Eurocall Nottingham 2011, United Kingdom 1. Introduction ENHANCING WRITING SKILLS THROUGH BLOGS IN AN EFL CLASS Ruby Vurdien, White Rose Language School, Valladolid, Spain 2. Objectives & Project Description 4. Results & Conclusions The tables below illustrate how the students reacted to the project: The effective use of blogs to enhance writing skills The findings show that the overall attitude of the students towards the project was positive:  They benefited from the experience, particularly in terms of planning different writing tasks.  They thought thoroughly about the issue prior to organizing their task.  They improved their writing skills through regular posting on the blogs. Peer feedback Peer feedback was deemed to be constructive:  It assisted the students in planning their writing tasks.  It raised their awareness of error correction before completing their tasks. Collaborative skills Students developed collaborative skills more in the discussion classes than through their interaction on the blogs, which may suggest that blogs foster personal rather than collaborative writing. Project description Length of project: 5 months Type of project: task-based Number of participants: 11 Level of participants: C1 Blog tasks: Article Reference Competition entry Report Review Letter Proposal Essay Frequency of tasks assigned: every 2 weeks The activities aimed to provide students with the opportunity to: (a) reflect on how to approach each task (b) construct a plan (c) decide on the register (formal, informal, neutral) (d) respond to partners’ blogs (e) engage in negotiation of meaning 3. Research Methods & Data Collection A qualitative approach was adopted and data was gathered from the following sources: 1. Questionnaires (administered at the beginning and end of the project – to describe students’ perceptions and expectations of the project) 2. Discussion classes (held every two weeks – to exchange views regarding their partners’ feedback on their blog posts and agree on the appropriate way to perform their task) 3. Interviews (held at the end of the project – to take up issues raised in the final questionnaire and survey) 4. Questionnaire survey (administered at the end of the project - to perceive students’ reactions to the blog project and their level of satisfaction) 5. Blog entries (central element of the data collection - to better understand the students’ learning experiences through blogging) The project aimed to: (a) enhance writing skills in specific writing tasks. (b) explore learners’ feedback. (c) foster collaborative skills. Statements of the survey Median Mode 1. I learnt how to plan different writing tasks The exchange of views helped me to write more carefully I thought thoroughly about the issue before I planned my task I learnt new grammatical structures and vocabulary My writing skills have improved through regular writing on the blogs. 5 5 Statements of the survey Median Mode 1. My spelling errors were highlighted and corrected I became more aware of error correction when writing my tasks I have become more analytical and critical in my writing The interaction with my peers helped me to plan my tasks appropriately. 4 4 Statements from survey Median Mode 1. I collaborated with my peers through blogging I developed collaborative skills in the discussion classes I developed a good relationship with my peers through blogging. 3 3 Conclusion The final conclusions drawn from the study are as follows: (a)The students’ motivation had increase (b)The students had become self-reflective and more confident in their writing (c)The students had become more careful with error correction d Web 2.0 technologies are presenting both teachers and learners with new horizons in the field of language teaching and learning. Blogs are a good choice due to several reasons:  A blog is an online journal continuously updated by its users.  People can write their views at their own pace without space and time constraints.  Blogs aid in the development of interpretive and critical thinking skills. Consequently blogs can assist in improving students’ writing fluency. The present study explores how a blog as a computer-mediated tool engages a group of EFL learners, at a language school in Spain, in reflective and collaborative learning.