Pre-service English Teachers' Reflections on the Use of E-mails and Blogs in Teaching Literature

Year 2014, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 1 - 10, 25.07.2014

Hilal Bozoğlan

Abstract

Computer based applications have started to be so widely used all around the world that their effectiveness in language teaching also started to be questioned. However, despite the vast amount of literature on the use of these applications in language teaching, our knowledge about the reflections of the learners on the use of computer based applications in teaching the literature of the target language in a comparative way is highly limited. As a response to this gap in the literature, this study focused on the use of e-mails and blogs in teaching literature to pre-service language teachers comparatively. During the literature class, the students were asked to write an alternative ending to the two novels they have read using e-mails in the first time, and blogs in the second time. Later, through the questionnaire forms the students were asked to reflect upon the use of traditional paper-pen activities, e-mails and blogs in teaching literature. It was found out that the students favored e-mails and blogs compared to traditional activities. However, they also preferred blogs to e-mails. The students also reported that the use of e-mails and blogs in teaching literature was practical and motivating and it enhanced the communication among the students.

Keywords

Computer assisted language learning, Teaching literature, E-mails, Blogs

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