English language teaching blogs to support and develop students’ writing

Abstract

There is plenty of interest amongst educators and policy makers about the importance of eLearning and the use of Web 2.0 tools in education. This research focused on one particular tool, the blog, and sought to investigate the role of blogs in English Language Teaching (ELT) and how they can be used effectively to develop and support students’ writing in English. The main concern of this study was to show how a pedagogical framework for the use of blogs can be devised and implemented in the classroom and how students can develop their writing skills through blogs. The study was based on action research in schools carried out by the researcher with her own classes. The study involved 41 students, aged 12-13. The researcher designed and developed a project to introduce and expose the students to learner blogs, for a period of three months and used blogging to supplement the students’ learning experience. Six students were asked to keep a bi-weekly log where they reflected on their writing development via the blogs and all the participants completed an anonymous feedback questionnaire at the end of the project. A thematic analysis of both the student logs and the student feedback questionnaire responses was carried out to help gain insights into the students’ experience of blogs and in which ways they felt blogs may have helped them or not to develop their writing. The study findings have demonstrated the pedagogical value of blogs to improve interest in writing activities and promote a positive attitude towards writing when implemented within the right framework. In terms of motivation, the results indicated that the students have a positive perception of this platform and perceive it as an effective means of supporting and even improving their writing skills, writing styles, grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure and coherence. The results also suggest that students may develop their writing thanks to the authentic audience and peer feedback that blogging provides. Students may also benefit from increased engagement in the learning process and may even develop digital literacy which is increasingly important in today's world.