Use of E-mail Dialogue Journal in Enhancing Writing Performance

In the age of computer mediated technology, the effects of the internet applications on learners’ performance have been broadly investigated by many researchers. In keeping with this trend, this study compared the effect of conventional tools as pen-and-paper, and e-mail, on the writing performance in terms of content, organization, language use, vocabulary and mechanics. Forty two English major students from one intact class at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), based on their grades in “Expository Writing”, as a subject taken in the previous semester, were randomly assigned into two groups, namely: pen-and-paper dialogue journal and e-mail dialogue journal. Pre and post writing tests were administered to identify two groups’ differences in their writing performance scores. After going through seven week intervention, quantitative research results revealed that e-mail group outperformed their counterparts in overall writing performance and language use, one of the categories. However, for other writing performance components, this research showed no significant difference between groups. With the empirical data offered in this study, e-mail can be applied as a suitable tool to assist language learner to improve their writing performance.

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