LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 22:4 April 2022
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Students’ Preference for English Writing Learning Using Digital Activities on Smartphones Inside and Outside Classroom

Arisara Ngamsomjit, M.A. and Prannapha Modehiran, Ph.D.

Abstract

At present, the digital technology has been involved in all developments in life, including English language teaching and learning, especially in the developing countries like Thailand. As technology has been being developed and incorporated, inevitably, this rapid digital transformation has changed the traditional ways of learning. Therefore, to conduct an instruction with an effective integration of technology, students’ preference should be sought out. This article explored the students’ preference for English writing learning with the use of digital activities on smartphones inside and outside classroom. An online questionnaire and a semi-structure interview were utilized with a group of students taking lower intermediate academic English in a private university in Thailand. The findings revealed that Line and Facebook were the preferred platforms for inside-and-outside classroom, collaborative English writing activities at a paragraph level, improving the areas of content, vocabulary, grammar, and organization. The students believed that digital collaborative writing activities could help to improve their writing ability and be prepared for the examinations. The article concludes that the digital technology that is suitable to university students’ characteristics of the digital generation should be incorporated into collaborative English writing instruction both inside and outside classroom.

Keywords: Students’ preference, Digital natives, Digital natives’ characteristics, Digital activities through smartphones, Collaborative English writing, Digital technology for language learning.

1. Introduction

Technology has been being integrated into English language teaching and learning for the past decades starting from the lab headphones to the digital mobile devices for both in-class instructions and outside-class practices (Elearning Infographics, 2014). At the present time, in a lower-intermediate academic English course in a private university in Thailand where this present study was conducted, conventional tools for teaching generally included textbooks, computer, and software such as PowerPoint and basic tools for learning generally included textbooks and notepaper. However, undergraduate students who are in the generation of digital natives can be more motivated when learning can take advantage of digital technology such as online games, and language applications on smartphones like Quizlet, and Padlet, adding up a variety of smart activities into the instructions including English writing instructions. It is beneficial for the students when teachers can appropriately assemble the digital tools in the process of learning and teaching. It needs an investigation into the learners’ preference in order that teachers can incorporate suitably the today-available digital technology into their English instructions. This study, therefore, aimed to explore the students’ preference for English writing learning with the use of digital activities on smartphones inside and outside classroom using quantitative and qualitative methods.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Arisara Ngamsomjit, M.A.
arisarangm@au.edu

Prannapha Modehiran, Ph.D.
prannapha@gmail.com

Graduate School of Human Sciences
Assumption University, Thailand
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