1. (Asst. Prof. Dr. Gültekin Boran)
The Use of s
in ELT
(Asst. Prof. Dr. Gültekin Boran)

2. WHAT IS A BLOG
A bog is a type of website. The word is a contraction of web + log.
Blogs enable users to post regular entries (or blog posts) and these can include, news, comments, descriptions of events, photos or videos.
In a blog, entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent at the top.
There are many free blog services, and blogs are very easy to use and have a clean, professional look that makes them very attractive to use. To blog is also a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

3. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries.
A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic.
Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites, and makes them particularly attractive in teaching and learning.

4. Types of blogs Tutor blog Student blog Class blog Set homework.
Personal information
Reactions to a film, article, class topic.
Provide a summary of class work.
Extra writing practice on class topics
Things learners like/don’t like doing in class.
Provide links to extra reading/listening material.
Regular comments on current affairs
A class project
Question and answer (e.g. about grammar, class work).
Research and present information on a topic
Exam/Study tips
Using photos to describe a craft, or hobbie.

5. FREE BLOG WEBSITES

6. Examples of Blogs in ELT
Blogs as a substitute for the electronic class-book:
Blogs as a platform for students:
Blogs as a place to inform students and provide material:

7. Why would I want to use blogs and blogging in my teaching?
The regular practice of reading and writing is very useful in learning a language, particularly in distance learning, independent study and blended teaching contexts.
Blogs are a useful tool to use in your teaching, both a source of reading material and as a way to structure writing activities and peer reviewing.
For language teachers, blogs “can fulfill many of the needs identified for the effective teaching of writing.” Indeed, a blog provides “a genuine audience, is authentically communicative, process driven, peer reviewed, provides a disinhibiting context and offers a completely new form with unchartered creative potential” (ward, 2004: 3).

8. In particular, you might want to use blogs and blogging in your teaching:
1) For reading:
Blogs are an excellent source of up to date reading material: encourage your students to find a blog they really enjoy and subscribe to it. This should be motivating, and provide a real reason for reading!

9. 2) To disseminate (publish) student generated content: A blog can be a window into your classroom. You can encourage your students to post their work there (especially if you use the blog for a particular project): students often get an immense sense of satisfaction from having their work “published”, and blogging is indeed a form of publishing.

10. 3) For sustained, regular writing:
Blogging regularly has been shown to have a positive impact on learners’ writing fluency and to increase their motivation to write for a broad audience. You might want to encourage your students to keep a blog that they post to regularly (like a diary or journal), or set up a class blog and encourage students to take turns to write blog postings.

11. 4) For discussion and peer review:
Blogs offer students an opportunity to interact with peers and to learn from each other. Because they enable readers to post comments to blog postings, they offer a forum for discussion.
For instance you could encourage students to post about culture, politics, travel, or other areas of personal interest, and ask other students to comment on posts they find interesting. Feedback from your peers on your blog posts can be enormously motivating.

12. 5) To increase opportunities for interaction outside the classroom:
Students can comment on each others’ blog posts outside the classroom. This contributes to creating a sense of community, and takes learning and peer interaction outside the confines of the classroom.

13. 6) For reflection and evaluation:
Blogs are often used as a tool for reflection. For instance, students can have a personal blog that they use as a journal of their learning experience. This has been used quite successfully for students spending a period of time abroad (e.g. during an Erasmus study visit).

14. 7) As a portfolio:
Because they can include photos and videos, and links to other sites, as well as “regular” text postings, blogs are an easy way to get students to produce a multimedia portfolio, documenting their work during a course or a work placement, for instance. You as teacher (and fellow students) can comment if appropriate and, like any other portfolio, it can be submitted as part of the assessment.

15. Here are some other reasons for using blogs:
To provide extra reading practice for students This reading can be produced by the teacher, other students in the same class, or, in the case of comments posted to a blog, by people from all over the world.
As online student learner journals that can be read by their peers.  The value of using learner journals has been well documented. Usually they are private channels between teacher and student. Using a blog as a learner journal can increase the audience.
To guide students to online resources appropriate for their level The Internet has a bewildering array of resources that are potentially useful for your students. The problem is finding and directing your learners to them. For this reason, you can use your tutor blog as a portal for your learners.

16. To increase the sense of community in a class
To increase the sense of community in a class. A class blog can help foster a feeling of community between the members of a class, especially if learners are sharing information about themselves and their interests, and are responding to what other students are writing.
To encourage shy students to participate. There is evidence to suggest that students who are quiet in class can find their voice when given the opportunity to express themselves in a blog.
To stimulate out-of-class discussion A blog can be an ideal space for pre-class or post-class discussion. And what students write about in the blog can also be used to promote discussion in class.

17. To encourage a process-writing approach
To encourage a process-writing approach.  Because students are writing for publication, they are usually more concerned about getting things right, and usually understand the value of rewriting more than if the only audience for their written work is the teacher.
As an online portfolio of student written work. There is much to be gained from students keeping a portfolio of their work. One example is the ease at which learners can return to previous written work and evaluate the progress they have made during a course.
To help build a closer relationship between students in large classes. Sometimes students in large classes can spend all year studying with the same people without getting to know them well. A blog is another tool that can help bring students together.

18. Some examples of EFL/ESL blogs