English_for_Written_Communications

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGES OUMH1203 ENGLISH FOR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION POPULAR WEEKEND HABITS OF OUM STUDENTS IGNATIUS ABRAHAM BALING 740527 – 13 – 5651 019 – 8651980 maruse_27674@oum.edu.my Mr. LAW SZE YUNG INSTITUT PERGURUAN RAJANG JULY 2008 SEMESTER 1. INTRODUCTION OUM students learning using the distance learning mode have to juggle their time between their own job and their studies. They also have to make time for their own pleasure and their family. Some students faced the difficulty in managing stress. Thus, it is important that they can release their tensions. This research paper aim at finding the popular habits or pastimes the students like to do during the weekend while they are still studying with OUM. Before the research is started, I discussed the topic with my peers and tutor to ascertain what was needed in making this research paper. The data was attained from 20 students from the OUM Local Learning Centre in Sibu. The data was attained by completing a set of questionnaire given to them. 2. METHODOLOGY 1. Subjects The data was taken from 20 OUM students who are still studying at OUM Local Learning Centre in Sibu. They are studying various degrees in various levels or semesters. 2. Instruments The instrument used in attaining the data is a set of questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of the students’ personal details and their favourite pastimes that they always do during the weekend. (see Appendix) 3. Procedure The process of gathering the information starts with the production of the questionnaire. It asks the students their personal details and their favourite habits during the weekend. The questionnaires were then distributed to the 20 students via one of the students who went for tutorial who later distributed them to his friends. After the questionnaires were returned, the process of retrieving the data from the questionnaires began. The data is then transferred to charts and table for better understanding. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 COLLECTED DATA The data collected from the questionnaires are shown in Chart 1 below. Chart 1: Popular weekend habits of 20 OUM students Based on the chart above, we can see that the most popular activities done during the weekend is gardening (9 respondents), which is 45%. The next most popular activity is reading (7 respondents, 35%) and the third most popular activity is shopping (6 respondents, 30%). A more detailed look at the information is shown in Table 1 in Appendix and Chart 2 below. Chart 2: Percentage of popular activities 2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALE & FEMALE POPULAR HABITS From the collected data, it is further divided into male and female preferences of activities. The information is shown in Chart 3 below. Chart 3 From the chart above, it can be seen that more male prefer indoor activities like watching television and reading than female. Female prefer more on outdoor activities such as gardening and shopping. It also shows that male respondents do not like to cook and do aerobics at all. Female respondents, on the other hand, are not interested in a number of activities stated as in the chart above. The pie charts below show the percentage of male and female respondents’ preferences of activities. 4. CONCLUSION The research encompasses 20 OUM students and the activities that they like to do during weekends. It is noted that the male respondents tend to do indoor activities. The female respondents like to do outdoor activities like shopping and gardening. Based on this research, it is concluded that the respondents do a variety of activities during weekends. These activities are done individually or with friends and family.