Weblogs for Developing English Academic Reading Skills of Pre-Master students

Abstract

The study examines the effect of the use of weblogs on developing academic reading skills of pre-master students. The sample of the study consisted of one hundred and forty (n=140) pre-Master students enrolled in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course, Faculty of Graduate Studies for Education, Cairo University. The study used the quasi-experimental design. Hence, the sample of the study (n=140) has been assigned to a control group (n=70) and an experimental group (n= 70). Both groups were taught by the researcher simultaneously for a period of three successive months, i.e. a semester. For the purpose of data collection, a pre-post academic reading test was designed and administered to both groups before and after the treatment. Results of the study provided an evidence on the positive effect of using the weblog on developing academic reading skills of pre-master students enrolled in the EAP course (n2= .987). Students' progress can be mainly attributed to the well-established elearning community provoked by the weblog. The study was limited to the use of one type of weblogs; namely tutor. More research is needed to investigate the implementation of other weblogs types in other EAP contexts.