DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS VIA BLOGS

Yıl 2016, Cilt: 5 , 244 - 246, 01.09.2016

Muge Gunduz

Öz

The main goal of
English language teaching (ELT) is to develop learners’ skills to communicate
with other people in real world situations and to express themselves in English
(Brown, 1987; Oxford, 1990; Yang and Chen, 2007) (quoted in Fageeh 2011, p.1). According
to Pinkman (2005) blogs can provide interesting, authentic and communicative
resources that can serve a variety of purposes in language classroom and they
can also be used to encourage
interaction among students and between teachers and students (Yang, 2009). In this study, the participants were 1st year university students (n=103)
who created their group blogs in order to share their ideas during their oral
communication classes. Students interacted with their peers via blogs simply by
reading and commenting on each other’s blog posts. The data was collected from the blog entries and
a questionnaire administered at the end of the project in order to understand
the perceptions of students on effectiveness
of using blogs in developing their writing and critical thinking skills. It is hoped that the findings of this study provides some food for
discussion on a number of pedagogical and theoretical issues. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

Blogs, language classes, writing skills

Kaynakça

• Abu Bakar, N. (2009). E-Learning Environment: Blogging as a Platform for Language Learning. European Journal of Social Sciences, 9(4), 594-604. Abu Bakar, N., Latif, H., & Ya’acob, A. (2009). The implementation of blogs in ESL classroom for low proficiency students. Kongres Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran UKM 2009, Langkawi. Abu Bakar, N., Latif, H., & Ya’acob, A. (2010). ESL Students feedback on the use of blogs for language learning. 3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 16 (1), 120-41. Fageeh, A. (2011). EFL learners’ use of blogging for developing writing skills and enhancing attitudes towards English learning: an exploratory study. Journal of Language and Literature, 2(1), 31-48. Lee, L. (2010). Fostering reflective writing and interactive exchange through blogging in an advanced language course. ReCALL, 22(2), 212–22. Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: Some trends in online journalism. New Media & Society, 6(4), 443-468. McLeod, S. (2001). The pedagogy of writing across the curriculum. In G. Tate, A. Rupiper & K. Schick (Eds). A guide to composition pedagogies, pp. 14-164. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press. Noytim, U. (2010). Weblogs enhancing EFL students’ English language learning. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 1127-1132. Pinkman, K. (2005). Using Blogs in the Foreign Language Classroom: Encouraging Learner Independence. The JALT CALL Journal, 1(1), 12-24. Vurdien, R. (2011). Enhancing writing skills through blogging in an advanced English as a Foreign Language class in Spain. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1–18. Ward, J.M. (2004). Blog Assisted Language Learning (BALL): Push button publishing for the pupils. TEFL Web Journal, 3(1), 1-16. Warlick, D.(2007). Classroom blogging: A Teacher's Guide to Blogs, Wikis, & Other Tools that are Shaping a New Information Landscape. North Carolina, U.S.A. The Landmark Projet Raleigh Yang, S-H. (2009). Using Blogs to Enhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice. Educational Technology & Society, 12(2), 11-21.