Blogging: A way to foster EFL writing

Abstract

This article reports on the results of an action-research project carried out with agroup of first year university students from an “English Program” at a public university in Bogotá. The project aimed to gain insights into EFL writing and to analyze the role that feedback played in the process of writing. The experience was implemented through the interaction of two groups of students, one from Colombia and the other from Canada, who interacted regularly by means of using blogs. Students were provided with three different spaces: a personal blog in which they wrote about topics of personal interest, a group blog that allowed students to work and write cooperatively, and a debate blog that required the use of argumentative writing. The findings of this research suggest that EFL writing is greatly developed when students feel part of a community to interact with and to share similar interests and language learning goals which are mediated, in this case, by technology. It was also found that by writing in blogs students not only developed their writing but more importantly, students have the possibility to portray and show their own selves through the written pieces they post. Finally, the feedback was found to be beneficial in EFL writing as it was a crucial ingredient that gave student-writers tools to scaffold in the writing process.

The use of new technologies among in-service Colombian ELT teachers *

“…The use of new technologies among in-service Colombian eLT teachers This is a study that is still in the process of examining the use of ICT / Web 2.0 tools in the classroom among graduate students in the Master's Program in English Language Teaching for Autonomous Learning Environments. Teachers have reported using Web 2.0 tools in a number of ways in their classrooms, thereby resulting in improvements in their language skills, similar to studies conducted by Arias (2012), Cantor (2009), Clavijo, Hine & Quintero (2008 and Quintero (2008) where they reported an improved command of English both orally and written.…”

Fostering EFL learners´ literacies through local inquiry in a multimodal experience

“…Her findings suggest that EFL writing is greatly developed when students feel part of a community they interact with, share similar interests and language learning goals with, and when that writing is mediated by technology. Her results also show that by writing in blogs, students developed literacy practices and had the possibility to portray their selves through the written pieces they posted (Quintero, 2008). These findings support Somerville's (2010) statement on the double literacies acquired when using EFL and multimodality.…”

“…Somerville (2010) highlights the double literacy acquired by students in the use of EFL and in multimodality for communicative purposes. Quintero's (2008) local study in an EFL classroom in Colombia investigated a group of first year university students' blog interactions in EFL. Her teaching aimed at promoting writing and communication skills in EFL supported by blogs.…”

“…(p.10) Images, videos, music, and technology devices became the means students used to present a multimodal vision of literacy practices. These practices mediated by technology constituted a way to break with the bidirectional dynamic between teacher and learner and expand to a broader social interaction for building understanding with the other (Quintero, 2008).…”

La influencia de las TIC en el desarrollo de las habilidades de escritura a través de una plataforma en línea

“…The term writing is defined in several ways; for example, Quintero (2008) states that "it is a sublime moment when words come into our minds and we struggle to connect and put them together to give meaning to the thousands of ideas that are running into our heads" (p. 10). On the other hand, Mitchell (cited in Quintero, 2008) claims that "it is a process of discovering and creating meaning" (p. 39).…”