Social media has now much been integrated as a learning platform in various educational settings, including those in Language Teaching and Learning (LTL). Increasing number of studies has also reported the effectiveness of social media to support LTL activities. This present study aimed to investigate whether Facebook, as the most popular social media in Indonesia, would be an effective learning tool for EFL university students taking advanced writing class. This study employed a case study qualitative approach. The data were collected through questionnaire, interview, and observation of students’ discussion on Facebook and then analyzed using frequency count and thematic content analysis. The findings reveal that most students find the use of Facebook in writing class effective in boosting their confidence in using English as communicative means, encouraging their participation in class discussion, and improving their English language proficiency, particularly the writing skill. This study suggests that Facebook can be used as a supplementary learning tool in higher education classrooms as it brings positive effect not only on students’ learning habits but also competence.
The teaching of the English language to the students of Islamic Economics should aim to provide them with the skills needed for completing academic as well as professional tasks. The purposes of this study are twofold: (1) identifying what types of English language skills the students of Islamic Economics need; and (2) figuring out whether the current English for specific purposes (ESP) course offered is relevant to their needs. This on-going study employs qualitative descriptive methods with 200 firstand second-year students of the Islamic Economics study program of a state university in Medan, Indonesia. The data analyzed in this paper were collected using an online survey divided into two sections: one to collect the participants’ demographics and the other to explore their perceived language skill needs. The results reveal that most students need reading and writing skills more than any other language skills. The students reported that the English course they have taken so far did not prepare them to master those two needed skills. This study recommends that the existing ESP syllabus be redesigned to meet the students’ needs. Keywords: English for specific purposes (ESP), higher education, Islamic economics, need analysis
The study of second language acquisition (SLA) concerns not only the way to learn a second language (L2), but also the unique language system created by language learners (interlanguage). This qualitative study analyzed EFL learners’ interlanguage by focusing on their strengths and weaknesses in speaking English, especially on phonological, grammatical and pragmatic competence in speaking English. The language data were obtained from a recorded conversation between two non-native English speakers from Indonesia. The data were analysed by referring to contrastive analysis, error analysis and the socio-cultural perspective in SLA. The results indicated that although both learners had a strong L1 accent, the learners did not face any difficulty in constructing English sentences in the right sentence order (SVO). In addition, when facing difficulties in speaking English, the learners were seen to ask and provide support to each other, as well as to talk to themselves (private speech). In terms of weaknesses, the study found that the learners often mispronounced the letter “t” in English as the sound of “t” in Indonesian, made grammatical errors in subject and verb agreement, and applied Indonesia’s pragmatic concepts when speaking English. The study suggests that it is necessary to have a positive view on learners’ interlanguage as it can be used as a tool to learn a second language. Keywords: Contrastive analysis, error analysis, interlanguage, second language acquisition, socio-cultural perspective in SLA.
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