Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2 (2010) xxx–xxx

WCES-2010

A research on blogging as a platform to enhance language skills

Received October 7, 2009; revised December 16, 2009; accepted January 5, 2010

Abstract

The incorporation of asynchronous computer-mediated communication in the classroom is currently in need of research. In the
present study we observe the effect of the implementation of this technique to improve writing and students’ motivation. Students
worked in groups and got involved in professional blogs posting responses and exchanging comments with the other groups. The
analysis of the results shows a high motivation of the students. Writing for a purpose has encouraged them to produce language
more fluently and be more concerned on correctness, which leads us to consider blogs as a potential tool for the development of
linguistic skills.
© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

Keywords: Blogging; motivation; language learning; writing skills; life-long learning.

1. Introduction

The philosophy behind European Higher Education has caused a profound modification of university educational
models introducing new methodologies aiming at students’ life-long learning for both personal or professional
purposes. Preparing students to be able to communicate effectively in the international labor market is one of the
complementary challenges of university degrees, i.e. the acquisition of English written and spoken skills.
Technological innovations have had an important effect on current learning styles: computer-mediated
communication today is used as a bridge for the development of written and spoken skills for learners (Kern, 1995);
its effectiveness, though, is heavily dependent on how it is used (Warschauer, 1996). Recent research has shown that
computer-mediated communication activities can help to promote learner autonomy, promote cooperative learning
and serve as an educational tool in language courses (Sun, 2009). But the use of technology alone does not improve
achievement and motivation among pupils, it also necessitates the careful planning and implementation of a
pedagogically sound scheme of work as well as effective teaching (Felix, 2003).

* Begoña Montero-Fleta. Tel.: +343877000 ext.75364

1877-0428 © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.100
774 Begoña Montero-Fleta and Carmen Pérez-Sabater / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2 (2010) 773–777

2. Blogging in the language classroom

A blog has been defined as “a web application that displays serial entries with date and time stamps” (Throne &
Payne, 2005). Blogs often include a comments feature which allows the reader to engage in discussion with the
blog's writer and other readers by directly attaching a posting to the daily or topical entry (Radzikowska, 2003).
Getting involved in blogs, i.e. blogging, has become a recent phenomenon from a sociological standpoint
(Montes-Alcalá, 2007), useful not only for dissemination of information, for communication and for reflection but
also for providing teachers and learners with multiple possibilities to enhance their daily practice due to their
multimedia features and interactivity. According to Huffaker (2005:94): “In the classroom, students can have a
personal space to read and write alongside a communal one, where ideas are shared, questions are asked and
answered and social cohesion is developed”. In language learning, blogs can be used as tools to develop writing
skills and although they should not replace face-to-face interaction, they may provide a practice environment where
students can think, reflect, and create language slowly for a real-life audience (Pinkman, 2005).
The major benefits of blogging in the language classroom have been reported as “the choice of more appropriate
language on the part of the learners, the addition of new perspectives to the learners' thoughts, and the motivational
aspect of realizing that one's voice echoes in distant parts of the globe and is heard by others” (Arena, 2008-4).
Hewett (2000) and Pelletieri (2000) emphasize its positive effects on improving grammar proficiency and fluency.
Sun’s findings (2009) suggest that blogs can constitute a dynamic forum that fosters extensive practice, learning
motivation, authorship, and development of learning strategies. The added value of using blogs means that students
produce contents that are instantly accessible on the web, which can potentially attract comments from other users,
whether they are classmates or anonymous bloggers (Murray et al., 2007).
The present research aims at studying the improvement of writing fluency and form correctness of university
students of English participating in professional blogs and the motivation raised by this innovative activity.
Participation was a compulsory task with due weighing of the course assessment (50%) and entailed:
- visiting blogs and posting their own entries
- reflecting on the blog entries sent by their peers
- reflecting on the comments received
- writing a self-reflection portfolio on the experience

3. Hypotheses

Our research aims at confirming the following hypotheses:

4. Materials and Method

4.1. Participants profile

It has been scholarly researched that blogging is an important issue for librarianship where information search
and retrieval skills are integral to the job (Williams & Jacobs, 2004; Aharony, 2009). The experiment was run with
38 Spanish students of English in a university degree of Library and Information Management over the course of a
semester. The average age of the students was 23.6 and their level of English was supposed to be intermediate (B1)
but there was a wide range of language proficiency levels. They were experienced in the use of new technologies.
Classes met 3 hours a week.
The objective of the course was to develop not only fluency but also accuracy, quality and correctness in writing.
Up to this point in their studies the students had mainly received instruction in the traditional face-to-face format.
The students had never had the chance of using the language in authentic environments. In order to frame class
blogs within an authentic context, students were provided with a list of 100 weblog for library science where a world
of information specific to their field of study is available and discussed. Following Farmer (2004) we chose weblogs
 Begoña Montero-Fleta and Carmen Pérez-Sabater / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2 (2010) 773–777 775

which allowed comments facilities and were able to attract vigorous debate i.e. weblogs which could be a medium to
effectively facilitate the successful formation of a community of inquiry.

4.2. Procedure

Nineteen students were assigned to control groups receiving traditional lecture-discussion instruction and
nineteen students were assigned to experimental groups which were engaged in an active methodology in dealing
with grammar contents and participating in blogs to practise writing skills.
To measure linguistic knowledge acquisition a pre-test was administered to the students at the beginning of the
semester and an achievement test was conducted at the end of the semester as well as a questionnaire to get feedback
on their motivation and their perceptions and attitudes towards the course.
Let’s refer to the procedure followed by the students in the experimental groups. These groups attended
introductory tutorials in which they were oriented and given guidelines on collaborative work, blog interaction and
formal writing. Students worked in groups of four. The size of the group is important to reach maximum
performance from each and every one of the students. In small groups there is better cohesion, intimacy, safety and
trust (Pérez-Sabater et al., 2009). The different groups of students got involved with their comments posted to some
blogs of their choice. When doing, so they were mostly concerned in using the English language with accuracy. The
teacher plays an important role in providing guidance to students to ensure their active and rich engagement in the
activity. Students were required to share roles in the group: secretary-coordinator, facilitator, language expert and
web expert so as to make sure that there be equal contribution. The profile of the language experts was carefully
selected by the teacher not only on account of their higher command of the language but their capacity and
willingness to assume the responsibility of solving linguistic problems of their peers and helping in their language
development. The exchange of entries and the feedback received in the blogs were pasted in the university intranet
forum making them available to all the students participating in the experiment.
As for assessment, following Campbell (2005), the teacher tracked the quantity of group posts and comments,
considered the quality of writing and effort and assigned grades accordingly. All the posts and comments were later
analyzed in class for linguistic accuracy. The teacher also organized in-class discussion encouraging participation
reflecting on the content of the flow of messages exchanged, what they had learned through specific entries and the
impact of the entry on its readers. Linguistic proficiency and student creative expression was also rewarded in the
portfolios that the students later handed in, in which their feedback on the experience was stated.

5. Results and discussion

The time spent in working on the blogs was quite long, not only writing, posting entries and replying to
comments, but reading the loads of information contained in blogs as well, nevertheless they perceived high
satisfaction on their participation. In class all the posts and replies were commented and analyzed both from their
linguistic point of view and from their information content which frequently generated interesting in-class
discussion. Groups critically assessed their own work and their classmates’.
On average, each group posted 20 comments. Let’s see an example:
Carmen, Juan and Pilar wrote:
"We’re a group of students of Library and Information Science. We are interested on the RDA implementation.
We think that the new standard of cataloguing digital resources is useful because it has a lot of advantages. {...}.
However, an alternative is interesting for those professionals who disagree with the implementation of RDA.
Cooperative Cataloging Wiki initiative is a good alternative because any professional can contribute to the
updating of the rules and it is also supervised by a group of experts. In conclusion, we support the RDA
implementation even though we understand that some professionals may prefer an alternative”.
To assess the language progress of the students the quantitative data of the results of the test administered at the
beginning and end of the semester was analyzed:
776 Begoña Montero-Fleta and Carmen Pérez-Sabater / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2 (2010) 773–777

Table 1. Mean scores

Pre-Test Post-Test
Experimental groups 55.6% 78.1%
Control Groups 56.25 71.9%

Regarding our first hypothesis, if writing skills and fluency were more likely to show improvement by active
participation in blogs than by using traditional teaching, results partly confirm it as the analysis of our data shows
just a slight difference: the students in the experimental groups obtained a slightly higher score than the control
groups (78.1% vs. 71.9%) in post-test on language proficiency. Post-tests showed considerably more fluency in
conveying idea. Although they wrote texts slightly more carefully, they reflected much more accuracy in the use of
vocabulary to express their thoughts. The grammatical improvements basically involved the tense system, use of
phrasal verbs and linking devices. The success of the activity may be based on the fact that students have undergone
more exposure to the language which has contributed to make them more proficient.
As for our second hypotheses, i.e., if making the students get involved in blogs may have an increase in
motivation, results largely confirm it. On the one hand, higher class attendance and improved participation in class
in terms of hands raised seemed to reflect the satisfaction of the student. On the other hand, the qualitative analysis
of the results obtained from the questionnaires also confirmed the high motivation of the students engaged in active
participation in blogs, developing authentic communications of their field of studies, being able to express their own
ideas in a foreign language and participating in a social network based on their professional interests. Participants
have shown a strong preference for blogging versus previous traditional writing. Writing for a purpose, doing it for
an authentic audience and realising that their voice is heard by others in distant parts of the globe has made them
feel high motivation, as two students put it:
Manuel wrote:
“I have enjoyed the reading and writing about topics of my profession and I think I have learnt a lot”.
José Javier wrote:
“I think that this experience is very useful because it allows us to learn how to express our opinion in English
more clearly and to focus on the details of the articles so as to be able to participate in the blog”.
Students were kept excited when trying to communicate reflections on knowledge recently acquired in specific
subjects of their studies and when expressing their opinions on the posts exchanged with other groups and the
feedback sent from the blog. When posting blogs, students were mostly concerned in using the English language
accurately. They felt greatly motivated at the reception of an answer to their comment and complained when they
got zero reactions from the audience. They sometimes justified the lack of feedback from other bloggers in the
written portfolios and tried to transmit their learning experience as can be seen in the following example:
Ismail wrote in his portfolio:
“Zero comments received to our post nº16”. Post: “As far as I’m concerned, I think it is a very good idea. In fact,
in the European Union, there are a lot of countries, a lot of languages. And, this initiative could enable every
country to share the same information and to move countries closer in their knowledge and in their culture. I think
that it is important to have in a structure such as the EU this kind of initiative. As a matter of fact, by sharing things,
the EU countries are more united”. Ismail reflected: “The possible cause of getting no answer to our post nº16 is
that we used expressions such as ‘I think it is a very good idea’, ‘this initiative could enable’ and ‘I think that it is
important’. So we used only approval expressions. On the contrary, here is a comment to which we have got 3
answers:
Post n. 19. “Hello, the Mangas take an important part of the Japanese culture. I think that it will make Japanese
people know more of their country and their history. But I don't see how it can be a field of study. I mean the Manga
is obviously full of historical and cultural reference but this kind of novels doesn't contain details about the history.
There is only little information that everybody knows. So, I don't understand why some people can make the Manga
a field of study. Can anybody explain it to me? Thank you”.
As Ismail pointed out: “So, this time we have used these expressions: ‘I think it is a very good idea…’, ‘I don’t
see how’, ‘I don’t understand why’ and ‘can anybody explain it to me’. So, we have used negative expressions and
this is why three replies were received”.
 Begoña Montero-Fleta and Carmen Pérez-Sabater / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2 (2010) 773–777 777

5. Conclusions
Our results have confirmed the benefits of blogging in the language classroom mentioned by Arena (2008)
regarding the students’ choice of more appropriate language, the addition of new perspectives to the their thoughts,
and the motivational aspect of realizing that one's voice echoes in distant parts of the globe. Writing for a purpose,
i.e. self-expression and self-reflection in blogs for professional development has encouraged them to produce
language more fluently. They are also more concerned on correctness which leads us to consider blogs a potential
tool for the development of foreign language linguistic skills. Although the purpose of the activity aimed at
improving writing skills, readings skills are likely to have also improved because of the intensive exposure to
reading in the blogs which has promoted a relationship with a real audience beyond just the instructor and for a real
purpose. As Felix (2003) and Thorne & Pyane (2005) suggest, creative guidance from the instructor and
collaboratively chosen activities are needed to integrate online writing in the university syllabus.
This new learning environment and the meaningful context have raised high motivation in the students and will
help them become life-long and more efficient learners. As one of our students points out: “… getting involved in a
blog about information science has been a great experience. We think that reading this kind of blogs is a great way
to be informed about the latest news on our discipline. We’ve found very interesting things and we are proud about
our participation on the blog because it has contributed to improve our English and to increase our knowledge on
the matter”.
Further research will include a study on knowledge retention when using weblogs in the language classroom.

References
Aharony, N. (2009). Librarians and information scientisits in the blogosphere: An exploratory analysis. Library & Information Science research,
31, 174-181.
Arena, C. (2008). Blogging in the language classroom: It doesn't simply happen. TSEL-EJ. Teaching English as a second or Foreign
Language,1,4. http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/past-issues/volume11/ej44/ej44a3/
Campbell, A. (2005). Weblog applications for EFL/ESL: Classroom blogging, two fundamental approaches. TSEL-EJ. Teaching English as a
second or Foreign Language, 9,3. http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej35/m1.html
Kern, R. (1995). Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers: Effects on quantity and characteristics of language production.
The Modern Language Journal, 79. 457- 476.
Hewett, B. (2000). Characteristics of interactive oral and computer-mediated peer group talk and its influence on revision. Computers and
Composition, 17, 3, 265-288.
Felix, U. (2003). Teaching languages online: Deconstructing the myths. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 19, 1, 118-138.
Farmer, J. (2004). Communication dynamics: Discussion boards, weblogs and the development of communities of inquiry in online learning
environments. In R. Atkinson, C. McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer, & R. Phillips (Eds), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st
ASCILITE Conference (pp. 274-283). http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/farmer.html.
Huffaker, D. (2005). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom. AACE Journal, 13, 2, 91-98.
Montes-Alcalá, C. (2007). Blogging in Two Languages: Code-Switching in Bilingual Blogs. In J. Holmquist, A. Lorenzino, & L.i Sayahi, (Eds.),
Selected Proc. of the Third Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, (pp. 162-170). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Murray, L, Hourigan, T., & Jeanneau, C., (2007). Blog writing integration for academic language learning purposes: Towards an assessment
framework. Ibérica, 14, 9-32.
Pellettieri, J. (2000). Negotiation in cyberspace: The role of chatting in the development of grammatical competence. In M. Warschauer, & R.
Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 59-86). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Pinkman, K. (2005). Using blogs in the foreign language classroom. The JALT CALL Journal,. 1,1, 12-24.
Pérez-Sabater, C.; Montero-Fleta, B. & Rising, B. (2009). Short and Long-Term Retention and Student Motivation Using Active Learning and
Simulation Techniques. Learn to Game, Game to Learn. Proceedings of the 40th Conference of the Simulation and Gaming Association.
Radzikowska, M. (2004). Conversation by blog: Expanding personal technology into the academic community.
http://www.ualberta.ca/COMSPACE/coneng/html/papers/MRadzikowska.pdf
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful Web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Sun, Y. (2009). Voice blog: An exploratory study of language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 13, 2, 88-103.
Thorne, S.L. & Payne, J.S. (2005). Evolutionary trajectories, Internet-mediated expressions, and language education. CALICO Journal, 22, 3,
371-397.
Warlick, D. (2005). Classroom blogging: A teacher’s guide to the blogosphere. Raleigh, NC: Lulu.com.
Warschauer, M. (1996). Computer-assisted language learning: An introduction. In Fotors S., (Ed.), Multimedia language teaching, (pp. 3-20).
Tokyo: Logos International.
Williams, J.R. & Jacobs, J. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of
Educational Technology, 20, 2, 232-247.