Blogging in the Foreign Language Classroom Lina Lee University of New Hampshire llee@unh.edu

Blogging in the Foreign Language Classroom

Lina Lee

University of New Hampshire

llee@unh.edu

“I never teach my pupils; I

only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”

--Albert Einstein

21st Century Learning

Transform your classroom into a creative learning space and provide the opportunity for students to collaborate.

Welcome to the

21st CenturyLearning

Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 Web 1.0 (website)

One way Authoritarian Passive Static Closed

Web 2.0 (blog)

Two way Democratic Active Dynamic Collaborative

What is a blog? Weblog (website) – online diary/journal Single or multiple authors Postings in a reverse chronological order Read postings and make comments Link to other sources Instant publishing Social networkinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch v=NN2I1pWXjXI&feature=user

Blogging Cycle

1. Read 2. Reflect

3. Write4. Repeat

Free Blog Hosts

Blogger

Wordpress

Edublogs

LiveJournal

How to start a blog?

33

Write an entry here!

Embed multimedia Images from

Videos from

Presentations from

Add your own voice to a blog Audacity, iMovie, Movie Maker Speaking Avatars

Dress Up …

Why Blog? Learner autonomy

Decision-making; accountability Critical thinking

Asynchronous CMC; more time to reflect Sense of community through interaction Broad audience; not just for the instructor Feedback through multiple viewpoints Track progress and keep motivation

Part 1: Blogs

Types? Personal blogs – reflective writing, interactive

exchange Audio blogs – listening and speaking skills

http://languageaudioblog.blogspot.com/ http://juandialogue.podomatic.com/ http://lisharrypotter.canalblog.com/

Class /group blogs – idea exchange, out-of-class discussions

Exchange blogs – intercultural learning, cross-cultural awareness and understandinghttp://afsblog.org/

Key Questions What do I want my students to benefit

from using Web tools?

What types of tasks promote meaningful

communication and interaction in L2?

How should feedback be provided? Who does it?

Keep in Mind …“Technology itself does not guarantee the

success of learning outcomes. Tasks that are

linguistically and cognitively suitable for the

target learners are essential because they

affect significantly the quality of writing and

the degree of interaction among students.”

Lee, L. (2010). Fostering reflective writing and interactive exchange

Through blogging in an advanced language course. ReCALL, 22(2), 212-227.

Some Thoughts … Intercultural Exchange

Overgeneralizations and stereotypes BIG-C vs. small-c Cross-cultural awareness and understanding

Reflective writing Traditional compositions Writing for fluency; process as product Critical thinking

Graduate Seminar http://pekepeki.blogspot.com/ (Spanish)http://ourleon.blogspot.com/ (English)

Intercultural Exchange Blogs

With native speakers

Telecollaboration

Telecollaboration According to O‟Dowd (2006),

“Telecollaboration is the use of network-based

language teaching to connect language learners

in different countries for the development of

collaborative project work and intercultural

exchange” (p. 9).

Web tools: e-mail, discussion board, text/real-

time chat, video conferencing, blogblog, etc.

León - UNH Online Exchange

Participants (Spring 2008) 10 graduate students from UNH, USA 23 undergraduate students from University of

León, Spain Various Web tools

Bloggers for group blogs iMovie or Audacity for podcasts Message board for ethnographic interviews,

feedback and comments Three different types of tasks

Task #1: Group Blogs Topics Chosen by American Students

Topics Chosen by Spanish Students

Blog #1: University Life; Stereotypes; Global Warming

Blog #1: A City Tour of León; University of León and Technology

Blog #2: Super Bowl; Crossword Puzzles; Cyberlanguage

Blog #2: Night Life in León University Life; Brief Guide to Spanish Music

Blog #3: Political Figures-Obama and Romney; Economics in USA

Blog #3: Spanish Films; A Famous Place in León; Spanish Music

Blog #4: University Life in USA; Presidential Debates

Blog #4: University Festivals; Smoking; Interviews with University Professors

Task #2: Podcasting

Controversial issues Global warming Euthanasia Same sex parents Capital punishment Drug related issues Immigration

Task #3: Ethnographic Interviews

Topics Chosen by American Students

Topics Chosen by Spanish Students

Flattering (“Piropos”) Capital Punishment

Educational System in Spain Cinema

University Student Life Free Time

Politics in Spain Life in New Hampshire

Student Exchange and Travel Weapons in the USA

Farewell to Students from León Iraq War

Moodle site in Blackboard

Super Bowl from NH

BLOG - UNH

Road to Presidency from UH

BLOG - UNH

Vodcast in Blog from NH

Vodcast: Capital Punishment

BLOG - León

Blog from León

BLOG – León

About Old Part of León

BLOG – León

Tapas and Nightlife

BLOG – León

BLOG – León

Interviews with León Students

Podcasts from León in Moodle

Post-Task: Peer Feedback Read blogs and listen to podcasts No specific instructions on “how” to

provide feedback Peer feedback by

Written comments or voice recordings Use of English and Spanish

Focus-on-form Linguistic issues and problems

Feedback in Message Board

Direct Feedback from NH

Direct Feedback from León

Feedback with explanations to NH

Lexical Comment from León

“By the way,"mirar la tele" it is not use in

Spain, we say "ver la tele". Why is that? I

don’t know and besides, I think you’ll

never find a logical answer because it

should be "mirar la tele" because you are

paying attention while you are watching

the TV, isn’t it?”

Lexical Comment from León

“One interesting thing about your spanish is

that sometimes (not often, I must say) it seems

more "mexican" than "spanish" due of the

use of the diminutives and because words like

"ahorita” "linda" or "usted/es" (we spanish

people are not so polite as latinoamerican

peolple, actually). Don’t get me wrong, I find

this pretty cool.”

Lexical Comments from NH--It was the School of Agrarian Engineering, in the

decade of the 80’s.** normally we would just say in the 80's--you have a free day to spend ** instead of free day, use day off --cultural activities during all the day ** the entire day is how we usually express

this thought(focus on form by comparing the original againstthe “more native-sounding” rephrasing)

Pedagogical Implications Blogging using topic-based tasks for authentic

communication and cross-cultural learning Podcasting or voice recordings to build oral skills Expert speakers for linguistic scaffolding Balance between “meaning” and “form” Sufficient training and teacher’s monitoring

Lee, L. (2009). Promoting intercultural exchanges with blogs and

podcasting: A study of Spanish-American telecollaboration. Computer

Assisted Language Learning, 22(5), 425-443.

Places to Find E-partners eLanguages

http://www.elanguages.org/ ePals Global Community

http://www.epals.com/ My Language Exchange

http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/ EXCHANGE A LANGUAGE

http://exchangealanguage.com/ Other options

Native speakers from other universities in the U.S.

References O’Dowd, R. (Ed.) (2007). Online Intercultural

Exchange: An Introduction for Foreign

Language Teachers. Multilingual Matters,

Clevedon, UK.

Lomicka, L. (2009). An Intercultural Approach to

Teaching and Learning French. The French Review,

82(6): 1227-1243.

Personalized Learning

Online Journal – Personal Reflection

Reflective Blogs Personal blogs over a 14 week period

SPAN 631-Advanced Composition and Conversation 17 students (freshmen and sophomores)

A four-skill integrated approach to task-based activities Course syllabus Two 150-200 word entries per week Read and comment on others’ blogs

Web 2.0 technology Blogger and iMovie

Four-Skill-Integrative Approach

Assigned readings from Revista textbook Free topics Listening to podcasts

Notes in Spanish

http://www.notesinspanish.com Cody’s Cuentos

http://www.codyscuentos.com/

3-4 minute oral recordings for “Tertulia” Ideal personality, media/TV, globalization

Other Options … Listening skills

BBC in your language CNN in your language Fairy tales/short stories

Speaking skills Voice boards from Wimba (textbooks) Interviews with native speakers (YouTube)

Topics For Each Type of Task

Assigned Readings“Another circle” “Four scientific formulas for

happiness” “ TV garbage” “I was my own path” “Ten minutes”

Free Topics Women’s rights Red Sox in BostonCountry music Swine influenza A (H1N1) in

Mexico

Listening to PodcastingsEnergy saving FacebookEating out and fast food AdoptionSmuggling

 iMovie: Oral RecordingsIdeal personality Imagination Immigration Euthanasia Globalization

Free topicFree topic

FreeTopic

AssignedReading

Listen to Podcasting

Listen to Podcasting

Oral Recording via

iMovie

Oral Recording via

iMovie

Ratings of Task Types

Role of Feedback Linguistic feedback from the instructor

Fluency vs. accuracy Focus-on-form Error correction

Peer feedback on the content Reflective thinking Affective support

Podcasting:Spanish Food

“Tapas”

Podcasting:Spanish Food

“Tapas”

Assigned Reading

Ratings of Feedback

Reflective Thinking: Facebook

“Your point was interesting. I have never

thought about the parents. My mom has a

facebook but she only uses it to post family

pictures. I agree that facebook is a wonderful

tool for us to connect with people. However, I

think people spend too much time online. Also

there is not much privacy. I actually prefer e-

mail.” (translated to English –podcasting)

Comments on Readings

“Most people made similar observations

about the readings and some of comments

were repetitive. I did not find this

assignment engaging and useful.”

Teacher’s role: Commenting on their entries and

asking questions that promote critical thinking.

Comments on iMovie #1 “Making voice recordings was time

consuming because it took a lot of time to

upload a video to Blogger.”

Other options: Voice board by Wimba;

#2 “I did not feel comfortable making voice

recordings in the language lab and the

quality of my recordings was not very good.”

Preterit vs. Imperfect

“El año pasado mi familia hizo un viaje a europa.

Este fue mi primer viaje afuera de los estados unidos

y mi primera vez en un avión. *Estuve muy

emocionada y *tuve miedo también. Cuando

llegamos en Barcelona, *fueron casi las once de la

tarde. Nos quedamos en Barcelona tres días y …. Al

final, *era muy contenta con la experiencia.”

(Third Week)

Preterit vs. Imperfect “Me gustaban estos podcasts mucho. Recientemente

empecé a mirar la tele española y a veces, es muy

difícil comprender. La historia que Mariana y Ben

hablaron [era] muy interesante. Un hombre [robó]

muchos bancos y la policía no [pudo] cogerlo por 15

años. El hombre [llevaba] una peluca y [tenía] armas.

La polícia descubrió que robó casi 600,000 euros y

mató dos guardias civiles.” (Eighth Week)

Students’ Reactions …

“Writing has become easier for me. I’m

now more confident in expressing myself

after having posted more than 20 entries.

Not only did I improve my writing skills

but also gained different perspectives that

I had never thought about before.”

Evaluating Blogs/ Rubrics Elements to consider:

Content (fully covered with supported resources) Organization (coherent, easy to follow) Accuracy (vocabulary, grammar, spelling) Comments (how many and often? quality?)

Examples: University of Wisconsinhttp://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics

blogrubric.html

Teacher Planethttp://www.rubrics4teachers.com/Blog_Rubrics.php

Personal Blogs

Advanced Comp and Conversation http://www.rosabella0517.blogspot.com/

Study Abroad: Granada http:/vrichardsgranadaspain.blogspot.com/

Collaborative Blogs

A Little Background … Director of UNH study abroad program in Granada,

Spain (Fall 2009) 16 students; sophomores and juniors

Blogging as part of coursework PERSONAL blog (student-chosen topics) CLASS blog CLASS blog (teacher-selected topics) PROJECT blog (personal interest)

Ethnographic interviews Real-time conversations with native speakers (NSs) 26 NSs from local communities and the University

of Granada

Prior to the Blog Project Training of how to use Blogger Schedule

PERSONAL blog (September 2nd to October 29th) CLASS blog (September 3rd to November 24th) PROJECT blog (November 10th to December 8th)

Face-to-face interviews Audio/video recordings Upload them to the class blog for

viewing

iMovie

Topics for Each Blog TypePersonal Blog/Student-chosen Topics

Schedule, meals and nap Streets, garbage and recycling Family life and school Social behavior and manners Mediterranean diet, finger food and tip

Class Blog/Teacher selected Topics Animal rights (e.g., bullfighting) Mass communication, TV programs

and press Immigration, ethnic groups and racism Life style and expressions (e.g., “no

pasa nada”) Food and thoughts

Project Blog/Topics of interest

University system and scholarships

Healthcare system and flue Economic and political issues Immigration in Spain and in

the U.S. Living environment and

recycling

Class Blog

Spain:Immigrantes

La Inmigración Y los Inmigrnates en España

Interviewing the Housing Director

in Granada

Free Free Free topic

Ethnographic Interview: Holidays

Interview: Food

Ethnographic Interview: Food/Cooking

Comments on Class Blog

“The discussion about the immigration

issues in Spain, especially in the southern

region of Andalusia was very informative.

Blogs gave everyone a voice to express

opinions and concerns. I’ve learned so

much from reading others’ comments

about this debatable topic.”

Ethnographic Interviews “It was so interesting to learn about the host

culture from personal views shared by real

people not from a textbook. I became more

aware of how I feel about my own culture

by listening to and analyzing the information

that emerged from the interviews. For me, it

is the best way to get to know people from

other cultures.”

Ethnographic Interviews

“In my view, interviews created optimal

conditions for me to interact socially with

native speakers from whom I learned about

their everyday lives, words and expressions

that I would never have learned from sitting

in a regular class.”

Ethnographic Interviews“I would not have gained a deeper understanding of

certain aspects of the Spanish culture had I not had the

opportunity to interviewing my host father. It was

interesting to learn about the host culture from personal

views shared by real people not from a textbook. I

became more aware of how I feel about my own culture

by listening to and analyzing the information that

emerged from the interviews. For me, it is the best way

to get to know people from other cultures.”

Compare/Contrast Two Cultures

#1 – “It is weird that my host mom often gives me cookies for breakfast and we eat a fresh piece of fruit or yogurt after lunch. In the United States we would have pies or cakes for dessert. I do miss fresh baked bagels and donuts in Dunkin Donuts.”

#2 – “I‘m surprised that here in Spain it‘s perfectly fine not to leave tips in restaurants or tip taxi drivers. I still don‘t like the idea of not tipping people for the service. I work as a waitress in the US and I would want people to tip me.”

Cultural Perspectives/Stereotypes

NS: The truth is that not everyone watches or

goes to bullfighting shows. I have never seen

one and I am against the idea of killing animals.

The same thing can be said about flamenco.

Some Spaniards cannot stand flamenco music. I

grew up listening to Paco de Lucia and Moraito. I

am passionate about flamenco. In fact, my

friends and I play in a small bar near the Elvira

street. You are welcome to come …

Cultural Perspectives/Stereotypes

NNS: Thank you for the invitation. I would like

to come. It is interesting to hear what you have

just said. I thought all Spaniards were passionate

about this sport. It seems to be an important

tradition and central to the cultural identify.

Now I see that what I think as an American

about bullfighting is just an example of many

stereotypes.

Small c Perspective “Una de mis frases favoritas es ‘no pasa nada’ Es una

expresión muy interesante que me explicó mi

compañero de entrevista. El me dijo que en España la

gente trata disfrutar la vida lo mas posible. No

preocupa mucho para la vida. Me gusta esta actitud

mucho. Obseciono mucho para vivir ‘perfectamente’

que he perdido cosas que me hacen alegres y

saludables, como amigos, comida y diversion – y tapas

en Granada, por supuerto. España me ha enseñado

relajarse más.”

Formality- You (Tú vs. Usted)

“Today I interviewed my political science asked

me to address him using tú. I really did not feel

comfortable doing that. In my Spanish classes, I

learned that the informal tú is used when speaking

to family members or close acquaintances. I got

confused. He jokingly said to me that it would

make him feel younger … and of course we

laughed. I guess it all depends on the person not the

rule.”

Conclusion (1) Blogging as a mediated tool for reflective

writing and intercultural learning

(2) Incorporation of different skills and tools

(3) Design of meaningful and interesting tasks

(4) Building community of practice through interaction and collaboration

(5) Instructor and peer feedback for focus on form

Why Not?

Si la vida te da limones

!Haz limonada!

Your Ideas …

Your goals?

Tasks?

What skills?

What level?

Feedback?Where?

More … Group/class blogs – collaborative writing

http://granadaotono09.blogspot.com/ http://riquezadecuentos.blogspot.com/

Exchange blogs – intercultural learning http://ourleon.blogspot.com/ (English) http://kaneycourtney.blogspot.com/ (Spanish)

Native Speakers’ Blogs http://www.patpelomundo.blogspot.com/ http://jalusalopes.blogspot.com/ http://romthefrog.blogspot.com/ http://erasmusenrennes.blogspot.com/ http://turchia2007.blog.lastampa.it/

http://en.bab.la/news/top-100-international-exchange-experience-blogs-2009.html

http://www.slideshare.net/juanfrance/aplicaciones-de-los-blogs-a-la-clase-de-francs