Content uploaded by Jason Ward
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Jason Ward on Sep 28, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 1
Blog Assisted Language Learning (BALL): Push button publishing
for the pupils
Jason M. Ward, American University Sharjah
Abstract
This paper examines the definitions of ‘weblog’, explains the weblog’s history
and discusses how weblogs develop writing, reading and communication skills. The
positive and negative potential of weblogs for language teachers is discussed, the use
of weblogs in a writing class for non-native English speakers in the first year of
university study is demonstrated, and feedback from these students is considered.
What is a Weblog?
For the non-native speaker, the invitation to read and write more in English is
usually as welcome as a long-distance telephone bill. However with the advent of
push-button publishing, in the shape of the weblog, language teachers now have a
new way to entice students to communicate through their reading and writing. What
might be some of the potential perks and pitfalls of this free and fledgling web-
technology? Can the weblog be adopted for language teaching? If so, what might be
the students’ response to Blog Assisted Language Learning?
Historical Development
Web blogging started fairly innocuously around 1993 as a forum for the
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). However, the term
‘weblog’ was not uttered until 1997 when an internet enthusiast Jorn Barger decided
to rename his ‘website’ (Robot Wisdom), a ‘weblog’, and used the term to refer to
websites that are continuously being updated. The verb to ‘blog’ soon followed, as
did the term ‘blogsphere’ to describe the ever expanding network of weblogs - “a
dynamic place that is connected by time and topic” (Blood, 2000).
Working Towards a Definition of the Weblog
So what exactly is a weblog and how is it different from a website, email or
online discussion? There have been a number of upgrades to Barger’s original
definition of the weblog as a continually updated site, but since the term has yet to
enter any published dictionary, the true meaning is almost as random as the process it
describes. Nevertheless, the general online consensus appears to be that a weblog is a
website that is updated regularly and organised chronologically according to date, and
in reverse order from most recent entry backwards. Weblogs can also provide
decentralised access rights which allows multiple authors.
The dynamic content of a weblog may sometimes resemble the ‘Send to All’
FW email, and its interactive nature, which often allows the reader to respond, also
echoes the online discussion board. However, the weblog is a unique entity. It
physically looks like a website rather than an email correspondence. Furthermore it is
less intrusive than FW email because it exists in its own autonomous space online,
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 2
rather than squatting in an inbox. The threads of a weblog may sometimes resemble
certain types of online discussion forum, but the weblog is generally organised around
content posted and administered by one individual (or a group), rather than generated
by the flow of participants in a discussion. On his weblog, More about Weblogs,
Barret (1999) also sets weblogs apart from web pages, but in terms of the content,
anticipated audience and purpose. He explains that unlike weblogs, personal home
pages are generally more likely to be devoted to photos of loved ones and pets, “a
place to distribute information to a close circle of family and friends. Weblogs,
however, are designed for an audience.” (¶. 8). Blogs are often aimed at a broader
readership than the blogger’s own friends and family because they communicate with
the diverse blogging community as a whole.
Most weblogs are now hosted by weblog providers such as 20six.co.uk or
blogger.com and provide templates which do not require any technical, aesthetic or
planning skills from the blogger. It is this ease of use which sets many of the current
weblogs apart from websites; publishing has never been easier! Weblogs also tend to
have features which are not available on most regular web pages. The comments
feature, for instance, that allows the reader to write onto the weblog either directly or
following approval from the author. Some weblog companies also offer Email / SMS
publishing which allows the blogger or a group of bloggers to post to the weblog
directly using email or mobile phone messaging. A subscription feature is also
available, which enables the blogger to automatically receive updates of his/her
favourite weblogs whenever these are updated. This characteristic is also known as
RSS, known as Rich Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication and its potential is
huge. As Richardson (2004) points out under the heading “Subscribe to My
Homework Page!” teachers can subscribe to their students’ weblogs and will
automatically be notified whenever changes are made to these weblogs.
In short, the weblog offers a free online publishing house for anyone who
cares to write and for those who care to read it. Nevertheless the weblog did not
really begin to become a household name until last year. Probably the most important
factor which led to the explosion of the web log phenomena last year, and to the
increasing use of the term ‘weblog’ in the main stream lexicon, was the advent of the
second Gulf War and the sudden popularity of Salam Pax, better known as the Gulf
War Blogger. Considered by some to be the Anne Frank of the Iraq invasion and
occupation, Welch (2003) in Blogworld and its Gravity describes how Pax, “now
writes columns for The Guardian and in July signed a book deal with Grove/Atlantic”
(p. 6). It could be argued that like the internet, which was conceived in the Cold War,
the weblog was baptised by the Iraq War. In fact, 2003 has been described by Barrios
(2003), who has a website devoted to using weblogs in the writing class, as “the year
of the blog” (p. 1).
The Voice of the Weblog
Often described as a kind of public journal, the weblog is usually motivated
solely by the need for self-expression, and often communicates something about the
personality, or adopted persona, behind the blog, through the style of writing and the
choice of topics. However, others might argue that a weblog is not really about the
individual but the collective, the network; it is simply an elaborate list of links to other
sites. For this reason, Blood (2000) states the need for a clear distinction between the
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 3
filter style weblog which relies on links and the journal style blog which is more
personal and reflective. Similarly, Hasting’s (2003) Histories of the weblog.
Blogging across the curriculum draws attention to the duplicitous nature of the
weblog which can be, “a frequently posted list of interesting web sites, or a personal
diary of events and thoughts, or a combination of the two (among many things)” (p.
1).
The notion that weblogs are different because of their ‘voice’ is a recurring
theme, and one which motivates Stiler (2003) in his article Blogging and Blogspots:
An Alternative Format for Encouraging Reflective Practice among Preservice
Teachers. He argues that weblogs are more than online journals with links: “The real
divergence is about voice. Online journals look and read like public diaries, while
weblogs feel more like reporting… weblogs are metatorial while journals are simply
editorial” (p. 4). In other words, the weblog’s ability to accommodate multiple
authors provides more dimensions and generates a different kind of discourse than the
traditional journal. On the History of Weblogs site, Winer (2002) describes weblogs
as a “kind of a continual tour, with a human guide who you get to know. There are
many guides to choose from, each develops an audience, and there’s also camaraderie
and politics between the people who run weblogs, they point to each other” (p. 1)
How Can Blogging Benefit the Composition Class?
For the language teacher the weblog is a timely arrival which can fulfil many
of the needs identified for the effective teaching of writing. The weblog provides a
genuine audience, is authentically communicative, process driven, peer reviewed,
provides a dis-inhibiting context and offers a completely new form with un-chartered
creative potential.
Genuine Audience
Teaching writing for an audience is a challenge especially when teaching to
students who have never written anything in English except assignments for their
teacher. These students may not only have difficulty adjusting their writing to fit the
reader, but may have trouble getting started because, aside from the final grade, what
they write does not mean anything to them because it does not need to mean anything
to anyone else. However when writing for a weblog, “the [online] audience is not
only anticipated but expected, and thus influences and structures the very manner in
which the writer articulates, composes, and distributes the self-document” (Kitzmann,
2003, p. 1). Kitzmann describes how the potential of online celebrity provides a
powerful motivating force for the writer, playfully re-appropriating Descartes’ maxim
to describe the existential stimulus of the compulsive blogger, “I write about myself,
therefore I am” (p. 6).
Authentic Communicative Content
In Classroom Practice: Authentic Audience on the Internet, Opp-Beckmann
(1999) describes the benefits of having an audience that is multicultural, responsive
and networked. She celebrates how the developing technology of new media also
enables students to become both the author and the audience, and can even provide
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 4
communication between the different audiences (p.80). Because weblogs can offer
two-way communication through group blogs and comments, there is literally a new
dimension to this type of composition. As Wrede (2003) points out:
Weblogs are both monologues and dialogues and therefore can benefit
from the advantages of both forms and they also intersect e-mail,
discussion forums, instant messaging and conventional electronic
publishing, they are continuous in the sense that they are not result
oriented but process oriented. (p. 2).
Process Driven Composition
Indeed, continually updating a weblog, like regularly writing in a journal, may
help writing students to appreciate that writing is an ongoing process, but with the
added bonus of an instant and interactive audience. This advantage is described in
Writing with Weblogs where Kennedy (2003) describes how weblogs “combine the
best elements of portfolio-driven courses where student work is collected, edited, and
assessed, with the immediacy of publishing for a virtual audience” (p.4).
Peer Reviewed Writing
Furthermore, the audience brings its opinions, advice and criticism which as
Stiler (2003) explains may “enhance the development of student reflectivity” (p. 2).
This point is also discussed by Welch in his article ”Blogworld and its Gravity” in the
Columbia Journalism Review, where he explains how journalists’ stories are
discussed and evaluated for factual details online, and how this has led to some
reporters changing their stories after being challenged by bloggers. Welch (2003)
claims that those who report the news now have, “something approaching real peer
review, in all its brutality. If they truly value the scientific method, they should
rejoice. Blogs can bring a collective intelligence to bear on a question” (p. 7).
Likewise, Levey (in Glen, 2003) explains that blogging “has some of the best aspects
of peer review built into it.” And he goes on to explain how this aspect contributes
positively to the quality of academic research: “Scholars’ entries are instantly
monitored and responded to by others as well-informed as they are” (p. 2).
‘Disinhibition’
In addition to providing a critical audience, another advantage that the weblog
provides is the ability to communicate without the inhibitions and preconceptions that
accompany most face-to-face interactions. Roed (2003) investigates this factor in her
article, Language Learner Behaviour in a Virtual Environment, and explains how,
People behave differently when communicating online compared to a
face-to-face situation. Research has shown that when communicating
online, people show fewer inhibitions, display less social anxiety, and
reduce their public self-awareness” (p.155).
Roed also describes how the, often false, notion of anonymity that people have
when communicating via the computer can be a major advantage for the language
learner because it cuts down on anxiety and helps develop confidence. She explains
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 5
that the term “disinhibition” has been coined to identify this factor. Disinhibition has
been described by Johnson (1998) as “any behaviour that is characterised by an
apparent reduction in concerns for self preservation and the judgement of others”
(Johnson in Roed, p.44). Roed (1998) also looks at how this phenomena affects the
class as a whole, and observes that, “The group dynamics of the classroom are altered
once the classroom becomes virtual” (p.157).
I have observed this phenomenon when teaching using CACD (Computer
Aided Class Discussion). Some of the most vocal “disinhibited” students in this
online discussion were the more inhibited students in class. When browsing through
my students’ weblogs, I noticed that some of the quietest students had the loudest
blogs! For instance, I have a covered Muslim female student who prefers to sit alone,
and barely speaks unless prompted, yet her blog was an outpouring of opinion and
insight, illustrated with vibrant colours and images! Through anonymity, online
environments can liberate the students that are intimidated in the classroom and plug
them into a matrix where shyness and insecurity are left offline.
The Rhetoric of Blogging
Udell (2001) reports that the weblog phenomenon has “emerged as a
genuinely new literary / journalistic form” (in Stiler, 2003, p.4). In That different
place: Documenting the self within online environments, Kitzmann (2003) confirms
Walter Benjamin’s belief that “technology has within it a ‘nature’ that comes from its
own form” (p.10). Kitzmann suggests that new technology creates new concepts of
communication, and concludes that blogging may be “constructing new forms and
practices of both public and private space that have roots not only in culture but in the
‘nature’ of the technology itself” (p.10).
The technology of blogging can provide dynamic content, connect multiple
authors, facilitate an interactive relationship with an infinite and unknowable
audience, allow the adoption of multiple personas, and incorporate multimedia. So it
seems logical that the writer who uses the weblog and more pertinently the reader
who seeks it out, will develop certain expectations and ‘needs’ that may not have
existed in previous modes of communication. In this context, weblogging almost
seems like an upgrade of writing but like most upgrades is a mixed blessing.
Kitzmann quotes from Hansan’s (2000) book Embodying Technesis: Technology
beyond Writing, in which he proclaims, “Technology thus does not serve humankind,
but rather ‘cosmological complexification,’ resulting in the constant necessity on our
part to ‘keep up with the technological expressions of cosmological chance’” (p. 3).
One example of ‘cosmological complexification’ is the way that weblogs have
already become a victim of their own success. There are now so many of them that
they are now “as confusing as the web itself” (Blood, 2000, p.6).
How can Blogging Benefit the Reading Class?
Content and Reading Strategies
In addition to promoting extensive writing skills, it could also be argued that
blogs help to develop reading skills through both content and form. For the L2
language learner, a wide choice of readily available L2 content covering a myriad
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 6
range of current topics is available for free online. This material is also an invaluable
source of authentic and communicative language in use. As Chun (1998) observes in
Using CACD to Facilitate Interactive Competence, “For language learners in
particular, computer networks and electronic mail provide students with opportunities
for authentic communication with native speakers of the target language” (p. 57).
Another serendipitous advantage of blogging for the student is that the weblog reader,
like the web surfer, develops effective lateral skimming and scanning skills through
regular use of this medium. These are skills which can then be used outside of the
blogsphere and in the world of study.
Active Reading
It might also be argued that writing blogs helps the students to read blogs and
vice versa because through writing, the writer becomes more aware of the notion of
audience; and through reading, s/he becomes more familiar with the corresponding
idea of purpose. The distinction between the reader and the writer is further blurred
through the communicative nature of the weblog and the ease of online publishing.
Many weblog hosts now feature a constantly updated list of the most recently
‘published’ blogs in continual rotation. This means that the weblog reader can also
skim through these ‘racks’ of blogs at random, like browsing through magazines in a
library rather than searching for a particular book. The most active bloggers are most
often seen in these racks and are therefore more likely to have the most frequently
read blogs. This could be a powerful motivating factor for the blog writer to write
regularly in order to develop a readership.
Fallibility
A further, more questionable, ‘advantage’ of using weblogs as reading
material is that they expose the reader to fallible resources and diverse viewpoints,
which may indirectly assist the student in developing critical thinking skills, although
a more likely and unfortunate outcome is that some readers may be duped by
inaccurate detail, false claims and questionable agendas.
What Are Some of the Weblog’s Potential Shortcomings?
Like any other medium, the weblog has its shortcomings and these will no
doubt generate a great deal of debate as blogging becomes more ubiquitous in
academia. It could be argued that not only does the weblog expose the students to
some questionable readings, but that the format itself may have a detrimental effect on
reading, writing and confidence.
Superficial Reading
In Weblogs and Discourse, Wrede (2003) explains that just as weblog authors
are not usually professional writers, weblog readers are not generally professional
readers either. He warns that “this reading can’t compensate for the weak writing
skills of authors and potentially could be characterized as a kind of ...seeing what one
wants to see, (selective perception)” (p. 5). There is a danger that the reading skills
that are developed from scrolling the computer screen lead to an accelerated but
superficial, and often inaccurate, understanding of the content.
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 7
Sloppy Writing
Wrede (2003) also voices concerns about some of the disadvantages to writing
skills that may be developed from activities such as blogging, suggesting that
“technology can backfire if it takes too much control over representation” (p.5). This
appears to echo the concerns of those who believe that technological communication
advances such as instant messaging and mobile phone SMS1-ing are also having a
negative affect on literacy. There have been many cases of students using phrases
like BTW (by the way) cuz (because) and U (you) in submitted written work, and
there was a well documented case of a student in Scotland who wrote her entire essay
in SMS (Hammersly, 2003).
In addition to the possible disadvantages related to reading and writing, there
are other risks linked to the public nature of weblogging. Students who post their
work and ideas in the pubic sphere may receive some criticism which could be
unproductive, hurtful or even offensive. If necessary, the students can block
comments on their blog pending approval from the author. They also need to ensure
that their own comments on other’s blogs do not unwittingly cause offence.
Netiquette
Similarly, students also need to take care to ensure that their own comments
might not accidentally cause offence. For example, a student who posts, “Do you
understand now?!!!” might be attempting to convey a supportive smile and a friendly
laugh with the exclamations, but the reader might interpret these marks as an
aggressive rebuke. Likewise with the use of capital letters (CAPS), this is seen by
many as a form of shouting. However, to the novice blogger who posts a blog in
capital letters it might mean that they do not know about this particular form of
netiquette, or how to deactivate the ‘Caps Lock’ button.
Security
Aside from communication difficulties the language teacher using weblogs
should also consider security issues. Like websites, weblogs have the potential to be
hacked, accidentally deleted or suddenly out of service when most needed. For this
reason, hard drive backups and printouts of material posted to weblogs are essential.
Furthermore, “Students should be apprised of the lack of anonymity on Blogger and
of the need to use discretion in writing about sensitive, personal subjects” (Stiler,
2003, p. 9).
Is it Worth Blogging?
Push Button Publishing for the Pupils
So after all the introductory bluster, is blogging more trouble than it is worth?
Is it simply just another fad, destined for a place in history alongside CB radio, and
Esperanto? I think not. Even with its obvious shortcomings, the one thing that will
1 SMS is the Short Message Service offered to mobile phone users, which allows them to send text
messages to other phones. Due to the restrictive keyboard of the mobile phone, a lexicon of
abbreviations and smileys ‘☺’ has emerged from this method of communication.
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 8
keep blogging alive is encapsulated in Bloggertm‘s slogan, “push button publishing for
the people.” In the cover story of Columbia Journalism Review, Welch (2003)
celebrates that blogging sites have provided the ability for anyone to “write, edit,
design, and publish her own editorial product –to be read and responded to by
millions of people, potentially – for around $0 t0 $200 a year. It has begun to deliver
on some of the wild promises about the Internet that were heard in the 1990’s” (p. 3).
This notion that with the coming of the blog, the internet is keepings its,
almost Marxist, pledge to hand the means of production back to the masses is
repeated in Scholars who Blog. In this article, Glen (2003) quotes Balkin (2003), a
law professor and director of the Information State Project at Yale University, who
states that “The development of the blog lowers the cost of publishing to the
vanishing point. It really does help realize the promise of the internet as a place for
wide-ranging public discussion” (p.1). Welch (2003) goes beyond ‘public discussion’
and describes weblogging as, “impressive, spontaneous acts of decentralized
journalism” (p.3). If this is the case, could the birth of the blog be the beginning of
the end for professional journalism? Welch dismisses such “really dumb questions”
and suggests that “A more productive, tangible line of inquiry is: Is journalism being
produced by blogs, is it interesting, and how should journalists react to it? The
answers… are ‘yes’, ‘yes’; and ‘in many ways’” (p. 8).
The Future of Blogging
From the impact that it has already had in the worlds of journalism and
academia, a hopeless optimist might suggest that weblogs are not a fad but a glimpse
of a brighter future. A future in which the media is decentralised and accountable and
our students are excited about writing again because the whole world is watching their
words –and not just their writing teacher. This performance aspect of the weblog may
encourage students to not only think about what they say but also how they say it.
This can be illustrated in the rhetorical style employed in the following excerpts from
two student’s blog on their favourite things:
Although Egyptians call it Shisha, Lebanese call it Nargila, and in
English it is Hookah, in my own language I call it Relaxation (Bin
Ahmed, 2004)
The universe have been blessed with a beautiful gift, the stars. Stars
are there for alot of purposes, such as; to help sailors find their way to
navigate around the world. Another aspect is to beautify our nightly
sky.. I picked my best, most shinning and talented star, his name is
Enrique Miguel Presler Iglesias. (Najm, 2003).
In her history of weblogs, Blood (2000) explains why she feels so passionately that
weblogs need to be taken seriously, “I strongly believe in the power of weblogs to
transform both writers and readers from ‘audience’ to ‘public’ and from ‘consumer’ to
‘creator’” (p.7).
Unlike websites, weblogs are as easy to set up as a Hotmail email account.
For this reason, they have the potential to become as omnipresent as Hotmail, but
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 9
unlike email, the weblog allows anyone with a computer to send one message to the
whole world. It seems that educators cannot afford to ignore this phenomenon and
according to Wired (2002) magazine, they are not. The University of Southern
California is already offering a course in blogging as part of their online journalism
course. And the interest extends way beyond journalism, “Teachers at every level
from elementary school to MBA are trying to bring blogs into their classrooms”
(Lohnes in Schachtman, 2002, p. 2).
The Use of Weblogs in an L2 Writing Class
The Assignment Prompt
In order to get my students blogging, I started out by designing an assignment
with one eye on the syllabus and the other on the ‘blogsphere’ to come up with the
topics of news, views and reviews. I wanted the students to respond to an item in the
news; articulate their opinions about an issue of their choosing; and critique a film and
a book. I chose these topics because they were ‘authentic’; that is they commonly
appear on weblogs, and also because of several communication needs that needed to
be addressed in the course. In order to have sufficient time to develop, the weblog
was introduced at the beginning of the course and collected at the end. There were
also a couple of posting deadlines to ensure that the students had started posting their
blogs.
Setting Up
In the beginning, a PC lab session was devoted to helping the students to set
up, and showing other weblogs, including one which I made myself to serve as a
guide to the assignment prompt. The class visited the PC lab another three times
during the semester, and this lab time was used to show how to email postings, print
from web pages wider than paper, import images, comment on others’ weblogs, and
for blogging and general troubleshooting. Unfortunately the latter took most of my
time, so the students did most of their blogging at home. Thankfully because
blogging is asynchronous, this was not a major problem.
Community Learning
To ensure that my student bloggers had an audience, I asked the students to
read each others’ blogs as part of their grade. To facilitate this I simply set up a web
page which contained links to everybody’s weblog. The weblog service that we used
also allowed the students to award points, known as ‘sweeties’, so at the end of the
course I gave prizes to the two blogs in each class that had been given the highest
number of sweeties by their peers. A more traditional peer review took place midway
through the course when students handed in printouts of their weblogs which were
reviewed by their peers.
Assessment
The weblogs were assessed using a portfolio which contained printouts from
the weblog plus a collection of the comments that each student had made on other
people’s blogs. I provided deadlines to post and a much later deadline for the final
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 10
portfolio. This was for two reasons: firstly to check that blogs were posted
throughout the course, ensuring that there were enough blogs for the students to read;
secondly to encourage process writing because it is easy for the blogger to go back
and edit the grammar or content.
On Wrede’s (2003) weblog, Stephne Downes argues that “if we have to
convince people to blog, to in some way grade them or mark them, then in so doing
we lose what is essential to blogging” (p. 1). In theory I would agree with Downes
that, semantically, a weblog which is anything other than self motivated is not really a
true weblog, in the same way that an authentic text is no longer an authentic text if the
teacher has provided a glossary for it. However, coerced-blogging can still produce
excellent weblogs, and hopefully some students will continue their blogs after
assessment. Furthermore, their membership of this growing discourse group may
help to develop their communicative skills beyond their Com 101 class. In such
classes, blogging could help to provide some relief from English class clichés, such as
the standard 5-paragraph essay, and provide the students with a genuinely
communicative environment to express themselves more naturally and fluently.
What did the Students Think?
At the end of the course, but before they had received their final grades for the
weblog portfolio, my students were given a survey to assess the effectiveness of this
assignment. These students are all non-native English speakers of high-intermediate
to advanced level from a variety of backgrounds. Forty students were surveyed from
two classes, twenty from each class. The following chart [Figure 1.] collates the first
part of this survey which consisted of simple ‘yes’, ‘not sure’, or ‘no’ responses:
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 11
Figure 1: The Students' Responses
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Class A
Class B
Class A
Class B
Class A
Class B
Class A
Class B
Class A
Class B
Class A
Class B
Designed
ow n
w ebpage
previously
Pref erred
w riting the
w eblog to a
regular
journal
Pref erred to
choose ow n
topics
Believe that a
w eblog can
help improve
English
Will continue
to use
w eblog
Told
others
about
w eblog
Number of students
Yes
Not S ure
No
From these results it is possible to deduce the following points:
• Two or three students in each class had designed a web page before.
• Approximately two thirds of the class preferred writing the weblog to the more
traditional written journal
• Generally more students would rather choose their own topics
• Most students believed that the weblog can improve English; three disagreed
• Eight students said that they would definitely continue using the weblog; six
said they definitely would not, and the majority were unsure.
• Thirty three students told somebody else about the weblog.
These findings seem to confirm that despite generally having no prior
experience of web design, most of the students enjoyed the assignment, believed that
it was helping the improvement of their English and that it assisted them in producing
good work. I would deduce the latter point from the number of students that
publicized their weblogs to family and friends (37 out of 40) which might suggest
some level of pride (or lack of shame!) in what they had created.
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 12
To respond comprehensively to all of the students’ suggestions on the latter
part of the questionnaire would take more time and space than we have here.
Therefore samples of the most common and the most notable responses are discussed
in this section. Obviously because all of the feedback is not included here, this report
is not truly representative; however, it does contain an accurate reflection of the
weblog experience.
In answer to the question, “Apart from this course, what else do you think you
could use a weblog for?” Keeping in touch with friends and family was the most
common response. Many of the students from other countries recognised that the
weblog could be a great way of keeping in touch with their loved ones back home.
Other notable responses to this question included the recognition of the weblog as a
forum for creative expression: One student mentioned that it could be an online diary
or a place to post her pictures, drawings and paintings, while another mentioned that it
could be a place to establish his writing on the web. Another respondent supported
the notion of using the weblog for peer review, suggesting that the weblog is a good
place to “take experience from” his friends’ writing.
When asked, “Who did you tell about your weblog?” the most common
responses were friends (23) and family (13), another mentioned his room mate and
one student said she had told her high school English teacher. I am convinced that
many more people read the students’ writing as a result of it being posted online
rather than slipped discreetly under their Com teacher’s door. I also think that this
encouraged the writers to take more care over what they produced.
I also asked the question, “What was the most memorable thing that you read
on other students’ blogs?” This was in order to discover what types of writing work
well on the blog and how I might best adapt the writing prompt next semester. Two
of the following respondents mentioned the news section, which required the student
to write about an item in the news. And the news stories they remembered were the
most shocking; for example, a story about children on planes being locked in a cage
and put in cargo as they make a lot of noise. This was an obvious spoof of which
there are many on the web; however, many of the students did not find this story
amusing because they thought it was genuine! This is proof that some students tend
to believe everything that is published, even if it is only published online.
Other blogs that the students found memorable included a beautiful
description of Palestine as a place of peaceful pastoral beauty rather than a dangerous,
battle-scarred urban nightmare. Another was an excellent essay about the current Iraq
war written by a Kuwaiti student, which effectively challenged the position put
forward on my weblog arguing against the war.
When asked, “What did you like the most about the weblog assignment?”
One notable response was that the freedom of choosing topics helped to express and
reflect personality and personal views. A couple of students highlighted how they
appreciated the process approach of the assignment, one stating that she liked, “being
able to fix it as much as I could and getting feedback from people.” Another
commented that “I was able to take the time I needed and come up with ideas and
great thoughts. I was able to go back and edit some mistakes I made.” Similarly peer
review was mentioned by one student who observed that the weblogs “improve our
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 13
ability when we see the others’ work.” Other students said they enjoyed the “fun”
novelty of the assignment which “didn’t feel like writing essay.” They also enjoyed
the communicative aspect, and the fact that the blog was their own creative endeavor.
Dislikes mainly focused on technical problems, of which there were many
with 20six.co.uk. Most of the students wisely wrote their posts in Word so that they
could check the spelling and grammar and save a back up; however, when they pasted
from Word to the weblog the formatting would often be changed by the transition.
Many found themselves with an unwanted white background and font sizes that they
could not change. This tainted some of the students’ pride in their blogs - when their
babies turned ugly they stopped loving them. Some of those that decided to post their
blogs directly to the site were faced with an even more harrowing prospect, vividly
described by this student: “Once at midnight, I was on my weblog account typing my
news, and as soon as I was done I clicked on save and BOOM it was all erased
because I was ‘inactive’ for too long!” For similar reasons, another student wisely
suggested “find another site [weblog provider] on the web that is easier to deal with.”
A couple of the negative comments that were written about the weblog could
actually be construed as positive points. One student unwittingly vindicated the
process approach of extensive writing when he complained, “I had to do the work 3
times, 1st do it, 2nd post it, 3rd polish it.” Another brought in the effect of audience
on composition when he complained that “I have to write really good topics cause
everyone will read my work.”
When I asked the students how I could improve this assignment, I received
some very constructive feedback which I will use as the foundation for the next draft
of this assignment. A couple of students suggested smaller topics rather than the ‘big’
book and film reviews, and many asked for more freedom of choice of topics for
weblog posts. Other suggestions included the obvious request to extend the deadlines,
or even to drop the posting deadlines and just have one deadline at the end of the
course. I have not adopted the latter suggestion because I suspect that it could lead to
a semester of blank weblogs, followed by a frantic flurry of activity during the last
week and a lot of unread material online.
In conclusion, I am confident that as long as weblog providers continue to
behave like email providers, and offer free and easy blogging services, the use of
weblogs will continue to grow apace. There is every indication that weblogs will
become more common than home pages and second only to email in online
communication. As language teachers, if we are to equip our students with the ability
to communicate in the online age we cannot afford to ignore blogging, or neglect the
opportunities that this new medium offers. Like the student portfolio before it, the
weblog faces challenges with practicality and security, but ultimately provides an
alternative way to teach and assess authentic writing and reading skills. Blog Assisted
Language Learning not only provides teachers with an exciting new way to approach
communicative language learning, it also gives the students a new reason to enjoy
reading and writing!
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 14
References
An incomplete annotated history of weblogs. (2001). Retrieved December 4, 2003,
from http://www.chymes.org/hyper/weblogs.html
Barrett, C. (1999). Camworld: rants, more about weblogs. Retrieved December 4,
2003, from http://www.camworld.com/journal/rants/99/05/11.html
Barrios, B. (2003). The year of the blog: Weblogs in the writing classroom.
Retrieved December 1, 2003, from
http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/barrios/blogs/
Bin Ahmed Al Shehhi, H. (2004) Shehhi_power (student weblog). Retrieved
September 19, 2004, from http://www.20six.co.uk/o0_Shehhi_PoWeR_0o
Boswood, T. (Ed.) (1997). New ways of using computers in language teaching.
Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
Blood, R. (2000). Weblogs: A history and perspective. Rebecca’s pocket. Retrieved
December 1, 2003, from
http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
Chun, D. (1998). Using CACD to facilitate interactive competence. In J. Swaffer, S.
Romano, P. Markley & K. Arens (Ed.), Language learning online (pp. 57-80).
Austin: Labyrinth.
Drey, P. (2003, March 26). Blogging communities’ popularity draws students. The
Minnesota. Retrieved December 1, 2003, from http://www.mndaily.com/
printfriendly.php?id=5330&year=2003
Fowler, G. A. (2002, November 18). The best way to find a blog. The Wall Street
Journal, p. R 8.
Glen, D. (2003, June 6) Scholars who blog. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Retrieved December 1, 2003, from
http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v49/i39/39a01401.htm
Hammersly, B. (2003, May 15) If they won't write, get them to text. TEFL News,
The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2003, from
http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/story/0,5500,956003,00.html
Hastings, P. B. (2003). Histories of the weblog. Blogging across the curriculum.
Retrieved December 1, 2003, from http://mywebspace.quinnipiac.edu/
PHastings/history.html
Kennedy, K. (2003). Writing with weblogs. Tech learning. Retrieved December 1,
2003, from
http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2003/02/blogs.html
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004 15
Kitzmann, A. (2003). That different place: Documenting the self within online
environments. Biography, 26,(1), 48-65, 241.
Lindemann, E. (2001). A rhetoric for writing teachers (4th ed). New York: Oxford
University Press.
Najm, A. (2003). Scorpion (student weblog). Retrieved September 19, 2004, from
http://www.20six.co.uk/annamaria
Opp-Beckmann, L. (1999). Classroom practice: Authentic audience on the internet.
In J. Egbert & E. Hanson-Smith CALL Environments (pp. 79-95). Alexandria,
VA: TESOL.
Richardson, W. (2004) Blogging and RSS - The "What's It?" and "How To" of
Powerful New Web Tools for Educators. Retrieved March 10, 2004 from
http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml
Roed, J. (2003). Language learner behaviour in a virtual environment. Computer
Assisted Language Learning, 16 (2-3)155-172.
Schachtman, N. (2002). Blogging goes legit, sort of. Wired News. Retrieved
December 1, 2003, from
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,52992,00.html
Stiler, G. (2003). Blogging and blogspots: An alternative format for encouraging
reflective practice among preservice teachers. Education,123 (4), 789.
Weber, T. E. (2000, October 30). Individuality conquers information overload as
weblogs proliferate. The Wall Street Journal, p. B1.
Welch, M. (2003). Blogworld and its gravity (cover story). Columbia Journalism
Review, 42 (3), 21-26.
Winer, D. (2003). The history of weblogs. Retrieved December 1, 2003, from
http://newhome.weblogs.com/historyOfWeblogs
Wrede, O. (2003). Weblogs and discourse: Weblogs as transformational technology
for higher education and academic research. Blogtalk conference paper -
Vienna, May 23rd. Retrieved December 1, 2003, from
http://weblogs.design.fh-
aachen.de/owrede/publikationen/weblogs_and_discourse
Biographical Details
Jason Ward is an instructor and CALL coordinator in the Writing Program at the
American University of Sharjah (AUS) in The United Arab Emirates. He has taught
English for the past thirteen years and has spent the past six years teaching at
Universities in the Middle East. He earned his MA in Critical Theory from
Nottingham University and BA (hons) English at UCE in Birmingham. He is
currently completing a second masters in TESOL at AUS and hopes to pursue a PhD
in Education specializing in new media. His interests are CALL, CBI and alternative
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
TEFL Web Journal Vol 3 No 1 2004
Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved
16
assessment. With Amanda Ward, he will be presenting 'A Tale of two Bloggers,' at
TESOL 2005 in Texas.