The Effectiveness of Implementing Blogs in Reading Classroom for Adult English Learners
Introduction
The use of digital media in the classroom setting in higher education has been explored by researchers due to the growing prevalence of information access via digital media among young adults (Hsu & Wang, 201) and the emergence of new literacies. In particular, the use of blogs as a learning tool has been investigated in many previous studies. However, although previous studies have shown a positive relation between blogging and motivation, there are not that many studies that focused specifically on the impact of blogging on the improvement of reading and comprehension skills among adult English learners. As well, most of the previous studies did not include prior trainings for the teachers and students, which may have contributed, in part, to the inconclusiveness of those studies’ findings.
The proposed study intends to add to the existing research on the impact of blogs on the reading and comprehension skills of adult English learners. This is in order to determine how blogs may be used as an effective learning tool. Unlike previous studies, this study will also provide blogging trainings to the teachers and students prior to the study to ensure that they are comfortable with the technology before the study commences and to ensure that this does not unnecessarily affect the results of the study.
In this study, the following questions will be addressed:
What is the impact of blogging on the reading and comprehension skills of adult English learners?
What is the impact of blogging on the students’ interaction with each other?
What is the impact of blogging on the students’ motivation to read?
Along with determining the direct impact of blogging on the reading and comprehension skills of the students, its impact on the students’ interaction will also be determined as interaction can facilitate the faster adoption of a language as well as the faster learning of new skills, given that interactive tasks allow the students to use the new language and their new skills in a natural manner that’s reflective of their daily activities. Moreover, this study aims to determine the impact of blogging on the students’ motivation as students who are motivated are bound to learn more quickly.
In addition to the research questions, this study also aims to test the following hypotheses:
The use of blogs will result in more improvement in the reading and comprehension skills of adult English learns compared to the students who do not use blogs.
The level of interaction among the students who use blogs will be higher than among those who do not.
The motivation to read will increase more for students who use blogs than for the students who do not.
With the study being conducted in Saudi Arabia, which is a predominantly non-English speaking country, the impact of blogging in the field of TESOL will become readily evident. If established to be an effective learning tool for the improvement of reading skills among English learners, blogs may be formally integrated into the curricula of various courses in the field of TESOL, providing students not only with an effective – but also a fun – tool for learning.
Methodology
Subjects
For this study, 3 English classes in the Taif University of Saudi Arabia will be involved where 2 of the classes will have blogs incorporated into their curricula while the third class will serve as the control group. These classes consist of SLA level 3 students who are aged between 19 and 25. They consist of both male and female students from middle-class families.
Design
This is intended to be an experimental research where the students will be given 2 pre-tests and post-tests. One test is a reading and comprehension test that will gauge the students’ proficiency in reading and comprehension and the other will be a questionnaire to gauge the students’ level of interaction with each other and their motivation to read.
The reading and comprehension tests will consist of an excerpt that the students must read, followed by questions that the students must answer. This is to determine how well they understood the excerpt. This will be a timed test.
The questionnaire, on the other hand, will gauge the students’ level of interaction with each other and their motivation to read. It will use a 5-point Likert scale with the following categories: Strongly Agree; Agree; Neutral; Disagree; and Strongly Disagree.
The students and teachers will also undergo a blog training or orientation before the study begins.
Data Collection
The study will be conducted for 1 whole semester at the Taif University where 3 English classes will be involved. The students from the three English classes will be asked to take a pre-test of the reading and comprehension test as well as the survey questionnaire about their interaction with other students and their motivation to read.
Throughout the semester, the teachers for the 2 variable groups will integrate blogging tasks into their curricula while the control group will continue to use traditional methods of instruction.
After the semester, the three classes will take a post-test, both of the reading and comprehension test and the survey questionnaire.
Analysis
The results of the reading and comprehension pre-test will be obtained. The mean scores will be computed as well as the percentage of those who passed versus those who did not.
After the semester, the results of the reading and comprehension post-test will be obtained and the mean scores will be computed as well as the percentage of those who passed versus those who did not.
The difference between the pre-test and post-test results will be measured separately for the blogging group and the non-blogging group to determine the degree of improvement in the reading and comprehension skills for both groups.
The percentage of those who passed against those who failed in the pre-test and post-test will also be recorded and compared separately for each group. The results of the pre-test and post-test will then be compared separately for both the blogging group and the non-blogging group.
The results of the survey questionnaire at the pre-test and post-test will be coded and analyzed using the Chi Square Test. The increase in the levels of interaction and motivation will be measured separately for both the blogging group and the non-bogging group by comparing the results of their pre-test and post-test.
Sample Reading Comprehension Test
Read the following excerpt from the article Stop Procrastinating by Steven Ngo (2012) and answer the questions that follow:
What Causes Procrastination?
Before you can stop procrastination, you first need to understand what causes it in the first place. It's actually quite simple. The reason why we do or don't do anything comes down to two things: Pain and Pleasure.
Everything we do comes down to either avoiding pain or gaining pleasure. Let me give you an example. Have you ever procrastinated on studying or writing a term paper? Of course you have. But why do we do this when we know it's important? The reason is because we associate more pain to taking action than not taking action. Now what normally ends up happening after you have procrastinated to the last minute? I don't know about you but no matter how much I would procrastinate on doing something, there will come a time when I will just bite the bullet and just get it done. The reason is because after a while, NOT getting that task done is more painful than just getting it done. (Ngo, 2012)
1. According to the article, the following is the reason we procrastinate:
a. Pain
b. Pleasure
c. A and B
d. None of the above
Answer: C
2. The following is the reason we put of writing a term paper:
a. Pain
b. Pleasure
c. A and B
d. None of the above
Answer: A
3. The following is the reason we eventually write that term paper:
a. Pain
b. Pleasure
c. A and B
d. None of the above
Answer: A
Sample Survey Questionnaire
Mark X on the corresponding column, depending on how much you agree with each statement.
Statement
Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
Interaction with my fellow students helps me in my learning.
The course curriculum encourages me to read about my lessons.
I make sure that I read about the next day’s lessons in advance.
Hsu, H., & Wang, S. (2011). The impact of using blogs on college students’ reading
comprehension and learning motivation. Literacy Research and Instruction, 50, 68-88.
Ngo, S. (2012). Stop procrastinating. Retrieved from http://www.motivational-well-
being.com/stop-procrastinating.html
