Using Blogging and micro blogging in ESL Classrooms

 

As an ESL teacher I would definitely like to implement both blogging and micro blogging in my teaching. Although I still have some technical concerns, but I liked the idea of blogging because it is different from other traditional types of writings and I think the young students will like it. Especially the ones who like using the technological devices and know how to use it. I think students will like the idea of using blogs in their language learning, because it will motivate them to write. Especially when they know that there are so many people who will see their blogs and read them. As will Richardson says students have real audience and the teacher is not the only one who will read their writing. By blogging students will communicate in more formal language, while by Twitter students will improve communicative skills in the target language but in more informal language. By twitting students can post short messages either on the computer or on their cell phones, which is easy for the students who have busy life. As it is mentioned in “Twitter and Language Learning: Training Communicative and Cultural Competence” communicative competence is consists of four components: grammatical, sociolingual, discourse, and strategic competence. By using twitter students can practice more informal language in order to express their ideas in friendlier environment. And it will help them handle communicative breakdowns by using a dictionary when they don’t know the meaning of a word in the target language. And this will help them improve their problem solving skills. In Twitter, students might interact with native speakers of English which will improve their English and their cultural awareness.

In my point of view, both blogging and micro blogging should be used as complementary to what has taught in the classroom and they shouldn’t be the only way of learning a language. They do provide language learners an authentic environment where learners practice the target language and by practicing I think the real learning happens. And it is great that by blogging or Twitting students can share their experiences and reflect on their classroom learning.

As an ESL/EFL teacher I would like to use Twitter and Blogging in my ESL/EFL classrooms. But I think there are two important aspects that any teacher must take in to consideration. The setting and the proficiency level of the learners. For example, if I am teaching in a language center I prefer to use twitter, because it is easier and less time consuming. While if I am teaching in an English dominant school I can ask students to write a summary of one of the Language Arts stories or write a reflection on that story by using the blogs. And instead of writing in their journals they will write in a more communicative place. While from learners of a language center I might ask to tweet short sentences once a day, of what they are doing in order to practice using the present continuous tense.