Angela Kleanthous University of Cyprus May 20th, 2017 Collaboration through blogging to enhance writing and speaking skills of ESP students Angela Kleanthous University of Cyprus May 20th, 2017

Contents Introduction Background Benefits of Collaborative Learning What are blogs? Blogs in Language Learning Blogs in Improving Writing & Speaking Skills Description of Study Methodology Students’ Perceptions of Blogs Conclusions

Benefits of Collaborative Learning Keeps learners engaged in learning and achieve set tasks Helps learners improve their learning and produce more accurate work Increases sense of control and ownership Enhances feeling of autonomy Encourages learners become more reflective (Fernandez Dobao, 2012; McConnell, 2002; Ning & Hornby, 2014)

What are Blogs? Blogs are online electronic journals, where individuals can create their own online space and post their thoughts, pictures, announcements, and these postings are then available for the world to see.

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Benefits of Blogs in Language Learning Writing Skills in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course Blogs encourage: feedback motivation for learning critical thinking opportunities for collaborative learning easier expression and articulation of ideas increase in vocabulary & reduction of grammar errors (Amir et al., 2010; Kitchakarn, 2012; Shih, 2012)

Benefits of Blogs in Language Learning Speaking Skills in an ESP course Blogs encourage: collaborative knowledge building negotiation of meaning sharing opinions motivation positive engagement in learning building confidence in speaking activities (Kim, 2010; Hsu & al., 2008; Hung, 2011)

Research Questions What impact does the use of blogs have on written and spoken language development in ESP (English for Specific Purposes)? What are the students’ perceptions of using blogs as pedagogical tools? Particularly: whether collaboration through online peer feedback helps improve personal writing and speaking skills in ESP

Method: Participants 83 first year undergraduate Computer Science and Accounting & Finance students Age: 18-21 Courses: English for Computer Science & Business Communication for Management

Method: Description of Study & Procedures Instructor set up a class blog (blogger.com) Students became authors on the blog Two writing tasks & two speaking tasks After each task: Students were asked to comment on their peers’ posts A set of criteria was given to guide peer editing The instructor monitored comments and intervened when necessary

Method: Collection of Qualitative Data Writing samples from blog Focus group interviews Follow-up individual interviews

Memo Writing Task

Example of Student Post

Examples of Students’ Comments

Speaking Task

Speaking Task

Student Podcast Example

Students’ Perception of Blogs General impression “…easy to use…” “…interesting, something new…” “…a nice addition to the course…” “…I was more confident in my self….” Benefits for Developing Writing Skills “…more careful with my writing…” “…I put more effort because others will see my work…” “…able to get immediate feedback…” “…can see many examples that help me get ideas…”

Students’ Perceptions of Blogs Benefits for Other Language Skills “….all language skills can benefit…” “…speaking and listening mostly through recording podcasts…” “…some people are more comfortable to speak when nobody is watching…” “…reading and writing through posts…”

Students’ Perceptions of Blogs Motivation “More motivating because it’s easy to use” “… I am able to do activities whenever, wherever…” “…motivated to read others’ posts, get ideas and improve, reach their level…” “…more motivated for speaking tasks because you record it over and over again, practice beforehand so that you get it right”

Students’ Perceptions of Blogs Face-to-face Vs Online Learning “…both are necessary…” “…online learning is more interactive…” “…face to face is better for speaking; more personal; you feel closer to others…” “On the blog it’s more easy for people who don’t express themselves easy in the class. They feel more free to write or record themselves.”

Students’ Perceptions of Blogs Online Vs Traditional Writing “…online writing because we can express ourselves freely…” “…online writing is more friendly, motivating…” “…online writing is instant, forces me to be careful about what I post because others will read it…” “…it’s easier to edit online…”

Students’ Perceptions of Blogs Collaboration “…you get more ideas when you work with others…” “…you see different opinions…” “…you feel more comfortable to ask questions to classmates…” “…we learn from each other…” “...after some years you might be at a job where you will have to work in teams and you have to learn to accept the ideas of others […], you have to listen to others.”

Students’ Perceptions of Blogs Receiving Feedback “…peer feedback is helpful; helps not repeat the same mistake…” “…I need instructor’s feedback as well; more professional, honest…” “…I feel more motivated with good comments…” “…the only helpful feedback I think was the podcasting one that we had to actually to listen to what the other person said, so if you have to actually listen to the presentation, then the feedback is more real.” “I didn’t understand that I was actually reading, so by seeing that comment I understood it and I tried not to do it.”

Students’ Perceptions of Blogs Giving Feedback “…nervous, stressed at first about insulting others with comments…” “…felt good about helping others improve and improve myself…” “…helpful, fun in the end because I study criteria before posting a comment…” “I think it was an entertaining process to say the least..” “For me it was good because I could see their faults and I could avoid them in my own exercise…”

Conclusions RQ1: What impact does the use of blogs have on written and spoken language development in ESP ? Students showed improvement in their writing skills (Amir et al., 2010; Kitchakarn, 2012; Shih, 2012; Kelly et al., 2010) Blogs helped increase confidence in speaking (Kim, 2010; Hsu & al., 2008), but it is not spontaneous like face-to-face speaking (Hung, 2011) The ability to make multiple revisions helps them improve

Conclusions RQ2: What are the students’ perceptions of using blogs as pedagogical tools? They felt motivated to visit the blog and post their work (Kitchakarn, 2012; Shih, 2012) Online writing is preferable as opposed to traditional writing (Amir, Ismail & Hussin, 2010) Students felt that peer feedback helped them improve and not repeat the same mistakes (Amir, Ismail & Hussin, 2010) Giving feedback to peers was important for their own improvement (Chen, Liu, Shih, Wu, & Yuan, 2011) Overall, a combination of both face-to-face and online learning is beneficial (McConnell, 2002; Shih, 2012; Ning & Hornby, 2014)

Thank you! angela@ucy.ac.cy https://www.facebook.com/angela.kleanthous https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-kleanthous