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Methods of using blogs for foreign
language learning classroom
The
proliferation of the information and communication technology has provided
university educators with the technological tools that can be implemented as
pedagogical instruments in the classrooms. Language educators have employed
various resources to equip their students with the knowledge and skills that
can make them more autonomous and independent in their learning. It is believed that learners can get the most out of
the learning environment if they can take responsibility for their own learning
both inside and outside the classrooms. The current advancements in
the information and communication technology have thus provided the learners
with various tools in the form of computer-based resources to help them take
charge of their own learning. Nowadays blogs have become progressively popular
as an authentic and constructive learning tool especially in the language
classrooms [5, 172-173]. This learning approach, also known as on-line journal
or web diary, is an Internet-based resource which was initially used by blog writers
as personal journals or diaries. Currently, however, blogs are being used to
express and share thoughts, ideas and information with the wider public. Blogs are user-friendly websites which are easy to
maintain and frequently updated by their owners. As a social networking and
medium for communication, blogs enabled the users to interact not only with the
computer, but also with other bloggers. Lately, blog is gradually
being used as a pedagogical tool in the classrooms and it is deemed to assume a
more communicative role than the less interactive applications [4, 98-102]. Through
its newly-found status as an educational tool, blogging allows the students to
reflect on their perceptions of the learning materials and on their own
learning process [5, 182-183]. Blogs help students explore and assimilate new
ideas, create links between the familiar and unfamiliar and explain things to
the self before explaining them to others. Different studies have attested to
the valuable role played by blogs in enhancing students’ language learning
skills. In a study on the use of blogging as a platform for english as a second
language learning [3, 61-62], the findings indicated that various levels of
learning activities took place as a result of the use of blogs whereby the
students were encouraged to communicate and interact with their peers using
different language patterns. The use of blogs in language classroom has also
been found to be valuable in promoting collaborative knowledge-building
activities among students. As an on-line journal, blog allows the students to
participate actively in their own learning, determine their learning goals and
share their knowledge in order to develop their own understanding of the target
learning activities. On the part of the students, it can be concluded from the
findings that blogging has promoted interactive discussion among students and simplified
their collective understanding of the target learning activities. On the part
of the teachers, responding to the students’ warm-up blogs activities can
assist them to regulate the content of the lessons and thus effectively guide
the classroom activities. Though there are already existing studies and reviews
on the use of blogs as an educational tool [2; 6], further studies still need
to be done especially with respect to the use of blogs in the second or foreign
language learning classroom. This is because as a computer-based resource, the
use of blogs as a teaching and learning tool is relatively new and it has only
of late been gaining popularity. Furthermore, studies on the use of blogs in
the second or foreign language classrooms are still lacking especially the ones
which involved English as a second language low proficiency learners. The use
of blog in the classroom can be said to embrace the philosophy of social
constructivism whereby the learners acquire new knowledge of the subject matter
through discussions, and further expand this newly-acquired knowledge by
applying it in different situations. These processes allow the learners to
become active participants in developing their own understanding of important
concepts and achieve their learning goals.
The
integration of the blogs in the English as a second language classrooms provides
the opportunity for the students to take charge of their own learning in
collaborative manner, sets their own learning goals, develops new knowledge,
improves their language skills, builds self-confidence and provides fresh
dimension to life in the classrooms. The use of blogs as classroom application
provides avenue for the students to be more independent and autonomous in their
learning - a skill which they can apply beyond the classroom. When students are able to engage with the target
language more frequently and autonomously, it will give them extra
opportunities to acquire the language on their own. Although the implementation of
blogs as classroom application would increase the teachers’ administrative load
associated with the nature of the task [1,
217-219], the benefits to be gained are worthy of the time and effort that have
to be spent to integrate this technology in the learning environment.
˳òåðàòóðà:
1. Hourigan T., «Using
blogs to help language students to develop reflective learning strategies», Australian
journal of educational technology, 26(2), 2010
2. Nadzrah A.B.,
Kemboja I., «Using blogs to encourage ESL students», Australian journal of
educational technology, 21(2), 2009
3. Nadzrah A.B., «Blogging
as a platform for language learning», European journal of social sciences, 9(4),
2009
4. Pinkman K., «Using
Blogs in the Foreign Language Classroom», Australian journal of educational
technology, 9(3), 2006
5. Seitzinger J., «Blogs,
podcast, and wikis as constructivist learning tools», Learning Solutions, 2006
6. Yih-Rueh J., «Learning
by Blogging», The JALT CALL Journal, 18(1), 2008