Vol 4. No. 1 Mar 2009
Journal of Cambridge Studies
64
The Application of Blog in English Writing
Di ZHANG
∗
Foreign Language School, Linyi Normal University
ABSTRACT
:
The purpose of this thesis is to introduce the blogging phenomenon and
the effectiveness of using blog exchanges for English writing. Firstly the thesis points
out that the blog is an effective tool for students to improve English writing on the basis
of the general observation of features and its
application in education. Then it further
described the influences of using blog for stud
ents in English writing. This thesis also
discussed how to engage students’ reflective learning in English writing through the
blog. There are also suggestions for the research on blogging and its potential for its
pedagogical application to education, especially the teaching of English writing.
KEY WORDS
:
blog, English writing, reflection
INTRODUCTION
A weblog (or blog) is a web-based space for writing where all the writing and editing of
information is managed through a web browser and is immediately and publicly available on the
Internet.(Godwin, 2003) There are a range of pot
ential applications of blogging technology in
education and training including for student an
d teacher communication, delivery of learning
materials, the provision of mentoring to students, collaboration and professional development for
teachers and knowledge management.
As blogs become more and more commonplace, educators in recent years have begun seeing the
potential of blogs for teaching and learning. At this time, using blogs in education, and
particularly in language
learning, is still novel and there have not been many formal studies done
on this topic.
Studies that have been published include res
earch on blogging’s effect
on learner autonomy,
increasing writing fluency, as a place for completing writing assignments (Ward, 2004; Wu,
2005), posting class materials (Johnson, 2004), and as a way to open communication with
∗
E-mail: qzd521@sina.com
Vol 4. No. 1 Mar 2009
Journal of Cambridge Studies
65
bloggers outside the classroom (Pinkman, 2005). From a simple search of the Internet, however,
it is clear that much language classroom blogging is occurring and simply not being reported in
English language learning literature. Research fo
cusing on blog use in English language classes
is still relatively scarce in the literature. The focu
s for this article is on the possibilities of blogs
as learning journals in the virtual teaching and learning environment.
This thesis encompasses five parts. The first part is an introduction. The second part is the
general observation about webblog in education. Th
e third part focuses on
the effectiveness of
using blog for English language
writing, according to the pr
evious research on students’
perceptions and reactions to the use of blogs. It points out three types of blog in English language
learning, and some
influences of using of blog for students
in English writing. The fourth part in
this thesis describes the reflections with blogs fo
r English language learning. The fifth part is the
conclusion.
THE BLOG IN EDUCATION
1. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ABOUT BLOG
The Oxford English Dictionary Online defines the noun
blog
as, “
2
. A frequently updated web
site
consisting of personal observations, excerpts from other sources, etc., typically run by a
single person, and usually with hyperlinks to ot
her sites; an online journal or diary.” On the
Internet, a blog is a personal or professional journal that is frequently updated and intended for
general public consumption. The essential characteristics of the blog are its journal form,
typically a new entry each day, and its informal
style. Many blogs include photo, audio, and
video information.
Even though weblogs have been in existence since the very beginning of the world wide web
itself, free, commercially available “blogging software” of the type discussed in this article
seems to have made its first appearance in July
of 1999 (Blood, 2000). Because of the relative
quickness and ease of publishing this type of software affords, the number of users has grown
tremendously since then, and we can now observe blogs being used for personal, educational,
journalistic, and commercial purposes.
A blog has geography just like any static website and
features several specific
“territories” that in
combination create the uniqueness that is a blog. It
can be discussed from following factors:
z
Blogs do not require sophisticated software
or knowledge of computer programming.
Everyone can participate with a variety of di
fferent easy-to-use, free blog accounts available on
the Internet.
z
Blogs offer several security options, such as limiting access for reading and posting. You
have total control of who is authorized to vi
ew sensitive or confiden
tial information with
Blogware’s easy to use security tools.
z
Many blogs are written by only one author and visitors can not make posts or edit posts,
but they can add comments to an existing post
.
Some blogs are community blogs, where all
members of the community can make posts.
z
Blogs disregard the status of users —all users are equal. Users often use screen names
rather than their actual names. Sometimes anonymous posting is allowed.
Vol 4. No. 1 Mar 2009
Journal of Cambridge Studies
66
z
Blog entries are generally writ
ten like a letter to someone: oriented to an audience,
informal, first person narrative. It often reflects
the author’s perspectives on issues. Comments to
posts can act as a form of discussion.
z
Blog entries can consist of text, images, audio, video, and hyperlinks. No need to email
photos anymore — just tell people to go to your
blog! Through hyperlinks, readers can be sent
directly to other resources. Hyperlinks are used as supporting information for any claim.
Hyperlinks can bring news, pictures, and other information from the outside to the blog’s
readers.
z
Blog has an auto-archiving feature. All posts are archived. Archives can be searched by
keyword, or by date. Reverse chronological order
of posts allows readers to identify the most
recent posts made since the last time they read the blog.
z
Blog content can be distributed via subscriptions. A person can subscribe to many blogs
and have the content aggregated in one place. RSS aggregators gather entries from many blogs
and send them to the reader instead of the reader going to each individual blog. Aggregators
allow readers to sort through more blog entries in less time.
2. THE APPLICATION OF BLOG IN EDUCATION
Since 2000, when Weblogs became widely availabl
e, a surprisingly wide variety of blog uses can
be observed in the higher education and research arenas. Researchers, academics, teachers, and
students are excitedly embracing blogs.
In the field of higher education in particul
ar, where online asynchronous communication has
taken place, either through email or discussion boa
rds, blogs have been used in a number of
different roles, which have both extended and in some instances replaced existing online
communication tools. This has indicated the usefulness of blogs as communication and/or
cognitive tools for specific disciplines, such as language learning, journalism and communication
studies, academic research, law, higher education in general, and teachers’ professional
development.
The Blog appears to enrich the learning experien
ce and provide an opportunity for learners to
shift from surface to deeper levels of learning. Surface learning is characterized by the approach
of the learner to complete only the minimum content necessary to meet assessment requirements,
whether that is learning only what may be presented in a test or simply attending and completing
activities. Conversely, deep learning is how learners stand back from an experience, seek out
connections between concepts, and contextualize m
eaning. In general, the blog as a learning
journal is a way of documenting learning and collecting information for self-analysis and
reflection, it helps students nurturance a habit to study from surface to deep.
3. RATIONALE FOR USING BLOG IN EDUCATION
There are numerous reasons for using blogs in education, such as to provide a real audience for
student writing, to provide extra reading pract
ice for students, to increase the sense of community in a class, to encourage students to part
icipate, to create an on
line portfolio of student
written work (Stanley, 2005). The novelty factor creates student interest in starting to use blogs.
It is claimed that blogs work best when learners
get into the habit of using them. If learners are
not encouraged, blogs can quickly be abandoned.
community in a class, to encourage students to part
icipate, to create an on
line portfolio of student
written work (Stanley, 2005). The novelty factor creates student interest in starting to use blogs.
It is claimed that blogs work best when learners
get into the habit of using them. If learners are
not encouraged, blogs can quickly be abandoned.