How can the use of blog software facilitate the writing process of English language learners?

• Published in: Computer assisted language learning 2010-07, Vol.23 (3), p.183-197
• Main Authors: Arslan, Recep Ş., Şahin-Kızıl, Aysel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: blog; blogging; Blogs; CAI; College students; Computer assisted instruction; Computer Software; Control Groups; Electronic Publishing; English (Second Language); English as a second language; Experimental Groups; Foreign Countries; Instructional Effectiveness; Language instruction; process-oriented writing instruction; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Teaching methods; Turkey; Web Sites; Writing Instruction; Writing Processes
• ISSN: 0958-8221; 1744-3210
• DOI: 10.1080/09588221.2010.486575

Blog use may offer instructors a helpful tool for teaching writing at the tertiary level in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) classrooms. This article reports on a quasi-experimental study regarding the effect of blog-centered writing instruction on students' writing performance. Fifty intermediate English students at a Turkish university participated in the study. The control group (n = 23) received in-class process-oriented writing instruction and the experimental group (n = 27) integrated blogs into their writing processes by using a blog software. Based on the analyses of students' written work, the findings suggest that blog-integrated writing instruction might have resulted in a greater improvement in students' writing performance than merely in-class writing instruction. The study therefore supports the conclusion that English as a Foreign Language practitioners' use of blog software has potential to promote more effective writing instruction.