An Integration of WhatsApp, Peer Review and Assessment with Blended Learning to Enhance the English Language Skills of Freshmen Engineering Graduates

Abstract

This research sheds light on the educational effects of WhatsApp in encouraging first-year engineering students to enhance their English Language proficiency. When it comes to apps that help you learn a new language on the go, WhatsApp is among the best. A WhatsApp English-club chat group was formed by sixty first-year engineering graduate students. For four months, the students spoke, shared, and commented on news stories in English. Furthermore, participants were asked to complete a post-test, a pre-test, and a questionnaire after the study was finished. Results showed that WhatsApp was an effective method of piqueing students' interest in improving their literacy skills. Their grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing skills all saw significant improvements. Students also had a positive impression of WhatsApp as a teaching tool for English, according to the report. Researchers found that students enrolled in WhatsApp English-club groups were more likely to work together to improve their language skills and had more opportunities to use the language in context, especially when it came to writing. Therefore, the research suggests that English instructors use WhatsApp as a teaching tool and encourage their students to create and join English-club groups on the messaging app. This would allow them to engage in more informal chats and practise contextualised language usage, which may be challenging in a traditional classroom environment.