Using social media in writing among Primary School pupils

Abstract

The advancement of technology has brought transformation in education. Utilisation of social media to promote learning are increasing exponentially at secondary and tertiary education levels. However, the researcher was still doubting using social media on current primary school pupils. Thus, this study aimed to explore the use of social media among primary school pupils and how they perceive towards the use of English in writing on social media. Questionnaires were distributed among 37 primary 4 pupils in a Chinese vernacular school in a Southern state in Malaysia. The findings showed that YouTube is the most prominent tool used among the pupils and they have good competency in using the social media which they always use. Pupils use social media for academically and non-academically purposes. However, slightly more than half of the pupils do not have positive perceptions towards using English in writing on social media. Social media could be exploited in learning writing activities to increase the awareness of pupils towards a better writing performance.