Using Facebook in Blended Learning in Vietnamese Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The study investigated the use of Facebook as an educational tool as well as the influence of Facebook integration into blended learning environment on English pronunciation teaching and learning activities. The subjects for the study consisted of 30 students who were the first-year English majors at Thai Nguyen University of Education. They were divided into two groups: the experimental group and the traditional group. Besides, there was a student teacher from the same university to be the subject of the experimental group. A combination of qualitative, quantitative and experimental approaches was employed to collect data and students’ views on this model. This allowed the researcher to get hold of a transformation in students’ pronunciation competence and their attitudes towards a blended format with supporting a social networking site (Facebook). The findings of the study indicate that Facebook retains outstanding features to offer a professional online course for English pronunciation learning, such as live lectures, group discussions, schedule events and etc. Furthermore, Facebook benefits the teachers in managing students’ learning autonomy so that the teacher is likely to grasp the ability of individuals in a short time. However, the use of Facebook still remains obstacles in the path of carrying out English pronunciation activities, and when putting it into blended-learning, the model handles these obstacles and limitations in the current learning and teaching of English pronunciation as well.