What is the role of blogs in EFL writing classes in the context of this study?

The majority of the tutors stated that the writings classes mainly aim at enabling student- writers to produce writings for both general (such as: emails and letters) and academic writing. Four out of nine tutors believed that writing courses are designed to prepare student-writers to pass their final exams or IELTS test, which is the main requirement for elevating them to their specialisation courses. These tutors expressed their concerns over the writing tasks presented in the in-house prepared material that encourage student-writers to follow, memorise and produce the samples in their writing material so they can pass their final exam. In the upper levels, as they stated, students can learn paragraph writing, how to plan, draft their ideas and organise their essays and how to prepare project-based reports.

This, according to the tutors, persuades students to do teamwork, and practise “how to write not what to write”. One of the tutors was not sure of the aim of the writing tasks and asked the students to practice paragraph writing and grammatical patterns, which she believes are challenging for her students. One of the tutors pointed out that the writing curriculum has “no creative writing sessions” and “no competitions and reward for best”. Eight of the tutors raised their concerns over the student-writers’ achievements. Some of them thought the writing syllabus and material do not match the writing aims. Three tutors referred to the back-wash effect of the tasks on the students’ finals exams. As they stated, such tasks increase students’ test scores but they do not help them to be confident writers; one of them said, the writing curriculum

“is successful in a the sense that some students who are drilled produce a formulaic response which they have learned off by heart receive a fairy high score in the exam but in my opinion it is not successful in encouraging creative thought ad confidence in expressing their own ideas, as soon as they have to write something they have never done before they cannot apply the skills they have learned and the language level drops dramatically”.

One tutor brought up the point that although 100% of the students’ evaluation is done through written assignments in their specialisations, teaching writing skills has not received enough attention. Most tutors evaluated their students’ computer skills as good. Some tutors addressed the issue of the low level of the students’ language proficiency that hampers their understanding of online tasks; one of the tutors found her students’ computer literacy very low and as she said, “This can be a major hindrance in the use of any kind of e-teaching”. Four of the tutors referred to the positive aspects of using CALL such as: bringing “students from passive to active state”; being “more interactive than the traditional face-to-face classes […] and advantage for all students specially shy and passive one” and being “more stimulating than conventional chalk and talk sessions”. However, others thought that using CALL in classes needs time and skilled tutors; it also depends on the design and format of the tasks as well. They found their students very enthusiastic in using social media such as Facebook. However, they raised the issue that there should be clear and suitable instructions of how to choose appropriate sites; one tutors addressed the positive effect of blending CALL with the traditional way of teaching for visual learners: “Online exercises can be visually interesting + tap into visual learners”. One of the tutors doubted if using CALL could result in actual learning as students focus on passing their exams. Four of the tutors believed that using CALL in teaching might not motivate all the students, except for “those

who have clear goals and have developed disciplined study habits”. Some tutors referred to online activities as a type of “independent learning” and effective teaching tools that highly depends on the level of the students. As they said, educational activities could be blended with teaching textbooks but could not be a replacement for conventional teaching. As one of the tutors noted, online educational web tools and their activities should be scientifically designed with “strong administrative and academic support”. They also listed their criteria for selecting online activities matching the level of the students’ language proficiency and their culture; being relevant to the lessons; being fun, accessible, authentic and easy to navigate with various question types. They also said that such activities should provoke logical thinking. They also raised the negative points of online activities as: spelling or grammatical errors; sometimes poor quality and ease of use; these, they believed, would oblige them to check the activities before administrating or designing their own activities. Most tutors believed that suitable online activities and web tools could enhance students’ text scores; however, one of the tutors expressed her concerns about using such activities in writing classes as they might lead to rote learning.

None of the tutors received any computer training in the college and they were not aware of IT related resources provided by the college. They believed that training the tutors could improve their awareness of the necessity of the use of computers but could not encourage them to use computers much. Some of them gave their reasons: not being emphasized in the curriculum; “inherited resistance to change” among the tutors; “packed curriculum”; shortage of time, students’ limited language proficiency and tutors’ “personal perception of learning or rigid syllabus”. Also they addressed the lack of technical support, insufficient number of computer labs and computers as well as the low speed of the Internet as barriers preventing them from using online activities. Some tutors thought that online web tools and their activities are a distraction unless they are well-planned and “aligned with the curriculum and use similar modes of assessment to the exams”. The tutors pointed out that safety and ethical issues may be another reason for avoiding using educational web tools and urge vigilance when using them in the class. Therefore, tutors should monitor and supervise students, which, according to some tutors, is physically challenging and time- consuming. However, some described such activities as multi-layered, interactive, engaging and fun, enabling students to be “independent learners”, and be “attentive”; they can also encourage students “to participate in the activities” and “work productively”.

One of the tutors described email and online socialising activities as another mode of self- expression that students can benefit from; she said, “This helps them to learn new vocabulary, facts and expressions to talk, discuss and then write on the topic”. The speaking tutor also addressed to her student-blog-writers’ language improvement, “I observe that

students involved in blog-writing are better and more fluent speakers to compare with others; specially in terms of mind mapping and using better vocabulary when discussing the topic. What is obvious is their speaking fluency (not their accuracy) is improving fast”. Some tutors also stated that online exercises could be help their students to be “creative and innovative in their ideas”, learn the “the concepts of language (grammar and vocab), learn editing and paragraph developing and be familiar with good samples of writings; they help “shy and inhibited students to learn better in the privacy” as well. She referred to some of the potential dilemmas when implementing online activities such as: low level of learners’ maturity, weak typing skills, adapting online informal language and using abbreviations. One of them stated that using spellcheck makes learners lazy and confused as there are different ways of spelling and formatting.

The writing tutor stated that adding blogging to the curriculum of some Eastern countries is farfetched to imagine due to the lack of facilities and support and the rigid formal setting of classes. She believes that blog-space can be an asset in language classes and describes them as “an important tool in enhancing basic language skills and confidence of students. Moreover, it can promote self-study skills”. She referred to her student-writers’ perception of blogs, they found it “very interesting” and an “excellent tool for education”. She noted that student-writers used their blogs as “a personal communicative tool” through which they “make more friends, share their emotions etc.”.

The writing tutor pointed out that her students were very excited about blog-writing as they could be linked with a wide audience including their friends. The tutor provided a series of advantages of blog-writing: “it will equip students with confidence, better expression and correct grammar […] will limit the teachers’ job to guide students on the right procedures of producing academic writing instead of reiterating basic structures”. In the interview, she suggested that who the audience are and the comments they give to student-blog-writers are of high importance. As she said, she followed her students anonymously to avoid creating a feeling that they were being monitored, as they “may feel their privacy being encroached”. This is due to the fact that it could prevent them from writing or expressing themselves. She also wrote comments on her students’ posts in their blogs with no intention of correcting their language errors. This, according to her, was “to encourage their expression, which in turn motivated them to venture better vocabulary to express their thoughts”.

7.3

Conclusion

In this chapter, Blogs 1 and 2 have been compared in terms of their lexico-grammatical patterns and their genres. This investigation suggests that there is much variation between Blogs 1 and 2 in terms of field but that they are more similar in terms of tenor, which is

weakly signalled; and that in terms of mode they both show the characteristics of speech and writing. I elicited the tutors’ perceptions of using technology and the role of blogs in classes through two sets of interviews. Some of the tutors expressed their interest in using online activities and web tools as a means of education in language classes through which students can enhance their language skills. They pointed out that online activities using web tools can be productive if they are carefully planned and matched with the students’ proficiency level and based on the final exam. Based on their views, it can be suggested that the blog-space can enhance interactions among students and encourage collaborative learning. The tutors were mostly concerned with their teaching load, lack of time, technical support and rigid perception of teaching and assessing as the main barriers against using technology in classes. The writing tutor also stated that both language practitioners and students can benefit from blog-writing. Blog-writing can help student-writers to elevate their confidence, vocabulary and grammar and this will reduce the tutors’ teaching load giving them some space and time to work on academic writing styles and procedure. She also referred to her students’ views of blogs, as a private web tool where they can share their feelings and express themselves and as a public setting where they can meet friends and interact with the audience. This interview suggested that the audience plays a great role in encouraging student-writers on what and how to write that needs attention when implementing blog- writing in language classes.

I turn now to the discussion chapter, where I will discuss the findings of my data analysis in relation to the studies explained in Chapters 2 and 3.