The Use of Facebook in Argumentative Writing: Towards an Instructional Design Model

The advent of the technological age has brought numerous opportunities on how education is delivered at present. One of such innovations is the integration of social media platforms like Facebook, specifically in writing instruction, where communication, collaboration, and effective language production can be fostered. The purpose of this development research is to create an instructional design model that integrates the use of Facebook in teaching argumentative writing for secondary level English as a Second Language (ESL) students through reviewing and analyzing literatures and studies, and on the basis of an in-class use of Facebook for a specific topic in 10th Grade English relative to the process of argumentation. Based on the analysis and observations, a pedagogical interface between Facebook and argumentative writing instruction is possible. Hence, the FAWI (Facebook-Argumentative Writing Interface) Model was designed to support findings from empirical studies that the use of Facebook facilitates writing instruction. The concentration of the present model on argumentative writing and in the context of ESL makes it different from other existing instructional design models. Specifically, the FAWI model presents the potential of Facebook as a CMC tool in L2 argumentative writing instruction outside the language classroom. Finally, implications on the use of the model to L2 writing instruction and educational technology in general are discussed, along with some recommendations on how the model can be validated and evaluated to further describe its utility.