based on their interests and skill levels (Gao, 2013; Tsai & Tsai, 2013).

Also, electronic lessons can link to many other learning resources of the related

subjects. For sharing VDO from Youtube, Mathew and Alidmat (2013) indicated that

audio-visual aids can help to improve their English skills, such as conversational or

pronunciation skills by listening to native speakers. This is supported by research

created by Abdolmanafi-Rokni and Qarajeh (2014) who indicated that English

learning via digital storytelling could improve both reading and speaking skills. For

the development of listening skill, video was used as an effective media for

improvement and simulated more positive attitudes (Woottipong, 2014). In addition,

Yi-Chun and Pi-Ching (2009) found that popular English songs could enhance

learners’ motivation for learning English, resulting in a higher listening ability. Both

groups of media can help improve all four skills a learner requires. However,

practicing all four skills may overload one’s cognitive ability; learners therefore

should rank their priority in practicing each skill.

Therefore, the author will survey how RMUTP undergraduate

engineering students rank their needs for English skills improvement and also

investigate their extent in using print media and electronic media for English self-

learning

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1.2 Research questions

The present research is aimed at answering the following questions:

1. Which English skills do RMUTP students want to improve?

2. To what extent do they use print media and electronic media for English

self-learning?

3. What types of media are preferred by students for English self-learning?

1.3 Research objectives

With regard to the above questions, the objectives of the study are:

1. To survey the needs of RMUTP undergraduate engineering students for the

improvement of English skills

2. To investigate the print media and electronic media that RMUTP

undergraduate engineering students use in English self-learning

3. To find out the preferred media of English self-learners

1.4 Definition of terms

- Students refer to the undergraduate engineering students in RMUTP

- Self-learning refers to learning done by oneself without the assistance of

others

- Print media refers to paper publications circulated in the form of books,

magazines, newspapers and publications.

-Electronic media are media which uses electricity to operate,

function or convey messages such as E-books, web browsers and

social networking websites.

1.5 Significance of the study

1. This study will reveal the needs of students for English skills development

and the information may be used as guidelines for teachers to improve educational

management more efficiently.

2. The results of the study may raise awareness of students to make full use of

all types of media available for their self-learning.

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3. The results may be useful for material developers in creating media to help

improve skills for learners of English.

5

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter consists of four topics: self-learning, media for English self-

learning, advantages and disadvantages of media and previous related studies as

shown below.

2.1 Self-learning

2.1.1 Meaning of Self-learning

Self-learning can be explained as an increasing of knowledge,

accomplishments, skills, or personal development that people select and resulting in

his or her efforts by using a variety of methods throughout their lives (Bharathi,

2014). It occurs when learners realize both the learning objectives and the means of

learning. Learners engage in self-learning by making their own resolutions about what

and how they are going to learn. It focuses on the importance of allowing learners to

seek their own interests in order to get more meaningful learning. Major principles of

self-learning include the following: learners are responsible for their self-learning

process; learners can self-manage and self-monitor their learning; learners team up

with teachers and peers; learners elaborate specific knowledge and the ability to

transfer that knowledge to new surroundings. In addition, motivation and decision-

making are important in initiating and retaining the learner’s efforts.

According to the study of self-learning, It can be concluded that self-learning

is for learners to learn the contents or improve the language skills by themselves. The

learners can learn according to their abilities and assess their capabilities. Therefore,

media have been selected by individual’s preference for self-learning.

2.1.2 How to improve skills of English by self-learning

People can begin their self-study for English learning by finding the way they

are best suited for and utilizing tools that learners are able to enjoy. The following are

some ways to build motivation for English self-learning (Daily Step English, 2015;

English Language and culture Blog, 2015a, 2015b).

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1. Listening to music and learn English with songs

People naturally like to listen to music. Therefore, to learn English people

should follow English songs. People can use web browsers such as Google Chrome,

Internet Explorer and Firefox to link content on the World Wide Web for listening to

music via radio websites. For instance, the author’s favorite artists are Bee Gees and

Michael Jackson. I listen to them over and over again until the lyrics remain in my

memory. Another example from personal experience, I have learnt English by

listening to music from radio websites. This is very fun and helpful for memorizing

vocabulary.

2. Watching English videos online depend on learners interests

YouTube is another source for watching useful videos. It is good for people to

practice their English in aspects of listening and speaking. In addition, it also helps

people practice conversational English by watching interviews of favorite movie stars.

Personally, I practice my English skills by watching sci-fi movies. These kinds of

movies bring me new and specific vocabulary.

3. Testing learners grammar with online English quizzes

In case of learners trying to learn English themselves, it is often the case that

they make errors. Online English self-study is beneficial for learners. They always

have a chance to cross check the right answer on the quizzes because some quizzes

have descriptive answers. Thus, learners are able to review their mistakes. At present,

English learning websites are widely developed to support and enhance more English

self-learning.

4. Chatting with friends online

Apart from practicing English with teachers or studying in the classroom,

chatting with friends online is one of the best ways for self-study. People can chat via

Facebook Messenger. It is less stressful and more relaxing for English self-learners.

For me, I have some Singaporean friends who always check how some of my

sentence structure can be improved. This is an advantage that I obtain from online

chatting.

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5. Reading books, articles, newspapers and magazines

When learners read something carefully, they will notice how proper

grammatical structure looks. According to my experience, I always bring English

publications such as academic articles, comics, fictions, newspapers or magazine to

read in order to learn new vocabulary, grammar or idioms from them. The more I read

the more I know.

6. Writing about what learners are thinking about

Writing a diary in English or writing a letter via Twitter or Blog is beneficial

for anyone. For me, this is my favorite tool. When I write letters to my foreign

friends, it enhances my writing skill because I am using a variety of vocabulary.

Moreover, I have to check my spelling, punctuations, and abbreviations by using

grammar checker programs to replace mistakes and errors in my work.

7. Joining language exchange websites online

Live chatting is another way for English self-learners. They can join language

exchange by searching for a free language exchange community. For example,

Lingo Globe is one of free language exchange community where learners can

practice foreign languages with native speakers.

Another one is Verbling. It is language exchange websites online which

connects learners with native speakers around the world by live video. For this

website, learners can learn many languages such as English, Arabic, Russian,

Japanese and Mandarin respectively. For me, I use both links to practice and what I

learn from foreigners are English slang words and phrases.

8. Speaking English as much as possible

People should continue practicing English every day. If they are in an English-

speaking country and going to the supermarket to find some things and they need to

communicate with a shopkeeper in English, they should practice some short sentences

for bargaining.

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9. Speak out when learners read English subtitles

Another way to improve English pronunciation is listening and repeating

following a movie or music’s subtitles which one can find via YouTube and websites.

The first time learners may speak slowly but may focus on pronunciation for

subsequent times.

10. Reading all the things learners see

When learners travel to different places, they have the opportunity to see

leaflets, pamphlets, brochures and posters. They can read out all things they see. For

me, when I see posters around me, I try to read and speak it in English.

11. Keeping a little notebook for new vocabulary

English Self-learners should keep a little notebook so that to record new

vocabulary or new idioms when they see publications such as leaflets, pamphlets,

brochures and posters. It’s a good thing to do this because they are able to return to it

when they are required to do academic writing or just want to review and increase the

efficiency of their writing.

12. Taking English studying slowly

If people would like to learn English by themselves, they need to take things

slowly by setting the goals and dedicate a set amount of time to learn English every

day because it is said that “Rome wasn’t built in a day” so people who would like to

be a specialist in English needs to take times to practice over and over again.

From the several ways of English self-learning mentioned above, the

following media may be used for developing each English skill: books, comics,

fictions, newspapers and magazines. All of these can be chosen to learn new

vocabulary or new idioms. Also, English self-learners can improve their English skills

by reading and writing all things which they see from leaflets, pamphlets, brochures

and posters. In addition, Facebook, Twitter and Blog, a type of electronic media, can

be used to improve reading and writing skills as well via chatting with friends online

and posting their ideas or personal experience, respectively. For the improvement of

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listening and speaking skills, web browsers such as Internet Explorer Google, Firefox

and Chrome are linked to English learning websites. Moreover, people usually

practice English skills by watching movies or listen to songs via YouTube. It is

hopeful that RMUTP students could help improve their English skills by utilizing a

few ways mentioned above. The following section will explore types of media

available for English self-learning.

2.2 Media for English self-learning

Communicative language has been supported by teaching-learning media

which is a major component in English learning development. In this study print

media and electronic media have been considered as tools for English self-learning.

2.2.1 Print media

For teaching-learning media in a form of the print media, Gulzar (2014) stated

that interesting print media can be employed to enhance reading skills and positive

attitudes towards the use of materials to English self-learning. Print media in this

study are classified as books, newspapers, magazines and publications, as explained

below.

2.2.1.1 Books

Books are essential in modern life in aspects of medicine, business, law,

education, science, and entertainment. In addition, students are able to obtain the prior

knowledge by those writers who came before.

People can find informative data, inspiration and relaxation while reading

books. Books may lack the immediacy if compared with other mass media. However,

they always compose of a great amount of meticulousness and durability.

Moreover, books are treasurable in most of libraries and for personal

collections. Some readers turn to famous books and read them over again and again.

Some readers enjoy a book only a period of time and pass it to others for sharing their

new findings (Tafani, 2009).

There is also vast area that textbooks cover. Furthermore, we read many books

as class assignments such as English novels and prose and poetry. Moreover, books

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are the most treasurable of the media. Some people collect them for years, and some

libraries collect them for centuries. In the words of Franklin Roosevelt: “People die,

books never die”.

Comic is a type of book consisting of pictures and words. It tells the stories

based on fact or the idea of authors. In the form of comic strip with the text,

Kobayashi (2011) explored that the comic strips improved reading comprehension

and the writing of retelling task. Some research concentrates on the effect of the

picture on development of English skills. Hazamy (2009) indicated that pictures are

better remembered than words on recognition. Kim and Gilman (2008) revealed that

the visual text with graphics is able to increase motivation of students to achieve in

vocabulary learning by themselves. Zhang and Wu (2011) revealed that pictures

helped to maintain and recall for body idioms better. In addition, Boers, Píriz,

Stengers and Eyckmans (2009) suggested that pictorial elucidation enhances learners’

perception and remembering the meaning of second language idioms. In addition,

pictorial elucidation leads to a better memory of linguistic form.

2.2.1.2 Newspapers

Newspapers are easy mass media to bring in English self-learning with a

variety of contents, such as history, literature, geography, politics and language. Some

of them are useful and contain modern information. Clandfield and Foord (2006)

stated that newspapers are usually more up to date if compared with textbooks. They

are good lessons for learners to learn about different types of language (reports,

narratives, letter, stories, advertising, etc.). English newspapers are also economical

and consist of various informative stories and details. They are available for all groups

of people. In fact, the English newspapers contain a wide range of data like feature

stories, business news, sports news, special columns, reviews, notices, advertisements,

editorials, entertainment schedules etc. A learner can pick up the reading material(s)

of his/her interest comfortably. Mehta (2010) revealed that the main elements of the

English newspapers can be broken into sections. News Stories I found on the front

page contain all the breaking or important news. The headlines of the front page are

prepared intensively to catch the attention of the readers. Feature Stories are very

helpful in circulating information on the topics of reader’s interest. Special Features

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are about a discussion on a specific event, special case or event. Editorial and Letters

to the Editor are editorial columns reflecting the opinions of the editor, the editorial

team, or a writer. These insights help the readers to build up their thoughts and

promote thinking skills. Also, Letters to the Editors present different views of the

readers. Advertisements/Classified are very beneficial for the readers to know more

about an existing or new services and products. Miscellaneous Items are time tables of

trains, flights, schedules of events, television, theatre, and movies. We are able to get

useful information on weather, fashion, share-market, trade and business as well.

Currently, the famous English newspapers in Thailand are the Bangkok Post

and The Nation. These newspapers contain content which learners can choose to read.

In addition, learners will gain new vocabulary, ideas and idioms from them.

2.2.1.3 Magazines

There are many kinds of magazines such as political science, cultural,

entertainment, scientific, fashion, and sport magazines. These materials break the

monotony of the lesson and simulate the interest of students in the development of

English self-learning. Newspaper and magazines are resources comprised of pictures

and passages concerned with particular topics.

Magazines are also sources for language development which provide pictures

to arouse verbal or written narrations. For example, people may use colorful heading

for introductions. Learners can learn English through sentences attached to pictures in

magazines. There are news stories in a magazine that make learning fun.

2.2.1.4 Publications

The papers are intended for use in any business venture, especially one such as

advertising and the dissemination of knowledge produced specifically for use in a job.

Publications in this study can be classified as leaflets, pamphlets, brochures and

posters. A leaflet is a single sheet of paper consisting of only one subject. A pamphlet

is a paper printed on a single sheet of paper with folding it into several pages. It

contains a short guide to news, or reminders. A brochure is a thin document with

colorful and interesting content and more detail. And a poster is a single sheet of

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paper which has text or illustrations to explain details or draw attention to campaign

issues.

These media attract the attention of learners to English anywhere, any time. In

general, people can see leaflets, pamphlets or brochures on the sky train and

underground. These publications tend to be an advertisement of tuition or

advertisement for traveling. People can read and record new vocabulary or idioms. If

people go to hospitals, they can also learn about new vocabulary or new idioms from

disease or physical therapy shown in these publications. Posters benefit English self-

learning in many aspects. Most posters are colorful and attractive. If these posters are

well-designed and well-organized, they can stimulate interest of learners on each topic

effectively, directly affecting the ability for remembering new vocabulary or idioms.

2.2.2 Electronic media

Electronic media are media that require electricity in order to operate, function

or communicate messages such as E-books, web browsers and social networking

websites.

2.2.2.1 E-Books

An E-book is an electronic version of a traditional print book that can be read

by using a personal computer or by using an eBook reader.

Safaeia and Bulca (2013) reported that after participating in the extensive

reading program, students could read as they like, and had stronger self-confidence to

internalize what they had read. Also, their creativity in second language skills was

highly improved. In addition to the influence on learners' reading attitudes, Lefever-

Davis and Pearman (2005) stated that “ebooks can indeed be a powerful tool and an

asset to the teaching of reading”. It has also been indicated that the e-books can

facilitate students’ learning by reading more actively with simultaneous audio and

visual input.

2.2.2.2 Web browsers

A browser is a software application used to locate, retrieve and display content

on the World Wide Web, including Web pages, images, video and other files. The

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browser is the client run on a computer that contacts the Web server and requests

information. The Web server sends the information back to the Web browser which

displays the results on the computer or other Internet-enabled device that supports a

browser. The two most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Other major browsers include Google Chrome and Apple Safari. While most are

commonly used to access information on the web, a browser can also be used to

access information hosted on Web servers in private networks.

It is useful tools to search data to be used in English self-learning support and

foster continuous learning and link a global network anytime, anywhere.

2.2.2.3 Social networking websites

(1) Facebook

Facebook is an example of social media that supports the exchange of

messages between people all over the world. It was created in 2004 by Mark

Zuckerberg, whose mission was to bring people together from a variety of

backgrounds and encourage interaction (Facebook, 2015). There are more than 139

billion users in the world with a population of 6.8 billion, which means that about 1

out of 14 people have their own Facebook account. Many people around the globe can

use the Internet to convey and collaborate. According to Mark Zuckerberg, “If

Facebook were a country, it would be the 6th most populated country in the world.”

Facebook enriches social lives by overcoming the factor of distance. Social media

brings people together from different backgrounds and encourages interpersonal

communication.

Facebook is presently considered a popular traditional media among university

students. Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman and Witty (2010) found that university

students used Facebook and similar technologies to support classroom work.

Similarly, Haverback (2009) observed that her students used Facebook to discuss

assignments, ask and answer questions, post information, and support one another.

She found that her students were motivated to be involved in discussions in Facebook

and they better understood the theoretical principles in effective reading. Her students

also developed better ideas as a group as compared to when they read individually. In

terms of writing, Facebook has been a platform for students to write, however this

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writing is different from the writing done in school for academic purposes. Yancey

(2009) stated that the students could not understand the connection between the two

forms of writing (inside and outside school) and, the students are unable to consider

writing as a way to perform in academic situations. He stated that Facebook can be

used for students to see writing and make use of this tool to become better writers.

(2) Twitter

Twitter is a microblogging service that allows its users to publish short text

messages launched in July 2006 (Wikipedia, 2015b). Twitter has been successful with

the site as one of the ten most popular on the internet (Alexa, 2012). Educause (2007)

identified some point of the potential benefits of using Twitter in an educational

setting.

Presently, we can say that Twitter is a tool to enhance English skill of learners.

They are able to follow up with updated events or interesting situations all over the

world. Also they can use it to share their ideas or personal experience. However, there

is a limitation of Twitter as messages can not contain over 140 words per post. For

this reason, people are required to text and post concisely in order to completely

convey the message. Rankin (2009a & 2009b); Mollett, Moran and Dunleavy (2011)

revealed that students can write more clear sentences between a group of students

when they were trained writing skill via twitter.

(3) Blog

Blog is web-friendly and cross-linked to create larger groups of online

communities. Language learners are able to use a personal blog as an electronic

portfolio (Wikipedia, 2015a). Furthermore, the student has the opportunity of writing

for readers beyond their classmates. Readers can comment on what they have read. In

the classroom, one might expect blogs to offer reading and writing encouragement for

English learning because blogging focuses on content, speedy feedback, the option of

working with both words and images, and the ability to link one post to another.

Presently, Blog is widely used to share ideas or personal experiences via

writing messages. Therefore, people can develop better writing by learning ideas of

other messages and more reading.

15

(4) YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website created in 2005 that allows people to

connect with the global community by viewing and sharing other users’ video content

(Georgetown University, 2010). There are many videos shared by people all over the

world. People have the opportunity to post their ideas on videos and can join in

discussions and conferences. Many people have used YouTube, and this innovation

“became stimulation for change around the world”.Video tools can be a very valuable

tool for language learning. The first major advantage of using video is that it can

provide samples of real-life situations.

Mathew and Alidmat (2013) agreed that teacher’s use of audio-visual aids

helps students to understand lessons more and improves their English language skills.

Mirvan (2013) revealed that using video materials in a classroom can enhance

students’motivation to learn since it can expose them to a wide variety of situations

that can help them comprehend similar situations in real life.

Therefore, students can engage in self-learning by watching the movie or

listening the song via You Tube in order to improve listening and speaking skills.

2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of media

Print media and electronic media have been considered as tools for English

self-learning. However these kinds of media still have some limitations. Therefore,

advantages and disadvantages of print media and electronic media were proposed as

shown below.

2.3.1 Advantages and disadvantages of print media

2.3.1.1 Advantages of print media

Print media are credible media due to having been checked by an editor. There

are many categories of content so people are able to choose the ones that interest

them. Also, print media are portable.

16

2.3.1.2 Disadvantages of print media

Print media cannot approach some illiteracy problems among young children

or those with poor eyesight. Some print media is less colorful, therefore, they may not

be attractive.

2.3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of electronic media

2.3.2.1 Advantages of electronic media

People can gain access to the web anywhere with a computer. It is accessible

media for anyone, especially the target group. These media can support more English

self-learning because they can show a motion picture which use light and sound to

attract learners. Online data for electronic media provide information promptly. It is

two-way communication. Moreover, some materials also are free for download.

2.3.2.2 Disadvantages of electronic media

Sometimes, electronic media are approachable by only specific groups. At

some places, internet speed network system may be limited. Moreover, some stories

may be full of inaccuracies or mistakes because of the speed that people have to put

them on the web.

2.4 Previous related studies

Gulzar (2014) investigated the effectiveness of reading materials of print

media. Participants were fifteen students from Preparatory Year Programme (PYP) of

English Language Centre of Taif University (TUELC). The quasi-experimental design

and a questionnaire were selected to investigate the impact of print media, such as

locally published English newspapers and magazines. The results revealed that the

print media can be employed to enhance reading skills in the Saudi PYP EFL

classrooms and enhance positive attitudes towards the use of materials for English

self-learning.

Kobayashi (2011) investigated the effects of comic strips with the text on

reading comprehension and a written retelling for beginning Japanese Junior High

school EFL students. The participants were 120 persons divided into four groups: two

high and low proficiency groups each given a reading task with or without the comic

17

strips. Testing was used in this research. The results revealed that the comic strips

enhanced the low-level students’ reading comprehension and the written retelling

task. In addition it reduced the learners’ cognitive load in reading and promoted the

retention of the text in retelling task.

Saffarian, Gorjian, and Bavizadeh (2013) investigated the effect of visual

images on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ retention of body idiomatic

expressions. The participants were 40 males and 40 females at Zabansara (Oxford)

Language Institute. The results showed that using pictures can improve EFL learners’

retention of body idiomatic expressions to a significant extent because it could bring a

great change in the (both male and female) experimental groups’ retention of body

idioms and led them to go through significant comprehension and retention.

Kabilan, Ahmad and Abidin (2010) investigated if university students consider

Facebook as a useful and meaningful learning environment that could support,

enhance and/or strengthen their learning of the English language. A survey was

carried out with 300 undergraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM),

Penang. It was found that the students believed Facebook could be utilized as an

online environment to facilitate the learning of English. Nevertheless, teachers or

language instructors have to integrate Facebook as an educational medium with

predetermined learning objectives and outcomes for the learning experience to be

meaningful. It is suggested that future research should focus on the meaningfulness of

Facebook to students' language learning experiences.

Chen, Chen, Chen and Wey (2013) investigated the effects of extensive

reading of e-books on tertiary level EFL students’ English reading attitude, reading

comprehension and vocabulary. Eighty-nine participants were assigned in two groups,

with 46 students in the experimental group and 43 students in the control group. In

addition to a traditional curriculum for both groups, a ten-week e-book extensive

reading program was conducted for the experimental group in which students were

encouraged to read the materials freely from three e-book library collections

categorized on the basis of level of difficulty. In contrast, the control group did not

engage in any extensive reading program. Stokmans’s Reading Attitude questionnaire

and TOEFL reading comprehension and vocabulary test were employed to collect the

data. The findings of the study showed that the experimental group exhibited

18

significantly better reading attitude, reading comprehension and vocabulary than the

control group. Therefore, integrating e-books extensive reading program into EFL

teaching program helps improve tertiary level EFL students’ reading attitude, reading

comprehension and vocabulary learning. From the previous studies, we can see that magazines, newspapers, comic

strips, visual images are good for classroom activities and it can be recommended that

they are used for self-leaning as well.

19

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of four topics; participants, research instrument, data collection,

and data analysis as shown below.

3.1 Participants

There were 1,225 undergraduate engineering students of RMUTP. For this

study, the participants were 80 persons. Purposive sampling and simple random

sampling were used as sampling technique. For the first step, the author used a

purposive sampling by choosing the 1th

year students and 4th

year students in both

Electrical and Mechanical departments respectively. Two departments were selected

for this study because they are both interested in the labor market and students attend

more to study. For the second step, students in 1th

year and 4th

year of each

department were selected by simple random sampling. For my simple random

sampling method, I selected samples by drawing lots. My lots consisted of numbers

one to twenty and the rest are blank lots. For example, 1st year electrical students had

totally 67 persons. Therefore, there were 20 lots by listing of 1 to 20 and the

remaining 47 lots were blank. The total samples were 80 persons which came from

four groups of 20 persons each.

3.2 Research instrument

The needs of RMUTP undergraduate engineering students for English skills

improvement were surveyed and the extent in using print media and electronic media

for English self-learning was also investigated. Therefore, the method of inquiry used

in this study was a questionnaire. There are three sections as shown in appendix A.

The first section concerns the background information of learners, self-rated

English skill and ranking the English skills which students would like to improve. The

second section is about the frequency of media use for English self-learning. The third

section is about ranking the media which learners found useful for English self-

learning.

20

3.3 Data collection

The period of data collection was a week during March 21-25, 2016. The

researcher visited the students of each group in their Physics’ class. The samples were

selected from each group by drawing lots. After that, they were informed how to

complete the questionnaire. Thai language was also included for easier understanding.

They were allowed to complete the questionnaire in 15 minutes before they were

collected by the researcher. Finally, all information obtained from the questionnaires

was analyzed.

3.4 Data analysis

Descriptive statistics were used for summary of the questionnaire; in general,

the statistical data was used as percentage, frequency and mean. The data from the

Likert’s scale was calculated for the arithmetic mean.

The value of mean scores for level of opinion, English skill and sequence was

interpreted according to the following criteria (Şahan & Tarhan, 2015).

For level of self-rated English skill:

Score from 1.00 – 1.75: Poor

Score from 1.76 – 2.50: Fair

Score from 2.51 – 3.25: Good

Score from 3.26 – 4.00: Excellent

For level of frequency media used:

Score from 1.00 – 1.80: never

Score from 1.81 – 2.60: rarely

Score from 2.61 – 3.40: sometimes

Score from 3.41 – 4.20: often

Score from 4.21 – 5.00: always

21

For score of media sequence:

Score of sequence 1 = 10









Score of sequence 10=1

3.5 The follow up meeting

After having finished data analysis and collected the rated scores from the

questionnaires, the researcher found that some results were dubious, especially

regarding how engineering students could use Facebook and YouTube for their

English language skill improvement in terms of writing and speaking. For this reason,

the researcher needed to set another research instrument called “The follow-up

meeting” in order to obtain more information from 10 students.

The researcher could find only 10 participants to join the focus group

interview on 4 May 2016, because only some students were present.

From the follow-up meeting, the researcher compiled some of insightful

answers from 10 respondents as follows;

Topic A: How could engineering students use Facebook for their English

language skill improvement in terms of writing?

Topic B: How could engineering students use Facebook for their English

language skill improvement in terms of speaking?

Topic C: How could engineering students use YouTube for their English

language skill improvement in terms of writing?

Topic D: How could engineering students use YouTube for their English

language skill improvement in terms of speaking?

22

Topic E: What kind of media do students prefer using for English self-

learning?

23

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

This chapter reports the results of the information obtained from the survey. The

results include a demographic of RMUTP undergraduate engineering students, the

frequency of the media use for improving English skills, the ranking of the media

which students found useful for English self-learning, and the answers from the

follow-up meeting

4.1 Demographic data

Demographic of the samples obtained from RMUTP undergraduate

engineering students was shown in Table 4.1. There were 66 male and 14 female

students, which were equal to 82.5 % and 17.5 % respectively. There were more 4th

year male Electrical students than those from other groups. The majority of the

students (61.25%) graduated with a vocational certificate. The most average grade of

47.5 % was in the range of 2.00-2.49.

Table 4.1

Demographic of RMUTP Undergraduate Engineering Students

Year level & Department

Gender Type of educational

background Average grade

Male Female Senior high

school

Vocational

certificate

2.00-

2.49

2.50-

2.99

3.00-

3.49

3.50-

4.00

1st Mechanical Engineering 15 5 11 9 8 5 5 2

4th Mechanical Engineering 15 5 10 10 8 4 4 4

1st Electrical Engineering 17 3 7 13 16 4 0 0

4th Electrical Engineering 19 1 3 17 6 13 1 0

24

4.2 English skills rated by students & Needs for improvement

Students were asked to rate their own English skills and rank the level of their

need to improve each skill. The results are shown in Table 4.2, Table 4.3 and Figure

4.1. From self-rating, it was found that the students rated their reading skill as the

highest, while they rated their speaking skill as the lowest. From need for

improvement, it was found that the students needed to improve their listening skill as

the highest, while they needed to improve their reading skill as the lowest.

Table 4.2

English Skills Rated by Students & Needs for Improvement

Year level &

Department

Self-rated of English skills Needs for

improvement

Highest skill to Lowest skill Highest need skill to

Lowest need skill 4 3 2 1

1st Mechanical

Engineering

Reading

/good

( 2. 5)

Listening

/good

( =2.70)

Speaking

/fair

( =2.45)

Writing

/fair

( =2.35)

1) Speaking ( =3.15)

2) Listening ( =2.90)

3) Writing ( =2.20)

4) Reading ( =1.65)

4th

Mechanical

Engineering

Reading

/good

( =2.55)

Writing

/ fair

( =2.35)

Listening

/fair

( =2.25)

Speaking

/fair

( 2.10)



3) Writing ( =2.25)

4) Reading ( =1.85)

1st Electrical

Engineering

Reading

/fair

( =2.30)

Writing

/fair

( 2.20)

Listening

/fair

( =2.05)

Speaking

/poor

( =1.65)

1) Speaking ( .25)

2) Listening ( . )

3) Reading ( .25)

4) Writing ( . )

4th

Electrical

Engineering

Reading

/good

( =3.15)

Writing

/good

( =2.95)

Listening

/good

( =2.80)

Speaking

/fair

( =2.35)


2) Writing ( 2.35)

3) Reading ( =2.15)


25

Table 4.3

Overall Rating of Self-Rated of English Skills & Needs for Improvement

Self-rated of English skills Needs for

improvement

Highest skill to Lowest skill Highest need skill to

Lowest need skill 4 3 2 1

Reading/

good

( 2. 1)

Writing/

fair

( 2.46)

Listening/

fair

( 2. 5)

Speaking/

fair

( 2.1 )

1) Listening ( 3.10)

2) Speaking ( 2.83)

3) Writing ( 2.13)

4) Reading ( 1.98)

Figure 4.1. Comparing between self-rated of English skills and needs for skill

improvement

4.3 The media use for improving English skills

The frequency of media use for improving reading skills is shown in Table

4.4. The top five media use for improving reading skills were YouTube, Facebook,

Posters, English books and Blog. The Nation newspaper was the least used.

In addition, the researcher could not find using of the websites for improving

reading skills from any students because they reported that they sought any reading

English issues they would like to learn via YouTube.

26

Particularly, they recommended that YouTube was the main channel used to

find hundreds of free webpages on learning reading English by themselves.

Table 4.4

The Frequency of the Media Use for Improving Reading Skills

Media Mean

(N=80)

Meaning & Evaluate level

5.00-4.21 4.20-3.41 3.40-2.61 2.60-1.81 1.80-1.00

1. English books 2.92 Sometimes

2. English comics 2.82 Sometimes

3. English fictions 2.37 Rarely

4. Bangkok Post newspaper 2.31 Rarely

5. The Nation newspaper 2.17 Rarely

6. Magazines 2.65 Sometimes

7. Leaflets 2.73 Sometimes

8. Pamphlets 2.76 Sometimes

9. Brochures 2.51 Rarely

10. Posters 3.21 Sometimes

11. Electronic cartoons 2.81 Sometimes

12. Electronic stories 2.34 Rarely

13. Facebook 4.01 Often

14. Twitter 2.53 Rarely

15. YouTube 4.22 Always

16. Blog 2.85 Sometimes

17. Websites for improving

reading skills

0 - - - -

The frequency of the media use for improving writing skill is shown in Table

4.5. The top five media use for improving writing skills was YouTube, Facebook,

English books, Posters, Twitter. While, the Nation newspaper and Bangkok Post

newspaper were the least used.

27

In addition, the researcher could not find use of the websites for improving

writing skills from any students because they reported that they often sought any

writing English issues that they would like to learn via YouTube.

Particularly, they recommended that YouTube as the main channel used to

find hundreds of free webpages on learning writing English by themselves.

Table 4.5

The Frequency of the Media Use for Improving Writing Skills

Media Mean

(N=80)


5.00-4.21 4.20-3.41 3.40-2.61 2.60-1.81 1.80-1.00

1. English books 2.93 Sometimes

2. English comics 2.66 Sometimes

3. English fictions 2.26 Rarely

4. Bangkok Post newspaper 2.21 Rarely

5. The Nation newspaper 2.21 Rarely

6. Magazines 2.35 Rarely

7. Leaflets 2.54 Rarely

8. Pamphlets 2.50 Rarely

9. Brochures 2.59 Rarely

10. Posters 2.89 Sometimes

11. Electronic cartoons 2.72 Sometimes

12. Electronic stories 2.42 Rarely

13. Facebook 3.72 Often

14. Twitter 2.80 Sometimes

15. YouTube 3.85 Often

16. Blog 2.59 Rarely


writing skills?

0 - - - -

28

The frequency of the media use for improving listening and speaking skills is

shown in Table 4.6 and 4.7, respectively. YouTube was always used to improve both

English skills. BBC.co.uk, TED.com and VOA.com were rarely used to improve

them. There was no use of other websites in improving English skills.

In addition, the researcher could not find use of the websites for improving

listening and speaking skills from any students because they reported that they

sought any listening and speaking English issues that they would like to learn via

YouTube.

Particularly, they recommended that YouTube as main channel used to find

hundreds of free webpages on learning listening and speaking English by themselves.

Table 4.6

The Frequency of the Media Use for Improving Listening Skills

Media Mean

(N=80)


5.00-4.21 4.20-3.41 3.40-2.61 2.60-1.81 1.80-1.00

1. YouTube 4.24 Always

2. BBC.co.uk 2.48 Rarely

3. TED.com 2.27 Rarely

4. VOA.com 2.01 Rarely


listening skills?

0 -

29

Table 4.7

The Frequency of the Media Use for Improving Speaking Skills

Media Mean

(N=80)


5.00-4.21 4.20-3.41 3.40-2.61 2.60-1.81 1.80-1.00

1. YouTube 3.85 Often

2. BBC.co.uk 2.44 Rarely

3. TED.com 2.12 Rarely

4. VOA.com 2.07 Rarely


speaking skills?

0 -

The frequency of media use to improve four skills is concluded in Table 4.8.

To consider Tables 4.3-4.7, they revealed that YouTube was always used to improve

reading and listening skills and often used to improve writing and speaking skills.

Facebook was often used to improve reading and writing skills. Media which was

sometimes used to improve reading skill was posters, English books and English

comics, posters, Twitter and electronic cartoons were media which was sometimes

used to improve writing skills.

Table 4.8

The Frequency of Media Use to Improve Four Skills

Frequency of

media use Reading Writing Listening Speaking

Always YouTube

YouTube

Often Facebook YouTube

Facebook

YouTube

Sometimes Posters

English books

Blog

Posters

Twitter

Electronic cartoon

30

4.4 Print and electronic media that students found useful for English self-

learning

When separated the media use into two groups-print media and electronic

media, the results are as the following.

For Table 4.9 and Figure 4.2, the top five print media that students found

useful are English books, posters, leaflets, English comics and pamphlets. While, the

Nation newspaper was the least used.

Table 4.9

Print Media that Students Found Useful for English Self- Learning

Media for English self-learning Mean score Sequence

1. English books 7.09 1

2. Posters 6.46 2

3. Leaflets 6.29 3

4. English comics 6.09 4

5. Pamphlets 5.89 5

6. Magazines 5.66 6

7. Brochures 5.10 7

8. English fictions 4.75 8

9. Bangkok Post newspaper 4.24 9

10. The Nation newspaper 2.24 10

31

Englis

h books

Post

ers

Leafle

ts

English c

omics

Pamphle

ts

Magazin

es

Broch

ures

Englis

h fict

ions

Bangkok

Post n

ewspaper

The Natio

n newsp

aper

0

3

6

Me

an

Sco

re

1

2 34

5 6

78

9

10

Figure 4.2. Print media that students found useful for English self-learning

For Table 4.10 and Figure 4.3, the top five electronic media that students

found useful are Facebook, YouTube, electronic cartoons, electronic stories and

Twitter, while websites for improving listening skills were used the least.

Table 4.10

Electronic Media that Students Found Useful for English Self- Learning

Media for English self-learning Mean score Sequence

1. Facebook 8.28 1

2. YouTube 7.75 2

3. Electronic cartoons 6.80 3

4. Electronic stories 6.33 4

5. Twitter 5.40 5

6. Blog 4.90 6

7. Websites for improving reading skills 4.74 7

8. Websites for improving writing skills 4.43 8

9. Websites for improving speaking skills 3.90 9

10. Websites for improving listening skills 3.01 10

32

Facebook

YouTube

Electronic carto

ons

Electronic stories

Twitter

Blog

Websites for im

proving reading skills

Websites for im

proving writing skills

Websites for im

proving speaking skills

Websites for im

proving listening skills

0

3

6

Me

an

Sco

re

12

34

56

78

9

10

Figure 4.3. Electronic media that students found useful for English self- learning

4.5 Finding from the follow up meeting

As mentioned in Chapter 3, feeling doubtful after finding that the students

used Facebook and YouTube for self-learning for writing and speaking skills, the

researcher set up a follow-up meeting. The main purpose was to find more details

regarding how they used Facebook and YouTube to practice those skills. The

researcher went to RMUTP on 4 May 2016 in order to have the follow up meeting

with 10 engineering students. The conclusions from the meeting can be summarized

as follows:

Topic A: How could engineering students use Facebook for their English language

skill improvement in terms of writing?

The students said they learned from good articles shared on webpages to

enhance their writing technique such as

- Ajarn Adam Bradshaw (www.AjarnAdam.TV) releases online

English writing and academic contents both in English and Thai for

a better comprehension to Thai learners.

- Students go to “Technical Writing Center”

(https://m.facebook.com/TechnicalWritingCenter/) which is

33

webpage allow learners to learn the primary skills students need to

be an effective technical.

- https://m.facebook.com/TechnicalWritingCenter/ which is

webpage to share your knowledge and to learn new stuff to be an

effective technical writer.

- Other webpages such as

https://m.facebook.com/technicalwritingworld/,

https://m.facebook.com/HowToWriteAGoodEssay/

https://m.facebook.com/WriteSmarter/

Moreover, there are some online webpage owners who allow members to join

the activities which are open for a grammatical discussion. As a result, all students

could have a valuable space to share things. Finally, there are some foreigners who

join and suggest writing tips by making comments in each topic in which they are

interested.

Topic B: How could engineering students use Facebook for their English language

skill improvement in terms of speaking?

The students said they learnt from English instructors and tutors who use

Facebook as a marketing channel to communicate to their targeted customers online

such as

- English Speaking Club

(https://m.facebook.com/EnglishSpeakingClubs/ ) is a free

membership club whose aim is to help members improve their

English through various inspiring lessons.by giving you daily

lessons on various topics of public interest

- https://m.facebook.com/SpeakingEnglishFaster/ was used to learn

English speaking faster by their specially designed "Daily Routine

English Speaking Program"

- learn English to speak fluently without studying grammar via

https://m.facebook.com/mindenglishclub/

34

The sample teaching videos or short clips about the daily life conversation are

uploaded to persuade customers for free. Secondly, as students often see the famous

tutors post the short clips to demonstrate how English class can be fun and easy to

understand, they could see the interactive activities and they can practice along with

them at home or anywhere they would like. Thirdly, they learned from English videos

which are regularly uploaded into webpages to keep the followers updated.

Sometimes they joined the live class for speaking practice.

Topic C: How could engineering students use YouTube for their English language

skill improvement in terms of writing?

The students said they learnt from English instructors and tutors who used

YouTube to share easy and quick tips or release academic material that would

improve writing in formal and academic settings. The students said that YouTube not

only shared easy grammar writing techniques but also shared higher levels of essay

writing or business letter writing. Some English instructors shared videos via

YouTube such as:

- Zontulfilmsltd shared his video (https://youtu.be/liyFKUFCQno)

about how to write an essay- brief essays and use the principles to

expand to longer essays

- Him-eesh Madaan shared his video

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7hupVJ9CvI) which will

give some interesting tips and techniques which will help us to

build a better English Vocabulary.

- Emma shared her video (https://youtu.be/GgkRoYPLhts) about

five easy and quick tips that will improve writing in formal and

academic settings.

Topic D: How could engineering students use YouTube for their English language

skill improvement in terms of speaking?

The students said they learnt from English instructors and tutors who used

YouTube to share videos clips or academic materials that would improve speaking

skill. Some English instructors shared videos via YouTube such as:

35

- IT Careers shared video

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKzl_82PbU4) about guiding

the essential 4 things to be followed to improve your

communication skills

- WabsTalk shared video

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kld7UhGX4Y) about

effective tips to improve your communication skills

Topic E: What kind of media do students prefer using for English self-learning?

With respect to this question, there were 9 out of 10 students that preferred to

use electronic media for English self-learning and there was only 1 student who

preferred to improve English self-learning by using of print media (English books). In

addition, they mentioned that studying English via the internet was more convenient

and easier than studying via English books. Moreover, most of them often used

mobile phones as a searching tool.

36

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter consists of four topics; summary of the study, summary of the findings,

discussion, conclusion and recommendation for further research as shown below.

5.1 Summary of the study

The objectives, participants, research instrument of this study are summarized

as follows:

5.1.1 Objectives of the study

The study was conducted to survey the needs of RMUTP undergraduate

engineering students for the improvement of English skills, to investigate the use of

print media and electronic media in English self-learning and to find their preferred

media use as English self-learners.

5.1.2 Participants and research instrument

There were 66 male and 14 female students participating in this study. They

were 1th

and 4th

year students in Electrical and Mechanical departments, twenty from

each group. A questionnaire was used to obtain the data. In addition, after obtaining

the data, the follow-up meeting was set up to clarify some answers gained from the

questionnaire. Ten students participated in the interview.

5.2 Summary of the findings

The results of the study can be summarized as follows:

1. The needs for English improvement of RMUTP undergraduate

engineering students were ranked from the highest to the lowest needs as: listening,

speaking, writing and reading.

2. YouTube was always used to improve reading and listening skills and

often used to improve writing and speaking skills. Facebook was often used to

improve reading and writing skills. Media which was sometimes used to improve

reading skill was posters, English books and Blog. Posters, Twitter and electronic

cartoons were media which were sometimes used to improve writing skill.

37

3. The top five print media that students found useful were English books,

posters, leaflets, English comics and pamphlets. The top five electronic media that

students found useful are Facebook, YouTube, electronic cartoons, electronic stories

and Twitter.

5.3 Discussions

From the research findings, there are a few issues to discuss.

5.3.1 Best skill and Worst skill

From self-rating as shown in Table 4.3, the students rated their reading skill as

the highest, while they rated their speaking skills as the lowest. This is similar to the

finding from Tiew et al. (2004), which revealed that the learners from Tertiary level in

Southern Thailand were most capable in reading skill and least capable in speaking

skill. She hypothesized that the main obstacle for the development of speaking and

listening skills is the use of time to teach other necessary skills such as reading.

Therefore, listening and speaking skills of Thai students were not as good as reading

skills. Moreover, Fahmongkolchai (2011) and Sursattayawong (2006) indicated that

vocabulary learning of Thai students was not enough. Therefore, students cannot

select accurate and appropriate words to communicate in several situations.

Students were obviously aware of their strengths and weaknesses. It can be

seen that they rated the most needed skill to improve is listening, while reading skill

was the least needed. It follows the natural sequence of language acquisition.

Ongwattanakul (1997) stated that people acquire a language by picking up from what

they hear. Therefore, learning English is required to practice by listening first and

then followed by other skills such as speaking, reading and writing respectively. The

finding of the current study supports Chiewchorhor (2008) who studied ability of

English listening skill of Prathomsuksa 3 students at Assumption Convent Silom

School and found that students mostly needed to improve listening skill because the

minimum 50 percent range of students was poor at listening. Saengchai (1990) stated

that if students would like to advance in speaking, they are required to practice for

listening skill as well because both skills have significant consistency. From the study

of IMD World Competitive Yearbook 2013 which is consistent with ranking of

“English Proficiency Inde (EFI)” reported that Thailand is the country that English

38

skill is very low. For learning English in Thailand, English learning system in

Thailand has mostly focused on English reading skill for a university admission and

for knowledge pursuit (Chubua, 2011). Therefore, listening and speaking skills of

students were poor and needed to improve. If students can speak and listen to English

well, they may get more benefits that would be offered than the ones who can not.

Moreover, it is possible for us to receive news and to contact with foreign friends as

well via internet and computer technology. Therefore, both listening and speaking

skills should be supported in order to be more efficient people at work. In addition, if

people have abilities in all modes of communication in English including the ability to

convey information effectively and efficiently. It will lead to an advanced career path,

success in business world, and numerous opportunities with more options in their life.

5.3.2 Preferred print media and electronic media

For the media use to improve English skills as shown in Tables 4.4-4.8,

YouTube and Facebook were most often used to improve English skills. Information

and Communication Technology (2015) surveyed internet using behavior of Thai

people and found that social networks such as Facebook and YouTube were the social

media which were most often used to share experiences via photos, videos and writing

stories in English. The follow up meeting revealed that Facebook can be used to

improve reading and writing skills via chatting with friends online and posting their

ideas or personal experience, respectively. Some foreigners came to join and suggest

writing tips by making comments in each topic they interest. Moreover, videos or

short clips with daily life conversation are uploaded via Facebook and the live class

may arrange to meet the members at a particular time. So students can see interactive

activities performed and they may practice to improve their speaking skill. By using

YouTube to improve English skills, students can easily self-learn English by watching

movies or listening to songs via YouTube in order to improve speaking and listening

skills. Then students could memorize to practice writing skill. Tiew et al. (2004)

revealed that 66.92 % of the learners from Tertiary level in Southern Thailand

improved English skills by watching movies and listening to songs. Therefore,

Facebook and YouTube could be used for improvement of four English skills.

39

The use of electronic media was more popular than that of print media for

English self-learning. Internet World states (2015) surveyed the data use of

information technology and communication and found that there were about three

thousand million internet users around the world. Therefore, it will become the largest

source to find data in various fields and it is a useful tool to be used for English self-

learning support, foster continuous learning and link a global network anytime,

anywhere.

5.4 Conclusion

In this study the author surveyed the need for English skill improvement of

RMUTP undergraduate engineering students and also investigated their extent in

using print media and electronic media for English self-learning.

The results indicated that the students rated reading as their best skill while

listening and speaking skills required improvement. English books were the most

popular print media while Facebook and YouTube were the electronic media most

often used to improve English skills.

5.5 Recommendations for further research

Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the following

recommendations are made for future research.

5.5.1 The current work investigated only RMUTP undergraduate engineering

students; therefore, generalization within the findings is limited. Future studies should

focus on students in various faculties and universities.

5.5.2 Future work may create, design or compare and investigate the effects of

the print media and electronic media on English skill development and motivation for

English self-learning.

40

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APPENDICES

46

APPENDIX A

Needs and Use of Print Media and Electronic Media

for English Self-Learning

Explanation: This questionnaire is a part of a research paper as partial fulfillment of

the requirement for Master of Arts in English for Careers, Language Institute,

Thammasat University.

This questionnaire consists of three sections. Please give the truthful

information to the accurate survey results. Thank you for kind cooperation.

Part I: General Information of Learner (ขอมลทวไปของผ เรยน) Explanation: Please tick √ in a blank which applies to you most (ขดเครองหมาย √ ในชองวางททานเหนดวยมากทสด) 1. Gender (เพศ) Male (เพศชาย) Female (เพศหญง) 2. Year Level: (ชนป)

1 4 3. Department: (สาขา)

Electrical Department (สาขาไฟฟา)

Mechanical Department (สาขาเครองกล)

4. Cumulative Grade Average: (เกรดเฉลยสะสม)

2.00 - 2.49 3.00 - 3.49

2.50 - 2.99 3.50 - 4.00

5. Type of educational background: (ขอมลเกยวกบประวตการศกษา)

Senior High School (จบระดบมธยมศกษา)

Vocational Certificate (จบระดบประกาศนยบตรวชาชพ)

47

6. How would you rate your English skills? (ระดบทกษะภาษาองกฤษของทานเปนอยางไร)

Skill (ทกษะ) Level (ระดบ)

Excellent (ยอดเยยม)

Good (ด)

Fair (ปลานกลาง)

Poor (ต า)

Listening (ฟง) Speaking (พด) Reading (อาน) Writing (เขยน)

7. Rank English skills you want to improve (1-the least, 4- the most) (จงเรยงล าดบทกษะภาษาองกฤษททานตองการปรบปรงจาก 1 ถง 4)

Listening (ฟง) Reading (อาน)

Speaking (พด) Writing (เขยน)

48

Part II: How often do you use the following media for English self-learning?

Explanation: Please tick √ in a blank which applies to you most (ขดเครองหมาย √ ในชองวางททานเหนดวยมากทสด) A. To improve reading skills, how often do you use these media? (ในการปรบปรงทกษะการอาน ทานใชสอเหลานบอยแคไหน)

Media (สอ)

Level (ระดบ) Always (เสมอ)

Often (บอยครง)

Sometimes (บางครง)

Rarely (คอนขางนอย)

Never (ไมเคย)

1. English books (หนงสอภาษาองกฤษ) 2. English comics (การตนภาษาองกฤษ) 3. English fictions (นยายภาษาองกฤษ) 4. Bangkok Post newspaper (หนงสอพมพบางกอกโพส)

5. The Nation newspaper (หนงสอพมพเดอะเนชน) 6. Magazines (นตยสาร) 7. Leaflets (ใบปลว) 8. Pamphlets (แผนพบ) 9. Brochures (เอกสารเยบเลม) 10. Posters (โปสเตอร) 11. Electronic cartoon (การตนอเลกทรอนกส) 12. Electronic stories (นยายอเลกทรอนกส) 13. Facebook (เฟซบก) 14. Twitter (ทวตเตอร) 15. YouTube (ยทบ) 16. Blog (บลอก) 17. Websites for improving reading skills (เวบไซตทชวยเพมพนทกษะการอาน): (Please specify (โปรดระบ)) 1.…………………..….… 2.…………………..….… 3.…………………..….…

49

B. To improve writing skills, how often do you use these media? (ในการปรบปรงทกษะการเขยน ทานใชสอเหลานบอยแคไหน)

Media (สอ)







5. The Nation newspaper (หนงสอพมพเดอะเนชน)

6. Magazines (นตยสาร) 7. Leaflets (ใบปลว) 8. Pamphlets (แผนพบ) 9. Brochures (เอกสารเยบเลม) 10. Posters (โปสเตอร) 11. Electronic cartoons (การตนอเลกทรอนกส) 12. Electronic stories (นยายอเลกทรอนกส) 13. Facebook (เฟซบก) 14. Twitter (ทวตเตอร) 15. YouTube (ยทบ) 16. Blog (บลอก) 17. Websites for improving writing skills (เวบไซตทชวยเพมพนทกษะการเขยน): (Please specify (โปรดระบ)) 1.…………………..….… 2.…………………..….… 3.…………………..….…

50

C. To improve listening skills, how often do you use these media? (ในการปรบปรงทกษะการฟง ทานใชสอเหลานบอยแคไหน)

Media (สอ)






1. YouTube (ยทบ) 2. BBC.co.uk 3. TED.com 4. VOA.com 5. Websites for improving listening skills (เวบไซตทชวยเพมพนทกษะการฟง): (Please specify (โปรดระบ)) 1.…………………..….… 2.…………………..….… 3.…………………..….…

D. To improve speaking skills, how often do you use these media? (ในการปรบปรงทกษะการพด ทานใชสอเหลานบอยแคไหน)

Media (สอ)






1. YouTube (ยทบ) 2. BBC.co.uk 3. TED.com 4. VOA.com 5. Websites for improving speaking skills (เวบไซตทชวยเพมพนทกษะการพด): (Please specify (โปรดระบ)) 1.…………………..….… 2.…………………..….…

51

Part III Rank the media that you found useful for English self-learning? Explanation: Please rank by putting 1-10 into below boxes. (จงเรยงล าดบสอทใชบอยทสดจาก 1 ถง 10) A. Print media (สอสงพมพ)

Media for English self-learning (สอการเรยนรภาษาองกฤษดวยตวเอง)

Ranking (ล าดบ)


5. The Nation newspaper (หนงสอพมพเดอะเนชน)

6. Magazines (นตยสาร)

7. Leaflets (ใบปลว) 8. Pamphlets (แผนพบ) 9. Brochures (เอกสารเยบเลม) 10. Posters (โปสเตอร)

52

B. Electronic media (สออเลกทรอนกส) Please rank by putting 1-10 into below boxes. (จงเรยงล าดบสอทใชบอยทสดจาก 1 ถง 10)

Media for English self-learning (สอการเรยนรภาษาองกฤษดวยตวเอง)

Ranking (ล าดบ)

1. Electronic cartoons (การตนอเลกทรอนกส) 2. Electronic stories (นยายอเลกทรอนกส) 3. Facebook (เฟซบก) 4. Twitter (ทวตเตอร) 5. YouTube (ยทบ) 6. Blog (บลอก)

7. Websites for improving reading skills (เวบไซตทชวยเพมพนทกษะการอาน)

8. Websites for improving writing skills (เวบไซตทชวยเพมพนทกษะการเขยน)

9. Websites for improving speaking skills (เวบไซตทชวยเพมพนทกษะการพด)

10. Websites for improving listening skills (เวบไซตทชวยเพมพนทกษะการฟง)

53

BIOGRAPHY

Name Ms.TatiyaYuktiwattanamate

Date of Birth September2, 1984

Educational Attainment

2015: Graduate Degree

Work Position Import Supervisor

Mediterranean Shipping Company

Scholarship -

Publications -

Work Experiences Import Supervisor (2014-present)

(Mediterranean Shipping Company)

Import Analyst Officer (2010-2013)

(Ceva Freight Thailand)

Sales Coordinator (2008-2012)

(United Parcel Service Ltd.)

english self-learning with print media and electronic

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