Blogging effect on english as a foreign language writing motivation: blogging and writing motivation

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Blogging Effect on English as a Foreign Language Writing

Motivation

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DOI: 10.4018/IJCALLT.2017040103

International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching

Volume 7 • Issue 2 • April-June 2017



Copyright©2017,IGIGlobal.CopyingordistributinginprintorelectronicformswithoutwrittenpermissionofIGIGlobalisprohibited. 

Blogging Effect on English as a Foreign

Language Writing Motivation:

Blogging and Writing Motivation

Selami Aydin, Balikesir University, Balıkesir, Turkey ABSTRACT Notmanystudieshavebeenpresentontheeffectsofblogging,particularlywithrespecttoEnglish asaForeignLanguage(EFL)writingmotivation.Thosestudiesdidnotfocusontheeffectoftheuse ofblogsonTurkishEFLlearners’writingmotivation.Thus,thisstudyaimstoexaminehowtheuse ofblogsaffectsEFLwritingmotivationamongEFLlearnersinaTurkishEFLlearningcontext.A questionnaireinterrogatingdemographicinformation,apre-testandapost-testsmeasuringwriting achievementwereadministeredtoagroupofparticipantsincluding48languagelearners.According toresults,bloggingonitsowndoesnotincreasemotivation;however,theprocess-basedwriting instructionmainlyhaspositiveinfluencesonEFLlearners’motivationinbothtraditionalpen-paper andblogenvironments.Thus,EFLteachersneedtoknowthattheuseofblogsdoesnotincrease motivationamongTurkishEFLlearners.Toincreasetheirmotivationlevel,itisalsorecommended thatteachersshoulduseawritingenvironmentwheretheirstudentsareencouragedtowriteinthe targetlanguage. KEyWoRdS

Blogs, English as a Foreign Language, Motivation, Writing INTRodUCTIoN Writingasaproductiveskillintheforeignlanguagelearningprocessisaprocessandaproduct inwhichtangibleandintellectualfactorshaveanimportantrole(Sokolik,2003).Sincethe1950s, writinginstructionsincludingprocessandproject-basedactivitieshavebecomemorecommondue tothechangeinparadigmfromteacher-orientedinstructionstolearner-orientedinstructions(Brown, 1987).Thus,inEFLclasses,writingisusedforcontrollingthelearningprocess,minimizingerrors, teachingpunctuation,determiningtheEnglishlevelofstudents,consolidatingvocabulary,boosting memoryanddevelopingcreativethinkingskills(Nightingale,1988).However,asBoscoloandHidi (2007)underline,thelackofmotivationinwritinginstructionisasoneoftheconsiderableproblems toovercome.Inaddition,theenvironmentinwhichthelearnerisexpectedtowriteisalsooneofthe keyfactorsforcultivatingmotivation. Thelackofmotivationamonglearnerscausescertainproblemsregardingwriting.First,learners considerwritingdifficultandhaveacommonbeliefthattheydonotpossesstheintellectualcapacity requiredtoexpressthemselvesinwrittenEnglish(Erkan&Saban,2011).Studentshavetrouble withwritingnotjustlinguistically,butinacommunicativemanneraswell(Ismail,2011).Second, learnershavenegativeattitudestowardswriting;thus,theytendtoseewritinganditsprocessesas 40

International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching

Volume 7 • Issue 2 • April-June 2017

41 time-consumingandtedious(Owston&Wideman,1997).Third,becauseofthetestingsystem,which doesnotincludeadequatewritingsections,learnersarelikelytoregardwritingasunnecessary.In otherwords,learnersfocusmoreonreadingcomprehensionandgrammaticalcorrectnessowingto thedemandofexamsandcurriculum(Huang,2005).Last,whileresearchshowsthesuperiorityof computerintegratedwritinginstructionovertraditionalpen-paperwritingintermsofmotivationand achievement(Chuo,2007;Owston&Wideman,1997;Sullivan,&Pratt,1996;Zhuetal.,2015), computer-basedwritinginstructionhasbeenneglectedinEFLclasses.Inconclusion,byconsidering thestudiesthatareinfavorofpositivesettingsforwritingmotivation,moreattentionisnecessary fortheenvironmentinwhichlearnersareexpectedtowrite. Thelatesttechnologicaldevelopmentshavepavedthewayfortheintegrationofwritingand computers.Thisapproachisreinforcedbytechnologybyprovidingbothcollaborativewriting opportunitiesandskilldevelopmentusingcomputer-basedprograms.Teachersandstudentsmay benefitfromalltheseinnovations.Asoneofthesetools,Weblogoritsshortformblogisan asynchronousmeansofcommunicationandusuallyascribedtoJohnBargerwhowasoneofthe foremostbloggersin1997(Ducate&Lomicka,2005).Consideringthegrowingtrend,blogshave becomeaveryimportanttoolandenvironmentforcommunicationamongwebusers,whichhelpthe developmentofcreativethinking,reading,writing,autonomyandcollaboration.AccordingtoDucate andLomicka(2008),blogscontributeliteracyinanumberofways,especiallyreadingandwriting skills,astheycreatealearningenvironmentinwhichlanguagelearnerscanshareanddiscusstheir ideas.Inadditiontocreatinganinteractiveenvironment,blogsarehelpfulintermsofannouncing assignments,keepingrecords,givingfeedbackandtakingpartindiscussions,whichenablesteachers andstudentstoaccesstheinformationthroughvirtualworldwheneverorwhereveritisneeded. IntermsofEFLlearning,usingblogsisusefulduetoseveralreasons.First,blogsarepractical toolsforlearning,astheyareeasilyaccessibleandmostofthemarefreeofcharge(Murray& Hourigan,2008).Learnerscanstarttoutilizethemassoonastheyfindacomputerwithaninternet connection.Second,blogscontributetocollaborationamonglearners.Thestudents’feelingsabout groupidentityincreasebycommentingontheirwriting(Ducate&Lomicka,2008;Murray& Hourigan,2008).Third,theycontributetothefeedbackprocess(Dippold,2009).Fourth,theuseof blogsdevelopslearners’thinkingskillsinanorganizedwayanddevelopstheirresearchskills(Aydin, 2014;Richardson,2010).Next,writingonablogisnotanactivitythatisdoneforonetime.Itisa gradualprocesssimilartowritingadiaryentry.Finally,whilewritingonablog,learnersconsider thetargetaudiences’needs.Theyadjusttheleveloftheirwritingwithoutfeelingthepressureof face-to-facecommunication(Richardson,2010).However,fewempiricalstudieshaveinvestigated theeffectofbloggingonEFLwritingmotivation.Thus,thereisaneedtoprovideempiricaland theoreticalfoundationstouseblogstoincreasewritingmotivationinlanguageclasses.Below,before abriefreviewoftheliteratureontheprocess-basedapproach,writingmotivationandbloggingeffect onwritingmotivationispresented,atheoreticalbackgroundandrelatedtermsandconceptsused throughoutthestudyarementioned. Theoretical Framework Asaproductiveskill,writingmeanstoexpressone’sfeelings,ideas,knowledge,plans,andcomments inawrittenform.Itiswidelyacceptedasoneofthemostchallengingskillsforforeignlanguage learnerstodevelop(Allen&Corder,1974),asitrequirescomplexmentalprocessesinwhichlearners areexpectedtonotonlyhaveythoughtsandideasbutalsoexpresstheseideasandthoughtsonpaper. ForRaimes(1991),therearefourdifferentapproachestosecondandforeignlanguagewriting, whichemergeatdifferenttimesandstillhaveanimpactonteachingwritingasForm-focused Approach,

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