Using Blogging and Microblogging in EFL Classrooms

It goes without saying that using technologies in EFL/ESL classrooms is indispensable today if we want to keep up with current trends in teaching and students' interests.

Today I would like to write about blogging and microblogging, and what implications they might have for teaching English as a second or foreign language.

Blogs are really a fantastic way of sharing resources and ideas, learning through interaction with others. I fell more in love with the practice of blogging after reading the chapter on Weblogs from the book "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" by Will Richardson. I like how Richardson makes a distinction between blogging and 'journaling'. Journaling is just the accounting of the events of the day or one's feelings. Blogging engages thinking. Blogs give us the opportunity to follow various weblogs and websites that contain information we are interested in by the help of the so-called RSS feeds. It is just so much easier to collect all the information you need on your aggregator rather than visiting websites or blogs separately in a desperate search for what you need. Real blogging entails a comprehensive process of reading different sources, synthesizing the information and writing a reflection on what has been read. So, if we look at this process from the perspective of an EFL teacher, it is difficult to think of a better and more authentic way of teaching students to scan, analyze, synthesize information. Is there a better way of developing students' critical and analytic thinking skills?

As mentioned by Richardson, there are a number of ways in which blogs can be used in the classroom. They can serve as filing cabinets, e-portfolios and simply as a collaborative space for the instructor and for the students. Blogs are also useful in terms of ensuring transparency and accountability. The school administration, the students' parents will be able to keep record of the learning process. Blogging is much more interactive than writing on paper. It is in fact a conversation, rather than a monologue. When writing a blog post the learners know that they have a much larger audience. I think this might motivate them to approach the writing process with more care and more responsibility.

EFL teachers should clearly realize that students do not have to learn only in the classroom. The technology allows them to be self-learners, and blogs could allow teachers to guide the learning process. For instance, we as teachers can connect students to resources that we believe can teach them. We can suggest RSS feeds to which students can connect and withdraw necessary information. One of the most important ways in which blogs differ from writing on paper is that you have the option of adding links, pictures, videos. Students can read, listen, reflect in written form or orally (for instance, recording themselves speaking).
It is also important to determine the age and level of students with whom I would use blogs. I wouldn't introduce blogs to young learners as it is unreasonable to demand deep reflections from young learners who haven't developed critical and analytic thinking skills yet. Besides, they might not have necessary computer literacy yet to be able to handle it. It could be a stressful experience for young learners who are accustomed to routine activities. As for the level, i believe it is possible to introduce blogging at all levels of language proficiency as far as the learners are old enough to be able to reflect on what they hear or read. However, the optimal level for introducing blogging would be at least the pre-intermediate level. At this level of language proficiency students already have enough linguistic knowledge to be able to express themselves more or less freely. Of course, only short simple reflections would work in this case. What refers to evaluation, I consider that the teacher should make comments on content only. In this case there might be an issue connected with disregarding accuracy. To solve this problem, the teacher can comment on the most salient grammar errors by sending a private message to the student or during the individual conference with the student. otherwise, the teacher can point out the most common errors in the classroom without mentioning any names.

Microblogging tools, like Facebook and Twitter, can also be effective. However, I think they are more efficient for developing the learners' sociocultural competence, as the research also shows. I don't think that I would use Twitter or Facebook in my teaching as I don't see a clear link between using these tools and developing the students' linguistic competence.

So, I am definitely ready to introduce blogging to my own EFL class. In fact, me and my partner for the internship class are going to introduce blogging in our pre-intermediate EFL classroom right during the next class. Later, we are going to interview students to see their attitudes towards blogging. Those students who are not enthusiastic about keeping blgos will be allowed to write on paper. Anyway, they will be reminded about the advantages of blogging that writing on paper lacks. Let us see what happens.