The Development of Web-Based Instruction in English Paragraph Writing for Undergraduate University Students

Abstract

The objectives of this experimental research were threefold: first, to develop a web- based instruction in English paragraph writing for undergraduate university students, second, to compare learning achievements on paragraph writing of students who received tutoring via web-based instruction with the achievements of students who received tutoring via conventional face-to-face instruction, and third to evaluate students’ attitudes towards learning English paragraph writing via web-based instruction. The population consisted of 324 first-year students who enrolled in General English II in the second semester of the academic year 2012 at Thaksin University, Thailand. A sample group of 100 students was drawn from this population by the use of simple random sampling, and then divided into a control group and experimental group, each consisting of 50 students. The experimental group received the web-based instruction, while the control group received the conventional face-to-face instruction. The results revealed that 1) the efficiency value of the web-based instruction lessons was 80.03/80.38. 2) The learning achievement on paragraph writing among students using the web-based instruction was higher than those taught through the conventional face-to-face instruction at a significance level of 0.05. 3) Students had very good attitudes towards learning English paragraph writing via web-based instruction with an average score of 3.72.