MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY No2

PHAM MINH DUC

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF BLOG PEER FEEDBACK
FOR ENGLISH WRITING PRACTICE
(A CASE STUDY AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HANOI
PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY No2)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI HONG NHAT, M. A.

Hanoi, May 2013

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On completing the graduation paper, I owe profound indebtedness to so
many people, without whose contribution and spiritual support I would not have
accomplished it.
First of all, I would love to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor,
Nguyen Thi Hong Nhat M.A, for her scholarly instruction, critical comments,
great encouragement and valuable materials, without which the thesis would not
have been accomplished.
I am greatly indebted to 10 students from Course 37 in the academic year
of 2012-2013. They took part in my blog writing course and filled in my survey
questionnaires.
I wish to thank all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number
2, especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated

instruction during my years of university work.
I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their enthusiasm and
kindness helping me collects valuable reference documents and data for my
research.
Last but not least, I owe a debt of gratitude to my beloved family, for their
whole- hearted encouragement and endless support.

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ABSTRACT

Blog is one of the recent innovations that provides students with
opportunities to practice English writing outside the classroom. More and more
educators have applied this easy-to-use technology to classroom instruction and
language learning (Campbell, 2003; Johnson, 2004). Two main objectives of the
study are to evaluate the impact of blog peer feedback to facilitate EFL learner’
comments and revisions on writing task, and to find out the students’
perceptions toward the use of peer feedback on English writing. A total of ten
English major students of K37 at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi
Pedagogical University No2 participated in this study. Data are collected from
students through questionnaires and blog comments conducted during the
writing course in the second term, academic year 2013. Responses indicate that
students have a favorable perception of blog peer feedback in their writing
classroom. Findings suggest that learner-perceived benefits of using blogs
included increased interest and motivation to use English because of interaction
with, and feedback from students.

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
Title: Students’ perceptions of blog peer feedback for English writing
practice
(A case study at foreign language faculty in Hanoi Pedagogical University No2)

I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me
from any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that the report is
originally written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor.
Date submitted: May 2013
Student

Supervisor

Pham Minh Duc

Nguyen Thi Hong Nhat, M.A.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Blog

: Weblog

EFL

: English Foreign Language


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... iii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ................................................................. v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ vi

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale ....................................................................................................... 1
II. Research questions ...................................................................................... 3
III. Research objectives .................................................................................... 3
IV. Research scope ........................................................................................... 3
V. Research tasks ............................................................................................. 4
VI. Research methods ...................................................................................... 4
VII. Significance of the proposed research ..................................................... 4
VIII. Design of the research work ................................................................... 4

PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1. Literature review in brief .......................................................................... 5
I.2. Writing skill ............................................................................................... 6
I.2.1. Definition of writing ................................................................................. 6

I.2.2. The importance of writing ......................................................................... 7
I.2.3. Approaches for teaching writing ............................................................... 8
I.2.3.1. The Product Approach ........................................................................... 8

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I.2.3.2. The Process Approach ............................................................................ 9
I.3. Blogs ......................................................................................................... 10
I.3.1. General observations about blogs ............................................................ 10
I.3.1.1. Definition of blogs ............................................................................... 10
I.3.1.2. Types of blogs ...................................................................................... 12
I.3.1.3. Advantages of blogs ............................................................................. 14
I.3.2. Using blogs for English writing............................................................... 17
I.3.2.1. The effectiveness of blog in a English writing class ..............................17
I.3.2.2. Influences of using blog on students in English writing........................ 17
I.3.2.3. Helpful pointers to facilitate using of blogs for English writing ............19
I.3.2.4. Reflections with blog for English language learners in writing............. 20
I.4. Peer feedback ........................................................................................... 20
I.4.1. Definitions of peer feedback ................................................................... 20
I.4.2. Modes of peer feedback ...........................................................................21
I.4.3. Benefits of peer feedback ........................................................................ 24

CHAPTER TWO
METHODOLOGY
II.1. Research setting ...................................................................................... 27
II.1.1. Writing class .......................................................................................... 27
II.1.1.1. Overview .............................................................................................27
II.1.1.2. Participants ......................................................................................... 28
II.2. Data collection ........................................................................................ 28

II.2.1. Procedures of data collection ................................................................. 28
II.2.2. Instruments ............................................................................................ 30
II.2.2.1. Blog comments ................................................................................... 30
II.2.2.2. Reflection essays .................................................................................30
II.3. Data analysis ........................................................................................... 30

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CHAPTER THREE: THE RESULTS, DISCUSSIONS, FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
III.1. Blog peer feedback on EFL learners' comments and revisions .......... 31
III.1.1. Nature of comments ............................................................................. 31
III.1.2. Nature of revisions ............................................................................... 33
III.2. Students’ perceptions of blog peer feedback ....................................... 34
III.3. Findings ..................................................................................................35
III.4. Recommendations ................................................................................. 37

PART THREE
CONCLUSION
Summary .........................................................................................................39
Limitations .......................................................................................................40
Suggestions for further study .........................................................................40

REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 41
EDITING CHECKLIST ................................................................................ 45
APPENDIX A .................................................................................................. 45
APPENDIX B .................................................................................................. 46

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PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale
In recent times, the Internet has emerged as a prominent new technology.
The influence of such a powerful technological tool has pervaded all aspects of
the education, business, and economic sectors of our world (Singhal, 1997).
Regardless of whether people use the Internet or not, people must know clearly
about the fact that we have entered a new information age and the Internet is
here to stay. Because the use of the Internet is widespread in numerous fields
and domains, without a doubt, it also carries great potential for educational use,
specifically foreign language education. The technology has a lot of advantages
in learning foreign language. The use of technology helps teachers reach all
students in different ways. Technology relates the curriculum to life outside the
classroom, which involves students in worthwhile, interactional activities, such
as interpersonal exchanges, information gathering, and problem-solving
projects. Using different aspects of technology helps motivate students to learn.
Moreover, technology adds many dimensions of foreign language learning,
particularly with the use of multimedia programs. Technology helps to make the
study of foreign languages very practical and significant in students’ lives.
Students have the opportunities to work collaborative manner. Technology gives
students opportunities to use their productive and receptive abilities for real
purposes, such as publishing a newsletter or writing interactive journals (“school
computing”, e-book).
One of applications of technology to English learning is social networks.
On social media sites like Facebook , Twitter, Google+, Zing Me or Weblog,
users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and
strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, etc. According to
the web site “”, the author mentioned that the

proponents of social networking sites say that the online communities promote
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increased interaction with friends and family, offer teachers, librarians, and
students valuable access to educational support and materials, facilitate social
and political change; and disseminate useful information rapidly. And Blog is
unexceptional. Blog is relatively easy to use and intrinsically motivating. It
enables learners to communicate with the world in an authentic manner. The use
of weblogs in English language classrooms can facilitate and enhance English
language learning as learners are presented with the opportunity to interact and
connect with materials as well as an authentic audience outside of the classroom,
thus making the language learning process an interactive and intrinsically
motivating experience for the learners (Wan & Tan, 2011).
Blogs can be applied to EFL writing classes in different ways. Blogs can
be used to provide extra reading for learners, as online learner journals that can
be read by the other learners, to guide learners to online resources appropriate
for their level, to increase the sense of community in a class, to encourage
participation from shy learners, to stimulate out of class discussion, to encourage
a process writing approach, as an online portfolio of learners’ written work and
to help build a closer relationship between learners in a large class (Stanley,
2005). Weblogs also provide learners with a real audience, an opportunity for
peer review as well as accommodate a range of process-based writing tasks that
learners enjoy doing (Raith, 2009; Ward, 2004). They are extremely versatile
and the number of ways that they can be used is limited only to the imagination
of the user. There are three types of weblogs used in English language
classrooms which are the tutor blog - run by the tutor for the learners, the learner
blog - either run by individual learners themselves or by small collaborative
groups of learners), the class blog - the result of the collaborative effort of an
entire class (Campbell, 2003). However, the learner blog is supposed to be the

most suitable for writing class.
In conclusion, blogs can provide an exciting and motivating learning
environment where students have a sense of ownership and readership. They can
be used to enhance student analytical and critical thinking skills, create social
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interactions between students and the instructor, students and their peers, and
students and a global audience. Blogs are recommended to foster students’
English language development in a genuine learning environment. Thanks for
advantages of blogs, it’s used widely in EFL writing classes and useful for both
of learners and teachers. Influence of using of blogs on developing writing skills
have to do with motivation and attitudes. Attitudes towards EFL learning have
been investigated in some very few prior studies with respect to integrating
Internet technology with EFL (Gal-Ezer, 2002; Yoon & Hirvela, 2004; Stoel &
Lee, 2003; Ocker & Yaverbaum, 2001). Therefore, it’s the reason why teachers
apply blogs in EFL writing class. The purpose of the study is to examine the
effectiveness of blog peer feedback and students’ perceptions for English
writing practice.
II. Research questions
The study is focus on two following questions:
II.1. To what extend can blog peer feedback facilitate EFL learners’ comments
and revisions on writing task?
II.2. What are the students’ perceptions of blog peer feedback for English
writing practice?
III. Research objectives
The study is aimed at the following goals:
1) To evaluate the impact of blog peer feedback to facilitate EFL learners’
comments and revisions on writing task.
2) To find out the students’ perceptions of blog peer feedback for English

writing practice.
IV. Research scope
The research focuses on investigating the blog peer feedback and students’
perceptions for English writing practice.
The population involved in the study is ten female English major students of
Course 37 of Faculty of Foreign Language at Hanoi Pedagogical University
No.2.
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V. Research tasks
The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:
1) To study the features, classification, and the advantages of blogs.
2) To study the features of peer feedback.
3) To study the impact the blog peer feedback on improving English writing.
VI. Research methods
To achieve the objectives of the study, the following methods have been
applied:
1) Quantitative analysis is involved through the process of data collection and
analysis.
2) Qualitative analysis is also applied in investigating the students’ perceptions
for English writing practice.
VII. Significance of the proposed research
After the research, it is hoped that the result will be useful to:
1) Help students be more motivated to self- studying and learn from their peers
by using blogs in writing.
2) Help students improve their writing by using blog peer feedback.
3) Find out a new way of learning English writing.
VIII. Design of the research work
The research work has three main parts, namely: Introduction, Development,

and Conclusion. The part “Development” consists three chapters.
Chapter 1 deals with theoretical background of blogs and peer feedback
including definition, classification, advantages, and impact on writing.
Chapter 2 deals with the methodology including participants, research
procedure.
Chapter 3 deals with result, discussion and recommendation.

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PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

I.1. Literature review in brief
Peer feedback is considered to be a hotly debated topic. And the term
“peer feedback” is differently defined by various researchers, such as Hyland
(2005); Hansen and Liu (2005); Zainurrahman (2010); Topping (2009); Lewis
(2002)… However, these researchers seemed to reach a consensus of the
definition of “peer feedback”
According to Bartels (2004), peer feedback means feedback from your
fellow students. If one student is working on the same assignment as another
student, peer feedback can mean exchanging drafts and comments on each
other’s drafts.
Peer feedback is defined by Yang (2006) as feedback that is given by
peer. That means having other students to read and to give comments,
corrections, criticisms, corrections, criticisms, and suggestions on what other
students have written.
In addition, new ways of providing and receiving feedback seem to be

beneficial and effective as well. With the shift of focus from traditional methods
of giving feedback to computer-mediated feedback, the ways of giving and
receiving feedback on writing have changed. This shift has brought about
significant changes to the pedagogy of writing (Giovanni & Nagaswami, 2001;
Matsumura & Hann, 2004 cited in Morra & Romano, 2009). In view of this,
new technologies like wikis, blogs, podcasts, Twitter and online forums are
becoming popular in writing classes. Among these user-friendly technologies,
blogs appear to have suitable features and characteristics that can fully support
peer feedback.

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Blogs have been described by many grammarians like Aljumah (2012),
Campbell (2003), Dawns (2004), Ferdig & Trammell (2004); Istifci (2011);
Kennedy (2003); Jones (2006). They each have their own way to describe the
weblogs. Generally, they focus their attention on the definition, features, types,
benefits of weblogs, and weblogs in English language learning.
Aljumah (2012) refers to Use of Blogs in Teaching English Writing Course
for EFL. He also introduces the definition, types of weblogs & writing
instruction in ELT.
Campbell (2003) in Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes just mentions to
the types of weblogs and their benefits.
In the book Content Delivery in the Blogosphere, Ferdig & Trammell
(2004) gives a lot of information about weblog. They give the pedagogy behind
blogs, practical suggestions for implementing blogs, benefits of student
blogging.
Kitchakarn (2012) in the book Using Blogs to Improve Students’
Summary Writing Abilities gives a quite understandable picture of the weblogs.
Overall, most scholars focus on definition, classification, benefits of peer

feedback and blogs in writing class. Besides, there are some studies researched
on the use of blog peer feedback in educational contexts (Chen et al., 2011;
Gedera, 2011; Dippold, 2009; Wu, 2006). However, further research is needed
on aspects related to blog peer feedback such as the effectiveness of blog peer
feedback and students’ perceptions for English writing practice. Therefore, it is
essential to have a study on students’ perceptions of blog peer feedback for
English writing practice.
I.2. Writing skill
I.2.1. Definition of writing
There are various definitions of writing, each definition is a reflection of
the underlying theories or perspective that the authors assume.
Writing is of fundamental importance to learning, to development of the
person in each learner, and to success in the educational system. As teachers, we
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need to work continually to aid our students in their search for fulfillment as
writers (Graham & Harris, 1993).
According to Byrne (1979, p.1), writing was considered as “act of
forming graphic symbols” or simply “making marks on the flat surface of some
kinds”.
Lannon (1989, p.9) views writing as “the process of transforming the
material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial or error, or whatever
into a message with a definite meaning- writing is a process of deliberate
decision”. It means that writing must convey a message with a meaning.
In short, the word “writing” itself may imply an act, a process or a skill,
which needs practice and study to develop. It requires both physical and mental
powers from the writers.
I.2.2. The importance of writing
Ur (1996) categorized writing purposes into three sub-categories. Firstly,

writing is used as “a convenient means for engaging with aspects of language
other than the writing itself” (p.162). Through writing activities, students attend
to and practice a “particular language point”. Secondly, writing is considered “as
an end”. Accordingly, various writing activities, including “micro” and “macro”
activities, invite students to develop their writing skills. The third kind of writing
combines “as both means and end” (p. 162). It is a mixture of “purposeful and
original writing and learning or practice of some other skills or content” (p.
162).
Doff (1988, p.148) provided a detailed comment on the importance of
writing at lower levels of learning English as a foreign language “students’ need
for writing is most likely to be for study purposes and also as an examination
skill. The main importance of writing at this level is that it helps students to
learn”.
Tribble (1996, p.7) made a list of reasons why school students have to
involve writing in their study. Writing has the positive effects on their
creativeness and first language acquisition. Accordingly, writing gives school
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students opportunities for language practice by reviewing grammar and
vocabulary and creative language use. Because of a general educational value,
writing in foreign languages can help students become better writers in their first
language.
In short, for students who study foreign languages, writing has current
immediate values, including language practice and EFL examination. Also it
embeds future values such as professional benefits, development of creative
language and educational values.
I.2.3. Approaches for teaching writing
I.2.3.1. The Product Approach
Writing in 1986, Applebee pointed out that product approach is a largely

“prescriptive and product-centered” way of teaching writing. Product approach
pays much attention to the final outcome of a writing process and supposes that
students need to produce only one version of the task. Generally, product
approach focuses on the result of the final writing paper of learners. With this
approach, the favorite class activities are engaged in imitating, copying, and
transforming models of correct language.
To assist teachers to analyze classroom behaviors of the product
approach, Steele (2006) provide a model for it:
Stage 1: Model texts are read, and then features of the genre are
highlighted. For example, if studying a formal letter, students' attention may be
drawn to the importance of paragraphing and the language used to make formal
requests. If studying a story, the focus may be on the techniques used to make
the story interesting, and students focus on where and how the writer employs
these techniques.
Stage 2: This consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features,
usually in isolation. So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be
asked to practice the language used to make formal requests, practicing the 'I
would be grateful if you would…' structure.

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Stage 3: Organization of ideas. This stage is very important. Those who
favor this approach believe that the organization of ideas is more important than
the ideas themselves and as important as the control of language.
Stage 4: The end result of the learning process. Students choose from a
choice of comparable writing tasks. Individually, they use the skills, structures
and vocabulary they have been taught to produce the product; to show what they
can do as fluent and competent users of the language.
I.2.3.2. The Process Approach

The process approach to writing has been seen as an improvement over
the traditional methods of writing instruction in recent years and has been
widely implemented in teaching writing in the first language and the second
language as well. Many educators are positive towards the process approach and
think that the students will benefit greatly from this approach (Raimes, 1983;
Stewart & Cheung, 1989; White & Arndt, 1991)
Process approaches to writing tend to focus more on the varied classroom
activities which promote the development of language use: brainstorming, group
discussion, re-writing. Such an approach can have any number of stages, though
a typical sequence of activities could proceed as follows;
Stage 1: Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion. Students
could be discussing qualities needed to do a certain job, or giving reasons as to
why people take drugs or gamble. The teacher remains in the background during
this phase, only providing language support if required, so as not to inhibit
students in the production of ideas.
Stage 2: Students extend ideas into note form, and judge quality and
usefulness of ideas.
Stage 3: Students organize ideas into a mind map, spider gram, or linear
form. This stage helps to make the (hierarchical) relationship of ideas more
immediately obvious, which helps students with the structure of their texts.
Stage 4: Students write the first draft. This is done in class and frequently
in pairs or groups.
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Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the readers of each
other's work. By responding as readers, students develop an awareness of the
fact that a writer is producing something to be read by someone else, and thus
can improve their own drafts.
Stage 6: Drafts are returned and improvements are made based upon peer

feedback.
Stage 7: A final draft is written.
Stage 8: Students once again exchange and read each other's work and
perhaps even write a response or reply.
In summary, both approaches can benefit students in their writing.
Deciding on which approach to use depends on many factors such as the teacher,
the students, and the genre of the text.
Product writing is the approach that imitates a model text; considers
organization of ideas more important than ideas themselves; and focuses on one
draft; features highlighted including controlled practice of those features,
individual, and an end product. Whereas, process writing views text as a
resource for comparison and ideas as the starting point; focuses on more than
one draft, purpose, theme, text type, collaborative; and creative process. It also
empowers students by getting them to talk about their writing process. It is this
“talk” that you will be engaged in as tutors and writing assistants.
I.3. Blogs
I.3.1. General observations about blogs
I.3.1.1. Definition of blogs
Blog is short for ‘Web log’; it is best described as an online journal. The
term ‘Web log’ was coined by Jorn Barger in 1997 (Blood, 2000). However,
Justin Hall, who began his personal online journal in 1994, is considered to be
one of the first bloggers. Over 4 million Weblogs had been created by the
middle of 2003 and over 60 million were created by May 2005 (Huann, Ow, &
Ho Pau Yuen, 2005). There are more than 900,000 blog posts a day with a new
blog created every second (Richardson, 2005). Blogs can be about any topic and
10


can include pictures or even video. They often incorporate links to other blogs or
websites. Most, though not all, blogs provide the option for readers to comment

on the journal entry. This feature makes blog a truly social communication tool.
Blog is a Web site that consists of a series of entries arranged in reverse
chronological order, often updated on frequently with new information about
particular topics. The information can be written by the site owner, gleaned from
other Web sites or other sources, or contributed by users.
Blog often has the quality of being a kind of "log of our times" from a
particular point-of-view. Generally, blogs are devoted to one or several subjects
or themes, usually of topical interest, and, in general, can be thought of as
developing commentaries, individual or collective on their particular themes.
Blogs may consist of the recorded ideas of an individual (a sort of diary) or be a
complex collaboration open to anyone. Most of the latter are moderated
discussions.
Since there are a number of variations on this idea and new variations can
easily be invented, the meaning of this term is apt to gather additional
connotations with time. A popular blog is Slashdot.org, the product of
programmer and graphic artist Rob Malden and several colleagues. Slashdot.org
carries discussion threads on many subjects including: Money, Quake (the
game), Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Hardware, and Linux. Slashdot.org solicits
and posts interesting stories reported by contributors, includes a link to the story,
and manages the threads of the ensuing discussion by other users. Another wellknown weblog is Jorn Barger's Robot Wisdom Log, which is more of collection
of daily highlights from other Web sites. Jessamyn West's librarian.net is a daily
log of items interesting to librarians and possibly others, too.
As a format and content approach for a Web site, the blog seems popular
because the viewer knows that something changes every day, there is a personal
point-of-view, and, on some sites, there is an opportunity to collaborate or
respond with the Web site and its participants.

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I.3.1.2. Types of blogs
Three types of blogs have been described by Campbell (2003): the tutor
blog; the learner blog; and the class blog. The tutor blog is run by the tutor for
the learner, and its purpose is to give reading practice to the learners, promote
exploration of English websites, encourage online exchange by use of comment
buttons, provide class or syllabus information, and serve as a resource of links
for self-study. Learner blogs are run by individual learners themselves. Learner
blogs are best suited for reading and writing classes. The class blog is the result
of the collaborative effort of an entire class. It can be used for posting messages,
images, and links related to classroom discussion topics. Class blogs could also
be used as a virtual space for an international classroom language exchange
(Campbell, 2003).
1) The Tutor Blog
This is a type of weblog that is run by the tutor for the learners. It serves
the following purposes:
It gives daily reading practice to the learners. Sometimes students find
assigned reading material too boring, difficult, or hard to relate with. This is
because it is often written with another purpose in mind. So who better to write
to them than the person who knows them best: the teacher. Entries are kept
short, geared towards the learner interest, and linked to related online sources for
further reading if desired. Vocabulary used in class can be recycled this way.
New vocabulary words can be linked to definitions on other sites found with a
search engine. Furthermore, a casual, natural writing style can be used by the
tutor to develop learner familiarity with native language patterns.
It promotes exploration of English websites. Any entry made by the tutor
can and ought to encourage further exploration of the Internet in English by
linking to related articles, and content based websites. For those learners
reluctant to step outside the comfort of exploring the Web in their native
language, being led to interesting English language sites will increase their
confidence and help to overcome their aversion.

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It encourages online verbal exchange by use of comment buttons. At the
bottom of each entry, any blog reader can make a comment that can be read and
further commented on by all who access the site. Ask your students questions,
give them riddles, challenge their views; whatever it takes to encourage them to
comment.
It provides class or syllabus information. Entries in the blog can also serve
to remind students about homework assignments and upcoming discussion
topics. Links can be provided to sites that introduce relevant topics of
discussion. The tutor can also follow up on difficult areas of classroom work
that might need review or clarification. In addition, a permanent link to the
classroom syllabus and rules can be included on the blog.
It serves as a resource of links for self-study. In the right and/or left
margins of the blog, permanent links can be set-up and organized to aid the
learner in self-study, for example links to online quizzes, English news sites,
key-pal networks, audio and video files for listening practice and ESL
interactive websites.
2) The Learner Blog
These are blogs that are either run by individual learners themselves or by
small collaborative groups of learners. In ESL, learner blogs may be best suited
for reading and writing classes. A common reading assignment can be followed
by blog postings on the thoughts of each learner or group of learners.
Furthermore, the act of constructing the blog may encourage the use of search
engines and net surfing in English to find the appropriate sites to which links can
be made. This will empower the learner to direct the reader to sites of choice for
further reading. Individually, blogs can be used as journals for writing practice,
or as free-form templates for personal expression. The idea here is that students
can get writing practice, develop a sense of ownership, and get experience with

the practical, legal, and ethical issues of creating a hypertext document. In
addition, whatever they write can instantly be read by anyone else and, due to
the comment features of the software, further exchange of ideas is promoted.
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Tutors can even run a mega-blog of select topics of interest gleaned from
student blogs so that the broader issues are brought into focus on a single
website.
3) The Class Blog
This type of blog is the result of the collaborative effort of an entire class.
The following are some possible uses:
In conversation-based classes it could be used like a free-form bulletin
board for learners to post messages, images, and links related to classroom
discussion topics. It could also be a space for them to post thoughts on a
common theme assigned for homework.
With intermediate and advanced learners, class blogs might also useful for
facilitating project-based language learning, where learners can be given the
opportunity to develop research and writing skills by being asked to create an
online resource for others.
Class blogs could also be used as a virtual space for an international
classroom language exchange. In this scenario, learners from different countries
would have joint access and publishing rights to the blog. The entire exchange
would then be transparent to all readers and could be followed and commented
on by other learners, tutors, parents and friends.
For reading and writing classes, it might also involve the use of
knowledge management software, like Userland's Manila, that allows for a great
deal of threaded discussion behind the scenes. Much like a publishing group,
individual learners can be given varying amounts of responsibility to publish
material arising from postings on the discussion list. The results of this effort are

what is seen on a website by the public at large.
I.3.1.3. Advantages of blogs
Although weblogs were not originally designed for language learning,
they have immense potential for it. Students generally find weblog writing
valuable for language learning (Arani, 2005; Blackstone, et al., 2007; Hall,
2005; Pinkman, 2005; Tan et al., 2005b; Walker, 2005; Ward, 2004). Learners at
14


college level found writing weblogs a motivating activity as they were able to
experience authentic writing in context (Brooks et al., 2004; Kavaliauskiené et
al., 2006). Writing weblogs also allows learners to practice writing skills such as
summary, paraphrases and development of voice (Brooks et al., 2004; Laitner,
2007). In addition, weblogs provide language learners opportunity to practice
using the language that they have learned in class (Pinkman, 2005), raise
language awareness and promote learner development (Kavaliauskiené et al.,
2006), practice writing (Tu, Chen & Lee, 2007), help create a collaborative class
environment where learners can give and receive feedback (Barrios, 2003;
Kavaliauskiené et al., 2006; Kennedy, 2003; Laitner, 2007; Minugh, 2008; Tan
et al., 2005b) and present learners with a space to reflect on their language
learning (Mynard, 2007). The use of class weblogs also allow students to see
comments that were written for the class as a whole as well as comments that
were directed to them individually. Learners can also see for themselves how
their writing has progressed over time through the use of weblogs (Johnson,
2004).
Some of the attributes of weblogs which provide potentials to be used in
language learning are that they provide the students with an audience and
comments, voice, conversations and dialogue, ownership and choices as well as
archives (Davis, 2006, 2008). By providing students with an audience who are
located outside the classroom walls along with the possibility of getting

comments from them, weblogs give students a sense of recognition. The
students realize that their teacher is no longer the only member of audience for
their work and that what they write and have to say on their weblogs are read by
a bigger audience made up of their peers, teacher and possibly other readers.
This motivates them to produce better quality of work as they would not
want to publish work that they would feel embarrassed about (Halavais as cited
in Online Classroom, 2004). The comments feature found in weblogs can be
used to further enhance the interactivity of weblogs. Through the comments
feature, students now can receive feedback from not only the instructor but also
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from their peers (Blackstone et al., 2007; Ward, 2004). Discussions between
students are no longer bounded by time or place. Students can now share ideas
more effectively, review each other’s work and discuss corrections with one
another (Blackstone et al, 2007; Flatley, 2005). Comments allow students to
both give and receive feedback. (Blackstone et al, 2007; Kavaliauskiené et al.,
2006; Kennedy, 2003).
Blogs also provide students with an opportunity to develop their own
voice via writing (Brooks et al., 2004; Davis, 2006, 2008). Developing a voice is
important in learning and for students to participate in conversations on weblogs
effectively. In addition, weblogs permit shy students who are hesitant to speak
up in a classroom to share their ideas and to be heard by many (Downes, 2004;
Song & Yuen, 2008). Blogs have great potentials for developing relationships
between learners and building communities (Bloom, 2008; Tomei & Lavin,
2007; Stanley, 2005a, 2005b).
Students have been found to use the comments of weblogs to give each
other compliments, to correct errors and give suggestions, to show care about
the perception of their entry, give personal responses and additional information,
express disagreements and different opinions, make comments on comments

that have been written by others before them, pose questions to the blogger and
answer their readers’ questions (Bloom, 2008).
Conversations and dialogues which take place in the students’ posts can
promote critical thinking and the construction of knowledge among the students
involved (Richardson, 2005, 2006). The use of weblogs in education enables
students to make choices and take ownership not only of their weblog space but
also of their learning process (Ferdig & Trammell, 2004; Davis, 2006, 2008;
Tan et al., 2005a; Ward 2004). This empowers the students by letting them take
control of how they learn. The archives available on weblogs make them ideal
for keeping records of the learning that is taking place and makes it easier for
anyone to retrieve the students’ work as long as there is a computer and an
Internet connection. The archives also allow the students to view their own work
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and progress over a period of time. Teachers can also use the archives to
evaluate the students’ work.
I.3.2. Using blogs for English writing
I.3.2.1. The effectiveness of blog in a English writing class
Since 1998, many foreign educators have applied this user-friendly
technology to classroom instruction and language learning (Campbell, 2003;
Johnson, 2004); however, it seems that relatively few English teachers have ever
used blogs in an English Foreign language (EFL) writing class around us. Blogs
not initially created for use in language education, but blogs have formidable
potentials as a useful tool for the teaching of EFL writing class.
In a short blog posting titled “Do weblogs improve writing?” Bernstein
(2004) supported “Frequent writing improves writing”, “Writing for an audience
improves writing”, “Writing that matters improves writing”, and “Writing on a
computer improves writing”. However, to EFL learners, frequent writing might
not necessarily improve writing. However, it will definitely be useful if students

do not only write frequently but also look up English dictionaries or use Internet
to help them express their ideas clearly and correctly. EFL learners’ writings
will be more or less influenced by their first language. The improvement of
writing will be questioned if EFL students write English frequently but present
their thoughts with the style of their first language. And some students answer
that they will look up an English dictionary or ask someone else when they don’t
know how to express their ideas in English. To an EFL learner, it is a critical
step to become a successful writer if whenever he is aware that something
wrong with his writing, he can effectively find an answer from an English
dictionary or Internet.
I.3.2.2. Influences of using blog on students in English writing
1) Facilitating the Students’ Critical Thinking Skills
The students engaged in collaborative learning through their interactions
with others which serves as a catalyst for critical thinking. Blogs foster critical
thinking by encouraging students to evaluate what they read and write. Writing
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