TASK 2: Journal Article Review

Journal Article Review

Title: USING BLOGS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE WRITING CLASSES

Journal-Volume: International Journal of Academic Research Vol. 3. No. 4. July, 2011, II Part

Author’s Information: Masoud Hashemi & Vahid Najafi, faculty member of English Department, Islamic Azad Yniversity, Toyserkan & Kangavar branch

            The authors started this paper with information that a lot of EFL/ESL teachers have used the user-friendly technology (blog) into their classroom instruction and language learning. However, they found out that only a small number of ESL/EFL teachers in Iran have used Blog in writing lesson. The focus of their study is to show and discuss the capabilities and advantages of using weblogs in increasing the writing skill of Iranian college students. They also wanted to find out about the reactions and feedback of Iranian college learners who experienced the usage of blog in their writing class for the first time. Their study was conducted by following these objectives:

1. To determine the usefulness of using blogs to encourage learner independence and out of class learning.
2. To provide insight for other EFL professionals into the pedagogical applications of using blogs in the foreign language writing class.

The methodology the authors have used in this journal was that participants were divided into two groups of 30 people. Both groups were male and female English Translation and Literature students who took English Advanced Writing course. Participants in both groups were given instruction on how to construct a blog at the beginning of the study. In one class, the use of blog was strongly encouraged but not required. On the other hand, the use of blog in another class was required and it counted 20% of their final grade. A blog survey to gather feedback from participants was conducted at the end of this study. Participants were also required to write self-introduction post in their blogs. Selected few articles was chosen from participants’ blog to be posted on the instructors’ blog. Then they were told to comments on those articles. Learners were responsible for writing one entry of 150 words per week, and commenting on two or three of their own posts. The study results stated that majority 80% of the participants and the teachers never heard about blog because of the limited knowledge on computers’ technology. However, all of the learners responded that they enjoyed the blog project. The reasons they enjoyed using blog are:

1. They enjoyed interacting with classmates and learning from them.
2. They thought their writing skills had improved from participating in the project.
3. The project assisted them in learning and using new vocabulary.

However, 6 learners found the project time-consuming or wished they could have had class time to complete the assignment. Almost all of the learners respond positively in the comment section of their friend’s post. Majority of the participants stated that they will continue blogging after the study. But it depends on the time they had.

       This research interests me in a very special way. The reason I fell interested is because the majority of the participants have no experiences in using blog. Thus it provides an authentic situation where they researchers have the opportunity to gather information that is not influenced by the participants’ prior knowledge on the subject matter. As for the method used, I think that the research was conducted in a very well prepared manner. They prepared the participants with enough knowledge at the beginning of the study. They also managed to create two different groups of participants that they can use to compare the results. They also give the chance for participants to write freely and give comment on each other’s work. It somehow lessened the technicality of the study on order to provide a stress free environment so that participants’ will not be influenced by stress factors. Participants felt motivated by the study because they feel that they were actually helping each other to improve. However, the thing that needs more attention in this study is the time limit. Some students commented that they did not have enough time to complete the task. . Regarding on how this research will affect the implementation of teaching learning of ESL in Malaysian context, I think it provide a very valuable insight on how to improve the current method. As we already know, we’re living inside a technological booming era where the use of technology cannot be avoided anymore. Most of the Malaysian’s students already have the knowledge on technology; it depends on the teachers to use this as an advantage to help with the teaching and learning English language. However, we must proceed carefully because some students still do not have the means to fully integrate the change into their way of study. We must overcome the technological limitations first before we can really tap into the advantages of using technology in the process of teaching and learning English language.

The Journal:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/8ozdalzwozcwsq6/USING_BLOGS_IN_ENGLISH_LANGUAGE_WRITING_CLASS.pdf