Learners’ perception of using the internet resources in learning writing / Nazratul Akmal Awang @ Hashim

This research investigated the potential role of ESL websites as a means to supplement in-class instruction. Thirty-two lower secondary students were introduced to three websites and instructed to use them in writing class for one week. Then, a questionnaire was distributed to investigate their perceptions on using the Internet resources to learn writing. Data collected revealed that they had positive attitude to using the teacher-selected websites in their writing class. This study attempted to answer these three research questions: “Does the use of selected websites motivate students to learn writing? ”, “Does the use of selected websites help students to write better?” and “Do students think it is appropriate to learn writing skill through selected websites?” It was found that the students were more motivated in learning writing. It can be seen that majority of the students indicated that learning writing by using selected websites was interesting, they enjoyed learning writing by using selected websites and they could learn writing more independently when they used selected websites. Besides that, the students stated that they could write better in English writing because they encountered new vocabulary from the selected websites. They also noticed the correct structure of writing and learnt there were simple sentences, compound sentences and complex sentences. Lastly, it was also indicated that the selected websites were appropriate for them in learning writing skill. Result shows that the selected websites were appropriate supplement to in-class instruction, appropriate for their skill level and were appropriately related to English writing.