Blogging in foreign language education

Blogging in Foreign Language Education - Carla Minchilli
Universidad Tecnológica Nacional -Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado Técnico

UNIVERSIDAD TECNOLÓLOGICA NACIONAL
Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado Técnico

ICT Applied to English Teaching

Student: Carla Minchilli

Lecturer: Paula Ledesma

Course: 4.691

Year: 2.010


Blogging in Foreign Language Education
Carla Minchilli
Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado Técnico

Over the last few years, Foreign Language Education (FLT) has been largely
influenced by all the technological applications that continue to appear on the
Internet. Since the possibilities for communication, collaboration and interaction on
the net have unquestionably expanded, foreign language learning also has possibilities
to change. Actually, even though Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) was
born with the computer, it has grown from the initial use of the Web 1.0 to the
application of Web 2.0 tools.
One of the most well-known members of Web 2.0 are the so called Weblogs,
also known as Blogs. They are one of are one of the oldest Web 2.0 technological
advances and were in principle conceived of as just journals. However, nowadays,
blogs contribute to society in many ways as news, research, business sites, and still as
personal online journals. In this view, this new communicative tool is of interest in
education, particularly in FLT.
Weblogs are not only websites that are updated regularly and organized
chronologically from most recent entry backwards, but also sites where users are
allowed to post images, audio and video files. In most cases, blogs allow readers to
make comments in connection with the posts and users can embed hyperlinks and
trackbacks to and from other web content. (The extensive use of multimedia in some
blogs has created new kinds of blogs like audio blogs, video blogs, photoblogs, and
social networking sites. Following Herring, Scheidt, Bonus, and Wright (2004, p. 10)
blogs are specifically unique in three aspects: their frequent updates, asymmetric
exchange features, and limited use of multimedia.
As regards the pedagogical implications and the uses of blogs within the
language classroom, Campbell (2003) pointed to three different ways to use blogs for
language learning — as a tutor’s website for students, as an individual writing space
for students, and as a collaborative class writing space. More recent studies of blogs in
language learning include focused empirical studies with clear objectives. Pinkman
(2005) wrote about using blogs as a path toward autonomous learners, which she
explained as “assisting learners with developing their language skills outside the
classroom” and including “both the ideas of autonomy as well as strategy instruction”.
Following this line of thought many language educators may intuitively feel that
with blogs they can achieve many traditional goals of teaching writing, reading, and
culture, arguably in more interesting ways than in the past. In theory, blogs offer
promise in several key areas of language education including motivation, authenticity,
collaboration, and literacy. Firstly, blogs offer learners ownership and help them to
develop an individual voice. Secondly, they are considered to provide authenticity as a
communicative medium, both as reading texts as well as a writing tool. Thirdly, blogs
shows great potential in their use as a communicative and interactive tool. Finally,
another positive aspect of webblogs is their potential enhancement of technological
literacy. Warschauer (2002) describes electronic literacy as follows: electronic literacy
includes computer literacy (i.e., comfort and fluency in keyboarding and using
computers), information literacy (i.e., the ability to find and critically evaluate online


information), multimedia literacy (i.e., the ability to produce and interpret complex
documents comprising texts, images and sounds), and computer-mediated
communication literacy (i.e., knowledge of the pragmatics of individual and group
online interaction).
Although the application of this tool offers promise for enhancing language
learning and it represents a rich environment for learning, what is critical when talking
about blogs is its use. Proficient instructor’s guidance and the context for blog use
remain vital ingredients to achieve effectiveness. Moreover, to mention any Web 2.0
technologies in isolation is not realistic. We should bare in mind that different media
and applications are blended together for communicative purposes. Web 2.0 is not
only about people interacting through technology, but it is also about different
technologies interacting and integrating with each other – a major characteristic of
weblogs.

The future of Technology in ELT

Since the pace of technological development and change is beginning to
accelerate with the advent of more user-friendly tools and software, educators should
be trained since keeping up-to-date is essential. According to Gavin Dudeney and Nicky
Hockly (2007) what is expected to happen is more online training combining Virtual
Learning Environments with Web 2.0 tools and other virtual environments which make
students fell that they “actually are there”.
Not only the trends in language learning are likely to continue changing but also
the way in which students learn languages. Even tough we can imagine a near future
with students no longer attending classes but undertaking courses via the Internet,
what is coming next is uncertain.


Works Cited

• Dudeney, G & Hockly, N (2007) How to Teach English with Technology. England:
Pearson Lognman

• Thomas, M. (2009) Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language
Learning. Hersey, New York: Information Science Reference

Blogging in foreign language education

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