The document discusses research on implementing student blogging to improve English skills. It details trials using class blogs and Twitter in 2011-2012. Results found blogging helped language learning when paired with classwork and feedback. Challenges included technical issues and reluctance to communicate freely due to mistakes. Future studies aim to facilitate more spontaneous interaction and analyze improvements in students' English abilities over time.

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CONAPLIN 5
September 24-25, 2012
Mari Yamauchi
Michael Stout
Effective Implementation
of Student Blogging

2. +
Main goals
Goals of our 3-year research (2011-2013)*
n To
build an online learning environment
where students can use English for
communicative purposes
n To
propose practicable ways to integrate out-
of-class activities with in-class activities, esp.,
where there is limited access to ICT in the
classroom
*Supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (2011-2013,
#23520696) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Background: Insufficient exposure
to English outside school
Q: How often do you
use English outside
the classroom?
(May 2012, N=135)
Need to provide
more
opportunities to
productively/
communicatively
use English

4. +
Student blogging/tweeting
(2011 & 2012)

5. +
Expected benefits
n Productive/communicative use of English is
expected to:
n Enhance language learning
n Promote motivation to learn English
n Prepare students for authentic communication
n Easy
for a language teacher to set up a blogging
environment where students can experience using
English outside the classroom

6. +
Expected challenges
n Students’ shyness or fear about making mistakes or
expressing themselves
n Their relatively limited experience in using computers
n Limited access to ICT in language classrooms

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Strong preference for using
mobile phones
Q: Which do you use more often to to the following, a
computer or your mobile phone? (May 2012, N=135)

8. +
Toward practical solutions
(2011 & 2012)
Class blog
Twitter
(Blogger)
Classroom
Regular classroom Computer lab
setting
Age 2nd year (19-20) 1st year (18-19)
Class size 26-27 18-19
Level Pre-intermediate (approx. CEFR A2-B1)
Compulsory Compulsory
Course
General English Writing

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Toward practical solutions
(2011 & 2012)
Class blog
Twitter
(Blogger)
Classroom
Regular classroom Computer lab
setting
Age 2nd year (19-20) 1st year (18-19)
To help students To facilitate
Class size 26-27 18-19
get used to authentic,
Level productive use of (approx.spontaneous,
Pre-intermediate CEFR A2-B1)
English & online interactive use of
+ Inter-school activities
Compulsory English
Compulsory
Course
blogging
General English Writing

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Twitter trials
2011 2012
Twitter accounts created in class
Twitter list widget to facilitate S-S interaction
Teacher response to get students to start interaction
Supplementary & optional Compulsory
Neither assessed nor
Rewarded (Stamp Card)
rewarded
Occasional use of Twitter Periodical use of Twitter
in class in class
Ss instructed to mention,
retweet, post links & follow
previous students

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Twitter trials
2011 2012
May - October May - July
38 tweets/student
Tweeting 22 tweets/student
(H: 102)
2 tweets a week/ 1 tweet a week/
student student
Communication Twitter preferred : Twitter preferred :
tool 60% 83%
Communicating Interested : 67% Interested : 44%
in English (4.73) (4.22)
Highly motivated
Less motivated
to learn/use
Informal to learn/use English
English
observation
Good learner Less friendly
relationship atmosphere

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Student feedback (2011 trial)
n I
was able to learn English text abbreviations through
Twitter, which enabled me to post messages using short
sentences. I use Twitter more regularly than other
online tools.
n I
spend more time reading other people’s tweets than I
tweet myself. It was interesting to be able to catch a
glimpse of people’s daily lives in other countries. I like
using it as I think posting comments in English is also
good for improving my English.
n I
find Twitter interesting as I can learn what other
people are thinking or feeling. I use Twitter because I
want to let out my opinions and feelings.

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Blogging using a shared
account
2011 Spring 2011 Fall 2012 Spring
Blog 1: T & S use Blog 1: T use Blog 1: T use
+ Blog 2: interschool Blog 2: S use/in class Blog 2: S use/
(later) Blog 3: S use/interschool in class & interschool
A shared account used + A class set of iPads
Posting-by-email introduced
Labels used to identify the authors
Student posts integrated with class work
+ Corrective feedback
Errors from the posts covered in class
given in comments
Pair/group work used to help build a + Students randomly
community paired up every time

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Blogging using a shared
account
2011 Spring 2011 Fall 2012 Spring
Overall Satisfied: 52% Satisfied: 66%
satisfaction (3.6) (4.17)
Blogging helps
improve English Yes: 85% Yes: 84% (4.6) Yes: 83% (4.7)
skills
Easy to use: Easy to use: 66% Easy to use: 74%
Posting by email
66% (4.2) (3.7) (4.1)
Commenting on Easy to use: Easy to use: 56% Easy to use: 70%
the web 67% (4.2)
(3.7) (3.9)
Communication Blog preferred: Blog preferred:
tool 59% 74%

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Blogging using a shared
account
2011 Spring 2011 Fall 2012 Spring
*Liked the way Mistakes to be Mistakes to be corrected
posts were used corrected in red explicitly (in Japanese) in
in class: 67% in the post: 42% the comment: 61%
Corrective feedback
*Mistakes to be Mistakes to be covered in
to be included in the
corrected: 41% class (Worksheet): 22%
comment: 27%
Private feedback to Mistakes to be corrected
be given (email/ implicitly (in English) in
paper): 27% the comment: 17%

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Overall satisfaction with blogging
& relevant factors
Overall satisfaction with
1 2 3 4 5 6 Ave.
blogging
Perceived helpfulness of
2 2 4.33 4.25 5.57 5.75 4.74
blogging in English
Satisfaction with pair work 2 2 3.5 4 5 5.75 4.3
Satisfaction with the use of
iPads for hands-on 2 2 3 4.5 4.71 5.25 4.09
instructions
Perceived ease of use of
2 1 3.67 3.5 4.71 5.5 4.09
the posting method
Perceived ease of use of
2 1 2.75 4.86 5.75 3.91
the commenting method 3.17

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Student feedback
(2011-2012 trials)
n Expressing myself in English was challenging but helpful.
n I feel I understand what it’s like to use English in everyday life.
n Now I feel more confident about writing in English.
n Blogging helped me learn English, so I want to keep blogging.
n I felt uncomfortable blogging first but I enjoyed it later on as I got
used to it.
n It’d be great if we post whenever we like, in addition to assigned
tasks.
n I was happy that communication with my classmates increased
through blogging.
n Sometimes I wasn’t sure which blog to post a comment and didn’t
post anything.

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Discussion: pedagogical benefits
n Providing
opportunities for productive/
communicative use of English is beneficial
(motivational).
n Students found productive use of English and sharing their
output was helpful (though challenging) to improve their
English.
n Productive/communicative tasks help them realize English
is a tool for communication, not just as another subject to
study.
n Students’ output should be analyzed to see if/how their
English is improved through these productive activities.

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Discussion: learner community
n Developing a learner community helps increase
participation in online and face-to-face
communication.
n Pair/group work in class facilitate this.
n As they get used to sharing their writing online, they will
become more active and communicative in the classroom.

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Discussion: accessibility
n Accessibility of a platform is crucial to get students to
participate in the online activities.
n Mobile phone compatibility should be taken into consideration
when choosing a platform. Twitter can be a good choice if
creating an account can be done in class.
n Using posting by email helps get students started easily in a
classroom with limited access to ICT.
n Hands-on experience using ICT tools in class is desirable to
help less experienced students to get started.
n Students’ perceived usefulness of the online activities can
be a stronger factor to keep students motivated than their
perceived ease of use of the online tools.

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Discussion: corrective feedback
n Giving
students opportunities to express what
they want to express, with appropriate feedback
to their output, can facilitate their learning.
n Using language exercise
worksheets converted from
their posts is a less threatening
form of “feedback” .
n Students also want more
straightforward corrective
feedback (e.g., to have mistakes
corrected in red in their posts).
n Explicit feedback can hinder
spontaneous interaction.

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Discussion: balanced activities
n Balancing teacher-controlled/student-centered (obligatory/
optional) activities is a key to successful implementation of
student blogging
n Gradual transition form more teacher-controlled activities
to more student-centered activities would be desirable
n Posting by email using a shared account is a great way to
help students get used to sharing their writing with each
other on the student blog, and to using English productively.
n Suitable for assigned work, helping prepare
inexperienced/shy students for communicative activities.
n Not very suitable for informal, spontaneous interaction:
tracking and editing problem can be frustrating for those
who got used to blogging and want to do more. Twitter/
Facebook will be more suitable.

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To be examined
n Twitter/Facebook will be used independently/ in
combination of a class blog to see if/how these tools can
facilitate spontaneous, more natural communication (2012
Fall).
n Students’ blog posts (2011-2012) is now being analyzed to
see if/how their English is improved through online
productive/communicative activities.
n Survey items are going to be revised to see how motivational
factors correlate each other.
n A survey will be conducted to see if/how student attitudes
towards using technology and English will change over the
academic year