Building EFL learners’ literacy through Blended …repository.udistrital.edu.co/bitstream/11349/5734/1/MolanoAriasNa...experience and knowledge about TICs and English language teaching

BUILDING EFL LEARNERS’ LITERACY THROUGH BLENDED LEARNING

Building EFL learners’ literacy through Blended Learning and Facebook

Nayibel Molano Arias

20132062005

Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

School of Sciences and Education

Masters in Applied Linguistics to TEFL

Bogotá – Colombia, 2017

BUILDING EFL LEARNERS’ LITERACY THROUGH BLENDED LEARNING

Building EFL learners’ literacy through Blended Learning and Facebook

Nayibel Molano Arias

Thesis director Esperanza Vera R.

“A thesis submitted as a requirement to obtain the degree of M.A. in Applied Linguistics to the

Teaching of English”

Universidad Francisco José de Caldas

School of Science and Education

Master in Applied Linguistics to TEFL

Bogotá-Colombia, 2017

BUILDING EFL LEARNERS’ LITERACY THROUGH BLENDED LEANING AND FACEBOOK

II

Note of acceptance

Thesis Director _____________________________________

ESPERANZA VERA RODRÍGUEZ M.Sc.

Juror: _____________________________________

AMPARO CLAVIJO OLARTE Ph. D.

Juror: _____________________________________

PILAR MÉNDEZ Ph. D.


III

Acuerdo 19 de 1988 del Consejo Superior Universitario

Artículo 177: “La Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas no será responsable por las ideas

expuestas en esta tesis”.


IV

Acknowledgements

The result of this research project was the product of two and a half years where I had the

opportunity to learn and know deeply about my profession, as an English teacher at a public

school in Bogotá. Hence, firstly, I would like to thank God for the strength and wisdom He gave

me for doing this research study. Furthermore, I would also like to give my acknowledgements

to my advisor MA. Esperanza Vera, who supported and strengthened my research idea with her

experience and knowledge about TICs and English language teaching. She helped me to

improve my labor as an English teacher with her knowledge of the English language. Finally, I

also want to express my gratitude to my students, group 1102, who worked with me for six years

and were my inspiration for improving and innovating my teaching practices.


V

Abstract

Taking into account the use of technology, especially Facebook, among youngsters in their daily

life and routine, the inclusion of EFL learning through a social network site is a challenge in

public schools. This research study proposes the use of different environments and interesting

issues in order to engage students in their EFL learning. The research focused on knowing how

eleventh graders shaped their EFL literacies through the use of blended learning and Facebook

activities in collaborative tasks. The data used in this research included field notes and artifacts,

which were analyzed bearing in mind the framework of this research study and the transcription

of audio recordings on students’ interactions about tasks based on teenagers’ social problems.

The findings of this study show that students participate in the L2 learning process in an active

way when they feel that their likes are included in their learning process.

Keywords: Blended Learning, Facebook, Collaborative work.


VI

Table of contents

Chapter I. Introduction……………………………………….…...……………………………2

Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………………………6

Research question……………………………………………………………………………..12

Research objectives……………………………………………………………………………12

Rationale……………………………………………………………………………………….12

Chapter II. Literature Review……………………………………………………...…………15

Background to the study…………………………………………………………………...…15

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL)………………….………………….………..18

Blended Learning……………………………………………………………..……….……..21

Facebook……………………………………………………………………………..………23

Literacy………………………….…………………………………………………………...26

Chapter III. Research Design…………………………………….………………………...…30

Research Paradigm……………………………………………………………………………30

Research Approach……………………………………………………………………………31

Research Method…………………………………………………………………...…...…….32

Participants and Settings………………………………………………………...……………32


VII

Role of the Researcher…………………………………………………………………..……34

Data Collection Instruments……………………………………………………………...….35

Artifacts…………………………………………………………...……………………………35

Field notes………………………………………………………………………………………36

Audio Recording……………………………………………………………..…………………37

Chapter IV. Instructional Design………………….…………………………………………39

Vision of Curriculum…………………………………………………………………………39

Vision of Language……………………………………………………………………………41

Vision of Learning…………………………………………………………………………….44

Vision of Classroom………………………………………………………………………..…46

Vision of Technology………………………………………………………………………….47

Pedagogical Intervention………………………………………………………………………48

Chapter V. Data Analysis and Findings ……………………………………..………………51

Procedures for Data Analysis…………………………………………………………….……51

Categories of Analysis………………………………………………………………………….56

Understanding readings and posts about social issues and expressing ideas about them

collaboratively……………………………………………………….……...…….……………56

Using students’ linguistic, textual, personal and social knowledge to understand and write


VIII

about social issues collaboratively……………………………………………………………..57

Learning and organizing students’ literacy activities through collaborative work……...…63

Reading students’ world and developing their online participatory writing and

presence……………………………………………………………………………………….....73

Affirming students’ values through the identification of teenagers’ social problems and

proposing solutions expressed in online activities…………………………………………….73

Showing students’ online presence transcending the class work to online work.………......84

Chapter VI. Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications……………………………...…….93

Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………..93

Pedagogical Implications……………………………………………………………..…….….94

Limitations of the Study…………………………………………………………………….....96

Further Research………………………………………………………..…………….……….97

References……………………………………………………………………………………....98

Appendices……………………..………………………………………………………………105


IX

List of Figures

Figure 1. Students using Facebook for communicating among themselves and with the

teacher…………………………………………………………………………………7

Figure 2. An excerpt of a student’s answer to the reading comprehension activity………….….9

Figure 3. Examples of students’ writings…………………………………………………...….10

Figure 4. Excerpts of students’ free writing on their hobbies and experiences…….…………..11

Figure 5. Categories and subcategories……………………………..………………………….55

Figure 6. Lesson1_Audiorecording1_MR…………...……………………………………….….58

Figure 7. Lesson1_Audiorecording1_KM…………………...……………………………….….58

Figure 8. Lesson1_Artifact1_KM…………………………..……………………………………60

Figure 9. Lesson2_Artifact1_EG……………………...…………………………………………61

Figure 10. Lesson1_Survey1_MR……………………………………………………………….63

Figure 11. Lesson2_Survey2_C. ……………………………………………………………...…64

Figure 12. Lesson1_Survey1_KM. ………………………………………...……………………64

Figure 13. Lesson1_Artifact3_JG. ………………………………………………………………65

Figure 14. Lesson3_Artifact3_BG. ……………………………………...………………………66

Figure 15. Lesson3_Artifact3_JT. ………………………………………………………………67


X

Figure 16. Lesson3_Artifact3_LL. ……………………………………………..……………….68

Figure 17. Lesson3_Artifact4_CC. …………………………………………..………….………69

Figure 18. Lesson 3_Artifact4_Unscramble words……………………………………...………70

Figure 19. Lesson3_Artifact4_PR. ……………………...……………………………...…….…71

Figure 20. Lesson1_Fieldnotes2_EG. ………………………………………………...…………72

Figure 21. Lesson2_Artifact4_LM. ……………………...……………………………….……..75

Figure 22. Lesson2_Artifact5_LM. ……………………...…………………………………...…76

Figure 23. Lesson1_Artifact3_MR. ……………………...………………………………….…..77

Figure 24. Lesson1_Artifact4_MR. ……………………..……………………………..….……78

Figure 25. Lesson_Artifact7. Students’ family pictures …………………..………………...….79

Figure 26. Lesson_Artifact7. Love relationship………………………………………...……….81

Figure 27. Lesson3_Artifact7. Social relationship……………………………………...……….82

Figure 28. Lesson1_Artifact4.KM. Social relationship……………………………………...…..83

Figure 29. Lesson3_Artifact6.MR. Love relationship…………………………………………...84

Figure 30. Lesson1_Artifact4.JR……………………………………...…………………………86

Figure 31. Lesson2_Artifact6.CM…………………………………..……………………...……88

Figure 32. Students participated in online activities………………………………………...…..90


XI

Figure 33. Lesson1_Artifact4.HO…………………………………..……………………………91

List of Appendices

Appendix A: Curricular platform………………………………………………………………105

Appendix B: Interests, difficulties and proposals about English class………………………...108

Appendix C: First Instrument, the students’ artifacts……….………………………...……….112

Appendix D: Second Instrument, Field Notes…………………………………………...…….124

Appendix E: Consent form………………………..…………………………………………...127


2

Chapter 1

Introduction

The use of technologies is changing the traditional learning environments in

Colombian schools. Some years ago, technology was used only in companies for

facilitating and improving the effectiveness of business. Nowadays, the use of technology

has reached the academic spaces, especially in Colombia, where the ideas for improving

educational quality and educational inclusion are well received by the Colombian

government. According to the last report on ICT in education in Latin America and the

Caribbean, issued by UNESCO-UIS (2012), ICT are tools designed for promoting and

developing the economy and helping social inclusion.

In Colombia, technologies are being used in some educational communities such

as universities and schools to enhance students’ EFL learning. Douglas (2013) highlights

the importance of ICT in English learning in Colombia, especially for promoting autonomy

in learners. Some other Colombian researchers that have conducted studies using ICTs to

foster literacy and language learning at universities and high schools are Clavijo, Hine &

Quintero (2009), Quintero (2008), Vera & Arias (2010), López (2011), Aguirre (2010), and

Bonilla (2012). In line with the above studies, this research involves technology to

motivate a group of eleventh-grade students to shape their literacies using a different

environment where they had the possibility and the alternative to participate with their

writings before an authentic audience.

My research took the case of learners with classroom modality because I work at a


3

public school where education is imparted in a classroom. There, I observed my students’

preferences in terms of technology and I administered a short survey (Appendix B) about

their use of ICT tools, their use of the foreign language and their favorite topics. Based on

the results, I concluded that they liked to use technology and they also liked the English

language. They knew about the new technology trends and their application in social

contexts, but they did not use technology for academic purposes. The results of the survey

also showed that students felt motivated about using the technological devices in class.

Furthermore, students demonstrated interest in communicating their ideas or feelings in

English, beyond the environment of the classroom. In consonance with the survey

outcomes, I realized that engaging my students in the use of ICT to develop their literacy in

English could become an interesting and meaningful language learning process for them.

Therefore, this current research attempted to engage a group of eleventh graders

in literacy practices using Blended Learning and Facebook, at Venecia School, which is

located in the south of Bogotá. The teacher researcher expected students to feel motivated

to learn English and use it in their current contexts to comprehend the texts they usually

read in social network sites, especially in Facebook. They liked to participate in Facebook

chats, they were connected to this social network site all the time and they always

commented on the pictures, videos or phrases posted; but the purpose of this pedagogical

intervention went beyond comments; the main pedagogical purpose was that 11th grade

students shaped their reading and writing practices through Blended Learning activities and

the use of Facebook to acquire the competences required by the English standards.

Some authors such as Littlejohn and Pegler (2007), Graham (2006), and Bañados


4

(2006) show the connection and benefits of Blended Learning in the language learning

processes where students can read, write, and express their ideas to an authentic audience

increasing also their knowledge of the target language. This research follows the Blended

Learning principles to motivate and engage 11th grade students in shaping their literacies.

By building literacy, my students could improve their knowledge of other topics

or subjects too and their autonomy to express themselves, which may lead them to obtain

good results in their academic and personal life. To reach this goal, I considered that it was

necessary to involve technology in my students’ language learning. Bainbridge (2011)

explains the influence of ICT in the literacy process when she says: “Literacy skills help

students gain knowledge through reading as well as using media and technology. These

skills also help students create knowledge through writing as well as developing media and

technology” (p.4).

Access to technology and the Internet was not difficult for my students because

they had tablets, computers, smart phones, and Internet access and taking that into account,

they could benefit from the innovation inside and outside of the classroom; but the most

especial thing about the group of eleventh graders was their interest for participating in this

English class innovation. According to that, two years ago, I did an inquiry to 30 students

of tenth grade, specifically course 1002, about their English class preferences and their

knowledge of technological tools; then, when they were in 1102 they continued being the

participants of my research. Appendix A shows eleventh graders’ preferences regarding

the English class, namely what they wanted to improve in agreement with their current

language use and the use of technology.


5

From the participants’ answers and opinions, I found that most of them liked the

English class and felt motivated in the class because they understood the explanations, the

English class was fun, the teacher used different resources for teaching, and the topics were

interesting for them. About eleventh graders’ interests for learning English, the most

relevant answer was that English might help them in their college studies; other answers

were that they needed to learn English because they wanted to travel, know other cultures

and people, and get a good job. In order to achieve the objectives, students wrote that they

needed to improve their writing and reading skills, because these skills were necessary in

their university studies; however, some students marked the importance to improve their

listening and speaking skills. In order to do that, they suggested to work in their English

class topics such as movies, sports, social problems, TV programs, celebrities’ lives, and

customs and cultures of different countries. About students’ technology preferences, they

said that they had computers and access to the Internet at home; besides, they used their

smart phones or tablets to do their homework or participate in chats. The sites more

frequently used by eleventh grade students were Facebook, e-mail, and YouTube, although

they also used Twitter and blogs in some occasions.

A key construct in this study was the application of Blended Learning. I think

that this approach was appropriate to shape my students’ reading and writing in English as

a Foreign language (EFL) because Blended Learning combines the traditional face-to-face

methodology with computer-mediated activities, in this case using the Social Network Site,

Facebook.

Teachers can use some social networks such as Facebook for pedagogical


6

purposes along with a learning model like Blended Learning, as I did, to help students

become engaged and put into practice their reading and writing English skills in order to

improve their literacy, because this social network site is a part of their daily routine; their

communicating ideas, likes, and preferences is expressed through Facebook and my

intention was to use this tool in my students’ learning process.

Statement of the Problem

During the time I was their teacher, I observed that 11th grade students had a low

level in their reading and writing skills. In previous reading and writing activities done in

class, eleventh grade students did not evidence good progress in their reading

comprehension and in their free writing. In their reading comprehension, many of them did

not understand the texts, as they did not identify the main ideas or the author’s purpose, did

not recognize the type of text and could not propose their own ideas based on the readings

or argue about a topic based on the readings. About my students’ writing in English, they

always had expressed that they did not have enough English vocabulary for communicating

their ideas and this was the reason why they did not try to write in English. In the excerpts

below, I show some examples of these eleventh graders’ written production.


7

Figure 1. Students using Facebook for communicating among themselves and with the

teacher.

Figure 1 illustrates an online conversation to try to engage my students in the use of

EFL through Facebook. According to their comments, they were not able to write in

English spontaneously, and they asked for the comments to be posted in Spanish; although

they translated and understood the teacher’s comments, they preferred to write in Spanish.

In relation to their reading comprehension, I could affirm that most of the

participants understood simple adapted texts about familiar topics written in present and

future tenses; in the following examples, we can observe that the answers they gave to the

information questions asked were correct and generally were well written when students

could copy the answers from the reading.


8


9

Figure 2. An excerpt of a student’s answer to the reading comprehension activity.

Figure 3 below illustrates the results of a short-controlled writing activity in which

students were expected to write a text using some prompts. In the pictures, I could observe

some mistakes in eleventh graders’ writings such as the lack of use of possessives, and

problems with word order, spelling, and tense use; however, they understood the exercise

and their writings were coherent.


10

Figure 3. Examples of students’ writings

Figure 4 below illustrates some examples of a free writing activity in which students

had to comment about their hobbies and an experience lived this year. In this activity,

some of the students could express their ideas despite their mistakes; however, others

showed lack of vocabulary, coherence, and cohesion, besides an incorrect use of grammar

which did not allow them to communicate their ideas successfully.


11

Figure 4: Excerpts of students’ free writing on their hobbies and experiences

In order to help my students overcome their literacy problems, I was able to take

advantage of their great interest in communicating through their electronic devices during

the English class, especially through Facebook posts, which they wanted to answer

immediately. Nevertheless, some of my students were shy and their participation in the

English class was not active since they did not ask questions or talk, and they wanted to

work alone because their personality did not allow them to speak in a comfortable way with

other people. They also wanted to use their electronic devices for communicating all the

time. Therefore, I could use online reading and writing activities on Facebook, supported

by face to face classroom activities, to help the participants improve their literacy in EFL,


12

which meant following a Blended Learning approach to language learning and literacy

enhancement. Based on these ideas, I could propose the following research question.

Research Question

¿How do 11th grade students shape their English literacies using Blended Learning

activities and Facebook?

Research Objectives

● To characterize and document the 11th grade students’ English reading skills using

Blended Learning and Facebook activities.

● To characterize and document the 11th grade students’ English writing skills through

the use of Blended Learning and Facebook activities.

Rationale

The implementation of Blended Learning in this study was related to the use of

two different pedagogical environments but with the same purpose: To shape 11th grade

students’ English literacies. Bonk and Graham (2012) cite in their book three benefits of

applying this approach, namely to improve pedagogy, to increase access and flexibility, and

to increase cost-effectiveness. I could say that this methodology combines the best ideas of

both learning environments, the classroom and Facebook as a virtual environment to take

advantage of the benefits just mentioned. Littlejhon and Pegler (2007) include the social

spaces online as a part of Blended Learning and they argue that “students can share

information, comment on the ideas of others, and collaboratively generate new knowledge”

(p.26). Through these online environments, I thought that Blended Learning might help to


13

engage my students in their English learning, because in this learning approach, my

students and I had a common interest: The use of Internet to learn and specifically the use

of Facebook.

Another reason for applying Blended Learning in this study was to foster the

appropriate use of time out of the classroom for my students’ learning. At Venecia School

there are some different reasons why students do not attend school or go to a class; one of

these is that on some occasions, students do not have a class because there are meetings or

academic activities and students do not go to school to study; another situation is the

absence of students due to illness or personal situations; these situations are an impediment

to their learning process. The use of Facebook improved communication and participation

of 11th grade students out of the classroom to be updated with their academic tasks or

activities when they could not come to school.

So far, I have described the problem, which was the origin of this research, the

pedagogical and research purposes, the research questions and the rationale for doing this

research. Chapter two has the concepts, which are related to my research such as literacy,

Blended Learning, collaborative work, and other topics which complement my study. In

chapter three, I present the research design, qualitative action research, participants, and I

describe the setting, the researcher’s role, and the data collection instruments and

procedures. In chapter four, I will explain the instructional design, the pedagogical

platform, the teaching approach, and the tasks proposed to enhance my students’ literacies.

In chapter five, I report on the data analysis process which referred to the approach,

procedures, and the description of the categories of analysis and the findings of the


14

research. In the last chapter, I introduce the conclusions and the limitations of the study to

contribute to other studies.


15

Chapter 2

Literature Review

This research was grounded in an ICT perspective for shaping literacy in a second

language, specifically through Blended Learning, including Facebook as a part of this

methodology. The Social Networking Site, Facebook™ was chosen because it is the most

popular Social Network Site among students of 11th grade at Venecia School afternoon

shift, according to the survey done in 2016 about the social pages more used by learners.

(See Chapter 1).

This chapter shows some studies which involved Blended Learning in the learning

and teaching of a second language, and Facebook™ as a learning and teaching tool. After

that, I provide some explanations about concepts such as Blended Learning, Facebook,

collaborative work, and literacy; finally, I focus on the importance of shaping the EFL

learners’ literacy through Blended Learning.

Background to the study

The interest in developing eleventh grade students’ literacy through Blended

Learning and Facebook was not only to get better results in high school but to allow

students to see they could understand texts in English and express their feelings and

thoughts in that foreign language too. Gupta and Haridas (2012) argue that including

technology-assisted learning or standardized lessons in a syllabus can mitigate weaknesses

in teaching and improve students’ test scores; furthermore, they say that using ICT in all

subject matters and all grades helps to foster meaningful learning.


16

The implementation of technology for improving EFL learning has been included in

our country in different ways, uses, and to fulfill different objectives. Many of the EFL

researches have used educational platforms such as forums for communication purposes

among students and blogs, as useful ICT tools for language learning; thus, writing skills

have been the most addressed ones in those research studies. Quintero (2008) used blogs

with university students to allow them to communicate and interact among themselves and

with students from Canada to promote learning about the language and culture, but

expressing their ideas through writing was the focus for the Colombian students to

introduce their culture to the Canadian students.

In the same way, Clavijo, Hine, & Quintero (2009) involved the use of ICT,

specifically the use of a virtual forum in which students from Colombia and Canada

participated exchanging information about their cultures by dealing with topics such as

festivities, celebrations, among others, in writing; through this, students learned to work in

a collaborative way; in addition, they learned about other cultures, participated choosing

their own themes, and improved their writing skills.

López (2011) also conducted a study to improve EFL students’ writing using blogs,

especially related to grammar use, paragraph structure, and in different writing processes.

Moreover, she highlights the importance of using blogs as a tool for engaging students in

communication, as students had the opportunity to express their likes and share a part of

their life experiences in EFL.

The incorporation of ICT in the teaching and learning of EFL is not used only for


17

schools; universities in Colombia have tried to include this tool to engage students in their

EFL learning. Bonilla (2012) conducted a research study that used ICT with college

students to involve them in an enquiry writing process as a way for developing their writing

skill, building knowledge, and reflecting upon a social situation. In his study, the writing

process was used to promote communication, express concerns, ideas, or opinions, and do

research about topics of interest to students and, therefore, teaching went beyond just the

forms and functions of the English language.

In her study, Aguirre (2010) describes the potential of ICT for developing writing,

especially for improving the quality of the text produced. In that research study, students

created hyper-stories in a collaborative way, having in mind an authentic audience and their

expectations to be published, read, and motivated to improve their writing skills.

The examples above about the incorporation of ICT in EFL learning were not just

for improving writing, but they were used to engage students with a virtual environment to

express their opinions, ideas, and concerns in English. Considering these experiences, I

included a virtual space to encourage my students to read and write in English, involving

them in their language learning, which might help them communicate among themselves

and with people from other cultures and to obtain good results on their ICFES exam,

because this was one of the possibilities they had to be admitted to an official or private

university (See the context in Chapter 3). Cassell (2004) refers to the importance of

literacy, saying that “Verbal literacy remains paramount for success throughout life — from

the beginnings of education to the future employment of adults” (p.2).


18

For many years, we have heard the term literacy and we know that this term refers

to knowing how to read and write, but we do not understand its importance for our lives.

Davidson (2010) refers to the importance of developing literacy in students arguing that in

this globalized world and with diverse student backgrounds, literacy helps children and

youngsters to have access to equal education that can transform their lives and society. As

I mentioned above, this was my principal motivation for conducting the current research

study.

This research focused on developing students’ literacy, not only for them to learn

English but above all, to try to understand situations close to their realities and to express

their points of view about them. To do so, Blended Learning and Facebook were used as

tools. Graham (2004) defines Blended Learning as an approach which integrates two

different learning environments: Virtual and face-to-face. In my case, it was used to create

a more effective experience in the teaching and learning of the English language. In the

following pages, I discuss the characteristics of important constructs in this research,

starting by Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), which was the concept within

which Blended Learning and the pedagogical use of Facebook could be framed.

Computer-assisted Language Learning, (CALL)

When talking about the integration of ICT in the teaching and learning of languages,

it was necessary to focus on CALL; Egbert and Petrie, (2005) claim that “CALL means

learners learning language in any context with, through, and around computer

technologies” (p. 4). According to the context where I teach, I promoted students’ literacy


19

beyond the classroom using Facebook as a tool that involved a computer and network

technology in order to change the traditional teaching and learning context and engage

eleventh graders in their language learning.

The importance of CALL in language acquisition was based on tasks where

computer and web-based mediated social interaction was relevant for learners. Chapelle

(2001) recommends six criteria for Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) tasks

based on Second Language Acquisition (SLA): (1) language learning potential, (2)

appropriate to learner’s linguistic ability level, (3) meaning focus, (4) authenticity, (5)

positive impact which results beyond language learning potential, and (6) practicality.

The inclusion of CALL in language teaching and learning could transform the

traditional learning into a motivating learning experience and meaningful learning. Espitia

& Clavijo (2011) argue the importance of ICT tools in the motivation and acquisition of an

L2, when stating that “computer and Internet based tools are thought to be useful in

language classes due to their potential to enhance communication, literacy, and other

language skills. They can be used to help students interact with different people, facilitate

knowledge acquisition, and increase motivation toward language learning” (p. 31).

Considering this quote, I could say that the use of social networks such as Facebook, might

be pertinent and motivating for developing literacy skills in learners both inside and outside

the classroom because of the authenticity of communication they could promote.

The effectiveness of CALL could be argued considering that CALL research has

noted positive results from its use, indicating that CALL “permitted students to control the


20

pace of their learning and their interaction with others, and encouraged them to become

better writers because they had an authentic audience and a purpose for writing”

(Pennington, 1996; Pennington & Stevens, 1992; Warschauer, 1995; Yates, 1996, p.9).

“The use of CALL and distance learning activities was found to create classroom discourse

communities and encouraged shy students to participate more fully” (Palloff & Pratt, 1990;

Warschauer, 1996b, p.9). Students also reported that CALL activities helped them develop

their ideas and promoted learning from their classmates. In addition, developing expertise

in using computers gave students a feeling of pride and achievement and greatly

encouraged their autonomy as learners; thus, CALL has been shown to produce several

favorable learning outcomes.

Technology has a potential impact for youngsters. The use of electronic devices and

the Internet is a part of students’ personal routines. The Fred Rogers Center (2012)

research shows how technology has been growing during the last years and how it has

become a resource in family daily activities, especially, involving children and youngsters.

According to this research, “the prevalence of electronic media in the lives of young

children means that they are spending an increasing number of hours per week in front of

different electronic gadgets and engage with screens of all kinds, including televisions,

computers, smartphones, tablets, handheld game devices, and game consoles” (p. 2).

The idea was to integrate the use of ICT in the academic students’ learning activities.

The students wanted to relate to their friends, family or teachers through the Internet; but

this tool was not only for communicative purposes, it was also important for students to

acquire knowledge about their likes or preferences. Kolb (2008) states that “life and student


21

experiences in school believe that if the home culture of students is integrated into their

classroom learning, they are more likely to be academically successful” (p.4). Thus, the use

of ICT, especially the Internet on computers, smart phones or tablets was a pedagogical

resource in EFL learning to take advantage of students’ previous knowledge and

experiences.

Blended Learning (BL) to foster EFL literacy

This approach was created as an alternative to the difficulties embraced by e-

learning. For Littlejohn and Pegler (2007), “The term Blended Learning describes a hybrid

model of e-learning that allows coexistence of conventional face-to-face teaching methods

and newer e-learning activities and resources in a single course” (p. 26). Also, Graham

(2006) states that “Blended Learning systems combine face-to-face instruction with

computer-mediated instruction” (p. 5). Both definitions involve the mix of two different

settings of learning and methods of teaching; one of them refers to the classroom learning

that the authors describe as face-to-face teaching; the other one refers to the virtual space

created using technology where interactive learning activities can be designed, they call it

e-learning and computer-mediated instruction. Considering these characteristics, the use of

BL in my research was appropriate for my students to read and write in EFL because it

involved the two principal settings in which my students and I developed the teaching and

learning activities, that could complement each other.

Another definition of BL is given by Bañados (2006), who describes it as a

“combination of technology and classroom instruction in a flexible approach to learning


22

that recognizes the benefits of delivering some training and assessment online but also uses

other modes to make up a complete training program which can improve learning outcomes

and/or save costs” (p. 534). Graham (2004) argues that “BL is part of the ongoing

convergence of two archetypal learning environments. On the one hand, we have the

traditional F2F learning environment that has been around for centuries. On the other hand,

we have distributed learning environments that have begun to grow and expand in

exponential ways, as new technologies have expanded the possibilities for distributed

communication and interaction” (p. 4). Regarding the last definitions, I consider that BL

was the most appropriate approach with which students were more comfortable to

participate, interact, and develop their literacy in EFL in and out of the classroom.

Because the use of technology was an attractive way for enhancing students’

English learning, it was necessary to bear in mind, that the implementation of this learning

tool had to include a pedagogical aim. Bañados (2006) argues three reasons for including

Blended Learning as a pedagogical tool for teaching and learning in EFL students; one of

these reasons is that students prefer traditional classes to online classes because they have

more opportunity for face-to-face teacher and peer interaction; another reason is that

students have the possibility to use technology tools to practice and interact using EFL, and

the last reason is that students not only learn English but they also achieve a mastery on the

use of ICTs. For the author, BL in learning and teaching of an L2 involve different aspects

such as autonomy, responsibility, learning of L2, and mastery of ICT. It made BL approach

suitable for influencing EFL students’ literacy.


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Dennis, Bichelmeyer, Henry, Cakir, Korkmaz, Watson & Bunnage, (2006) quoting

Osguthorpe and Graham (2003) about the benefits of applying BL environments, mention

pedagogical richness, access to knowledge, social interaction, personal agency, cost-

effectiveness, and ease of revision; all of them are used to engage students in learning in an

autonomous and collaborative way. Taking this into account, the incorporation of Blended

Learning in my research helped to increase my students’ motivation to build knowledge, to

participate, to keep working in the English class to improve their literacy and their social

interaction.

Facebook

Facebook is a “social network site as web-based services that allow individuals to

(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of

other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of

connections and those made by others within the system” (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p.211).

This tool has been useful for academic purposes too; especially for language learning in

order to build literacy. Anderson (2009) claims that “digital text provides affordances that

readers and writers do not have with more traditional literacy tools. When used effectively,

the capacity of digital text to be modified and enhanced can be used to develop digital

learning environments that support and enhance the learning process” (p.129).

Facebook is a collaborative and organizational tool where students can develop

personal characteristics such as self-esteem, self- efficacy, collaboration, communication,

and motivation. Dennis et al (2006) refer to Facebook as:


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Another informal system equipped with tools designed for social interaction that

students are re-appropriating for academic uses. Students are using Facebook as an

informal communication platform through which students conduct various

organizing activities such as sharing information about their classroom activities

and collaborating with peers on assignments (p. 330).

The use of Facebook in language learning has helped both students and teachers to

build, develop or improve literacies; also, when students were working with these ICT

tools, they could develop the other personal skills listed above. Reid (2011) describes how

teachers can use Facebook for different academic purposes; especially for encouraging

interaction and participation for discussing important aspects of debates to develop critical

awareness in students.

About the relationships that originated between students and / or teachers while

working in a social network site, Selami (2014), in her research, demonstrated that the

interactions student-teacher through Facebook are very common and pleasurable for

students because they read about their teacher’s life, work and education; but on some

occasions learners posted on the teachers’ walls in order to give their opinion or

suggestions using the foreign language, which was the principal objective for shaping my

students’ literacy. The researcher found that gender was an important factor in student-

teacher’s interactions, especially for women who demonstrated interest in the teacher’s

status updates in her Facebook. Selami (2014) found that EFL students showed positive

behavior through the messages sent to their teachers and concluded that students felt more

comfortable writing on Facebook because they could express their ideas without the stress


25

of time or the fear of being ridiculed by their classmates.

Kitsis (2008) in her research with high school students engaged in their homework

through a Social Networking; she reports that homework has been viewed as an individual

work, which students do not feel comfortable with because they do not have the possibility

to ask or to receive feedback. Considering the importance of technology in students’ lives,

the researcher used it to improve literacy skills; she began with e-mails, then with

Facebook, but finally she chose blogs because they promoted collaborative work in an easy

way, where students could share their writings in an immediate way, obtaining feedback to

shape their literacy skills.

According to the interviews conducted by the researcher, students gave more

importance to the comments made by their peers about their writings, than to the grades

given for the homework done. They changed their thoughts about tasks and enjoyed doing

them outside of the school. Students improved their literacy and critical skills; they worked

in a collaborative way to improve their academic results and to establish new relationships

outside the school.

Although social networks are tools used by youngsters, it is necessary to understand

the importance they have in language learning. Blattner and Fiori (2009) argue that

Facebook has allowed synchronous and asynchronous tools to extend their communicative

purpose to a different audience; not only for a teacher, where communication may be

developed in a dynamic way either in delayed or real time. McBride (2009) also expresses

the importance of the Social Network Sites (SNS) such as Facebook in the learning of a


26

foreign language, when she states that the use of a SNS encourages students to learn a

second language, because this tool allows people to do self-expression and social

interaction which are important in language learning. The author mentions that the SNS

activities ought to contain a pedagogically useful design in order to engage students in their

foreign language tasks. Considering the pedagogical dimension, I implemented the BL

methodology where classroom activities to develop reading and writing skills intended to

prepare students for expressing themselves, analyzing social issues, interacting with their

classmates and the teacher, and putting their knowledge on Facebook into practice.

Finally, it is important to highlight the influence that technology and the Internet

have in a sociocultural context because the Social Network Site is a setting and a tool where

students can develop their EFL literacy through online interaction and with the support of

face-to-face supporting activities, they had the possibility to know other cultures and I

could say that one future purpose in the use of Facebook and according to Lampe & Wohn

& Vitak & Ellison & Wash (2011) is to obtain higher levels of self-efficacy, such as the use

of the language as the tool to apply knowledge in a larger set of contexts.

Literacy

Most literacy practices of current students come from technology, but these skills are

given by a topic or context of interest to young people. This technological boom has

generated a greater influence on youngsters to be connected and to participate in different

chats where they can give their opinion. This online participation involves students to read,

understand, and write; these skills are all a part of literacy.


27

The necessity to express thoughts, ideas or feelings using technology, and the Internet

indicates that these practices are inseparable for today’s people, especially for the youngest.

Barrette (2001) defines computer literacy as “computer skills and the ability to use

computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity, and performance” (p.6).

The purpose of including technology to promote the development of reading and writing

skills in English is to engage students in their language learning process.

Baynham (1995) defines literacy “as the uses of reading and writing to achieve social

purposes in contexts of use” (p.2) and this was the aim in my research; the use of literacy

for communicating ideas, opinions, and feelings, through specific contexts such as the

classroom and Facebook, as a way to engage my students in literacy processes.

Developing literacy is not an individual activity, it requires interaction and

socialization among people in order to communicate and understand thoughts and

meanings. Keefe and Copeland (2011) propose five core definitional principles for

literacy: 1. All people are capable of acquiring literacy. 2. Literacy is a human right and

is a fundamental part of the human experience. 3. Literacy is not a trait that resides solely

in the individual person. It requires and creates a connection (relationship) with others. 4.

Literacy includes communication, contact, and the expectation that interaction is possible

for all individuals; literacy has the potential to lead to empowerment. 5. Literacy is the

collective responsibility of every individual in the community; that is, to develop

meaning making with all the human modes of communication to transmit and receive

information” (p. 97).


28

Therefore, interaction is very important in order to construct, understand, and make

meaning. Hence, different elements take part in the construction of meaning. As I

highlighted before, one of these elements was the development of literacy taking into

account society and context. As stated by Davidson (2010), literacy is developed when

children understand and explore their cultural, social, and historical contexts.

Another element for shaping literacy was the way reading and writing were

incorporated into a context where interaction within a society is important to improve these

two skills; Perez (in Davidson, 2010) argues that “being literate means being able to read

and write in a culturally appropriate way, that the skills are not only in the individual’s

head, but that literacy is an interactive process that is modified according to the

sociocultural environment” (p. 5).

Considering the above definitions of literacy, my research focused on how eleventh

grade students shaped their literacy through different environments such as the classroom

and Facebook. These contexts gave them the opportunity to interact among themselves and

with the teacher in relation to interesting topics to express their opinions, ideas, feelings,

etc. by using EFL in a correct way.

This chapter focused on the use of CALL and specifically the implementation of BL

as an approach for shaping EFL literacy in eleventh graders at Venecia school, for engaging

my students in their English learning through the BL activities, where the youngsters had

the opportunity to participate actively in order to learn new vocabulary, put grammar into

practice, read, and write in English.


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The implementation of BL provided different language learning environments

where the students were able to use technology and the Internet to abbreviate their learning

process and add the motivational element, because technology makes a part of learner’s

reality, making them feel identified and motivated to do their tasks in and out of the

classroom.

Engaging students in BL activities demonstrated the possibilities and facilities that

youngsters had to learn English in an autonomous way to know as well as understand

different cultures and contexts around the world and their own. Students investigated about

their interests using English, because they had the knowledge to comprehend the readings

offered in English.

During the implementation of these tools along the process of language teaching

and learning, it was necessary to consider some issues such as Blended Learning, literacy,

the personal and academic effectiveness of Facebook, the role of different theories which

supported the implementation of the tools, and the approach.


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Chapter 3

Research Design

This chapter presents the research methodology that supports this study. It includes

the research paradigm, research approach, and research type. It also describes the setting,

the participants and the researcher’s role. Last, it describes the data collection instruments

that were used during the pedagogical intervention.

Research Paradigm

This research focused on constructivism, because the constructivist researcher is

interested in co-constructing with the participants the subjective reality that is under

investigation (Hatch, 2004); that is, in how human beings construct their own meanings or

social realities through the interaction with others. This meaning and social realities were

supported by my students’ experiences or previous knowledge in specific contexts and

settings.

In this study, the classroom and Facebook were the contexts where students

developed their literacy in EFL to construct and improve their English learning through

reading and writing activities and the interaction with their classmates and the teacher.

Creswell (2003) affirms that: “the participants can construct the meaning of a situation, a

meaning typically forged in discussions or interactions with other people” (p.8).

Considering the importance of the context for shaping literacy, I think that Facebook was a

Social Network Site where students constructed new ideas or concepts based on their

previous or current knowledge acquired in different settings such as their classroom, their


31

family, their friends, etc. and that knowledge was interpreted in different ways but always

trying to understand and structure the new knowledge.

Research Approach

Constructivism is the paradigm that frames my qualitative research, it addressed my

inquiry to carry out analysis and interpretation of the data collected along my pedagogical

intervention. This approach was very useful for my inquiry, thanks to its special

characteristics (Creswell, 2003).

One of these characteristics was the natural context. The classroom and

Facebook were the specific natural settings where students developed their literacy. I also

acted as a data gathering instrument; I was the only one responsible for gathering data

about how students responded to Blended Learning (BL) activities and how that shaped

their literacy through Facebook and different activities developed in the classroom, using

different sources to collect data such as field notes, surveys, and artifacts.

Another characteristic of qualitative research was the participants’ perspectives

through their voices. Also, the teacher – researcher tried to understand the meanings that

participants constructed to participate in their social lives; those meanings were developed

through the participation and interaction with other human beings like their classmates and

the teacher.

For Hoepfel (1997) qualitative research has an interpretive character and is used for

knowing the phenomena in specific settings to discover and understand the meaning of

people’s actions in context and achieving interpretations of those meanings by the


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researcher. From this perspective, the decision to use qualitative research in my

investigation was appropriate because it helped me identify the processes followed by

eleventh graders in their literacy development and allowed me to discover and understand

the meaning of their actions in the two aforementioned specific and different settings, using

inductive data analysis.

Research Method

This study was framed around Action Research, understood as “an inquiry

undertaken, with rigor and understanding so as to constantly refine practice; the emerging

evidence-based outcomes will then contribute to the researching practitioner’s continuing

professional development” (Koshy, 2005, p.2). In line with this definition, one of the

reasons for using Action Research in my study was the necessity to change my traditional

classes in order to improve my teaching practice and have the possibility to try a different

teaching methodology, as to engage my students in their English learning. The other reason

for working with action research was to tackle an identified problem in the classroom: The

low levels of reading comprehension and writing in my students. According to Griffee

(2012), Action Research is a small-case investigation, in which teachers could solve

classroom problems, by following the steps of observing, reflecting, and acting in a cyclical

way.

Participants and Setting

I did my research with 11th graders, specifically with group 1102. They were a

group of 36 students, 19 boys and 17 girls who were between 15 and 18 years old. They


33

were a homogeneous group, because most of them had similar characteristics like the age,

the interest to improve their English language, and they liked to use Facebook.

I chose this group for different reasons; one of them was because I was their

homeroom teacher and I had the possibility to stay with them more time; considering this

fact, at this stage I did a convenient sampling because I had some advantages for it and for

collecting data in a fast and easy way. The other reason was the interest I shared with my

students to change the traditional English classes, and based on that, I did a purposive

sampling. Ritchie, Lewis, and Elam (2003) say that in this kind of sampling we have “to

ensure that all the key constituents of relevance to the subject matter are covered and to

ensure that, within the key criteria, some diversity is included so that the impact of the

characteristic concerned can be explored” (p.79). Following the sampling objectives

exposed above by Ritchie, Lewis, and Elam about the criteria and diversity, I chose

students who represented the typical or average 11th grade student and that had the attitude

and tools for developing my inquiry. On the other hand, I considered that their thoughts and

learning were different and, therefore, they could bring different perspectives to the study.

This research was developed at a public school in Venecia neighborhood, named

Venecia School IED. This school is in the sixth zone at the south of Bogotá. Venecia is

known for being one of the most important commercial neighborhoods of Bogotá. Venecia

area is broad and it has a large population from different parts of Colombia; Venecia

School IED is the biggest public school in the zone, with two branches: One of them

located in Muzú neighborhood, it is only for elementary school students and the other one,

located in Venecia neighborhood, is the principal branch and it holds 1140 high school


34

students. This branch has three shifts: Morning, afternoon, and evening. The inquiry was

developed in the principal branch, with students from the afternoon shift.

Implementing Blended Learning in the English class helped to support the

emphasis of my school, since it is characterized for using technology in the classes, because

its emphasis is on technology; but the use of this technology is limited to the use the

computer and the video beam to make presentations. The technological tools did not have a

methodological purpose so that was one of the reasons for including the implementation of

ICT in my research.

Role of the Researcher

Guest, Namey, and Mitchell (2013) give importance to the human being and the

context for developing research; they suggest that the researcher is a participant observer

who through his or her participation and immersion into the inquiry can know and

understand the human behavior, but taking into account the specific context where the

study was developed. Since I started helping my students develop their EFL literacy, I was

a participant observer, because I was involved in all the classroom and online activities

proposed as a teacher-researcher.

For developing my inquiry as a participant observer, I focused on one of the

techniques exposed by Guest, Namey, and Mitchell (2013), the observation of students

participating in the two different contexts (Facebook and classroom), regarding what my

students understood when they read and what they communicated through their writings for

developing their literacy.


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Data Collection Instruments

I used four instruments to collect data for the study: Student’s artifacts, field

notes supported by audio recordings, and surveys. Hendricks (2008) states that if the action

research is focused on students’ achievements, the most suitable method for data

collections are artifacts because they provide different sources for arguing the study.

Artifacts provided data related to the progress, achievements, and difficulties of my

students regarding their reading and writing skills.

The artifacts produced by the students were: Writing and reading assignments,

pictures or comments on Facebook related to the topic, performances, self-assessment,

peer, and group review.

Hence, my first instrument for collecting data was the students’ artifacts (Appendix

B). Goetz and LeCompte (1984) highlight the importance of the researcher for knowing

people’s interest through the artifacts, which are activities proposed in lesson plans. These

artifacts were students’ reading comprehensions, vocabulary identification, written

productions, postcards, reading images, posts, and comments on Facebook. As I mentioned

before, these activities were developed in three lesson plans; each lesson plan (Appendix C)

followed the same frame; but each one of them was different in terms of the amount and

complexity of the activities. The artifacts were gathered for seven months and there were

more of these produced in the classroom than on Facebook. Classroom artifacts were

gathered in each class; some of them were easy to produce, while in other cases, it was

necessary for the teacher-researcher to give them back to students for correction. The


36

teacher collected the artifacts when the English class finished to revise them. The artifacts

produced on Facebook were the after-reading activities. These were gathered and analyzed

at the end of the pedagogical interventions because some students did not post or comment

after finishing the lesson plan, they did the after-reading activities days later.

Ethical issues were present in most of the artifacts; students worked on this topic

because the lesson plans were designed following this perspective. The artifacts that helped

to gather information about ethical issues were the reading comprehension activities and the

after-reading activities done in the classroom and on Facebook; eleventh graders created

texts in the classroom and on Facebook to express their opinions about daily life or social

issues, based on the readings done and on their life experiences.

My second instrument was field notes (Appendix D). For Hopkins (2002), field

notes are not only used for reporting observations, but they can also help to report the

reflections and reactions that students evidence in the classroom. A format for field notes

was designed to know how my students interacted when working in groups and

individually to make meaning when reading and to produce meaning when they wrote, and

what their reactions were when they were not allowed to use their electronic devices and

the Google Translator, as help for writing in English.

Besides the field notes format, I used a video recorder in some sessions to describe

the interactions among students properly. The field notes were gathered in two settings,

during the classroom and on Facebook; there, I observed and took notes about relevant

aspects which could answered my research question. However, I used a video recorder in


37

the classroom sessions because in this setting students asked for explanations or

information all the time and the use of this tool was a support for making correct

observations. In order to validate the information collected in the classroom, I looked again

at the videos to compare them with the notes taken during the observations and to complete

my information about students’ participation.

Finally, my third instrument was audio recordings; the use of this instrument helped

me to know how my students shaped their literacy when they worked in groups and know

my students’ thoughts and advice about teenagers’ social problems. The use of this

instrument changed during the first pedagogical intervention because in the first moment of

data collection, students used and located their mobile phones in their groups in order to

record their voices; then, participants sent me their recordings by WhatsApp but when I

listened to them, they had some problems as they were not clear, others did not have

anything recorded, and some students did not send me their recordings. After that

experience, I used journalist recorders and I selected four groups for locating the audio

recorders; this change helped me to listen to my students’ voices and opinions about their

progress and difficulties about the research in a direct way and listen to my participants’

ideas about teenagers’ social problems.

As I mentioned above, I gathered data through four audio recordings but these tools

were rotated among participants after finishing the activities proposed in each lesson plan.

I collected the audiotapes, I listened to them, and I took notes about the voices which could

help me answer my research question. To comply with ethical responsibility as a

researcher, I requested permission from parents of the students who participated in my


38

research. This permission was a consent form signed by my student’s parents (Appendix

E).

In the following chapter, I portray the instructional design in which I describe the

vision of curriculum, the vision of language, the vision of learning, the vision of the

classroom, and the vision of technology. Besides, I explain how pedagogical interventions

were made and finally the organization of the curriculum platform.


39

Chapter IV

Instructional Design

In this chapter, I present the visions of curriculum, learning, language, classroom, and

technology which frame the pedagogical platform for developing my instructional design to

help eleventh graders shape their literacies in EFL through Blended Learning and

Facebook.

Vision of Curriculum

Grundy (1998) defined curriculum as a cultural construction, as a way of organizing a

set of human educational practices. She suggested that we must find the curriculum, not

on the shelf of teachers, but in the actions of people involved in education. For her, thinking

about the curriculum is thinking about how a group of people in an academic community

acts and interacts in certain situations.

Grundy (1998) discusses the three types of human interests to be considered in the

elaboration of a curriculum, to give sense to the curricular practices and to build

knowledge. These human interests were proposed by Jurgen Habermas, who called them

the technical human interest, the practical human interest, and the emancipatory human

interest.

I chose the practical human interest to organize my curricular practices and the way to

shape the literacy processes for eleventh graders through Blended Learning activities,

because this interest is focused on what human beings do to understand the world where


40

they participate, in order to interact and take action guided by their subjective knowledge

(Grundy, 1998). While this knowledge is subjective, it is not to be arbitrary; hence the

indication of Habermas about the need for agreement between at least two agent subjects

giving importance to the idea of consensus for the interpretation of the meaning (Grundy,

1991, p.32). This interest guides both the way we, teachers and students, know and act.

This form of action allows the individual to decide the best response (action) to a situation

and is composed of three elements: Knowledge, judgment, and the test, which reflects a

moral conscience.

Based on the above definition, this practical human interest was related to the

participation of students in understanding a world where technology was a part of their

lives and interaction with their classmates and their knowledge took place not only at

school. Thanks to the use of technology, especially Facebook, their favorite Social Network

Site, and key classroom activities, students shared their ideas, feelings, and experiences to

understand their world and participate in the various activities depending on their

necessities and realities.

But Facebook was not the only setting where students interacted, the classroom was the

other place where they participated and interacted in order to understand and show their

understanding of the readings about social issues. This interaction was important because

comprehension and building of knowledge was not an individual act; Grundy (1998) argues

the importance of understanding the environment through interaction and the interpretation

given by two or more people in order to make meaning.


41

Making meaning in my research was related to understanding the texts about social

issues relevant to adolescents and writing short texts and posts for expressing their ideas or

opinions about the social issues discussed in the texts. This was achieved by using a

Blended Learning environment, which was connected to the school’s emphasis, oriented to

the use of the technology and computing.

This instructional design followed a central design curriculum development. For

Richards (2013), it starts with the selection of teaching activities, techniques, and methods

rather than with the elaboration of a detailed language syllabus or specification of learning

outcomes. The purpose of implementing a central curriculum design was to involve the

activities as facilitating tools for language learning to take place; furthermore, the author

claims that knowledge is built up through students’ participation in specific learning and

social contexts to involve them in meaningful activities and processes.

By using a central curriculum design, I created activities to be developed both in the

classroom and on Facebook for students to learn vocabulary, do reading comprehension,

write, and work collaboratively to build their literacy processes. Those activities were a part

of the central curriculum design approach and, as stated by Richards (2013), the activities

make a part of the methodology which is the most important contribution to have a good

outcome.

Vision of Language

This pedagogical intervention was based on the use of the English language in two

different ways: Language as students’ self-expression and language as a linguistic system.


42

Taking into account the age and interests of the participants, language, as self-expression

was another way of using the target language in order to build relationships and literacy.

According to Tudor (2001), language is the means through which we build up personal

relationships, express our emotions and aspirations, and explore our interests. In other

words, language is not simply a tool for reaching specific transactional goals, but it is also a

means for self-expression. Language as a linguistic system was important for building

literacy in eleventh grade students because they had to use the target language to express

their ideas and feelings in a coherent way and know how the language system functions.

The purpose of the pedagogical intervention was to engage students in shaping their

literacy using two different sites, the language classroom and Facebook. In the classroom, I

used readings related to the students’ contexts and activities to facilitate and check their

understanding; on Facebook, the use of videos and songs was as important as other kinds of

readings to foster reading comprehension, but most importantly, in order to lead

participants to express themselves through writing and interacting.

This was a big challenge, especially because some of the participants were shy and

never participated in class. The appropriation and application of language as a self-

expression could help students to grow in different personal and academic aspects such as

their self-esteem, confidence, collaborative work, grammatical and cultural knowledge,

reading, and writing.

In relation to self-esteem, some students of eleventh grade were shy, especially when

they had to use the target language; on some occasions, they preferred a bad grade rather


43

than speaking and this situation did not help obtain good results. When students posted, or

commented on their regular Facebook groups, they presented their ideas and feelings in

order to establish relationships, because they wanted to be heard, but most importantly,

because the shiest students became visible and participated through the social media.

Taking into account the acceptability of Facebook among the youngsters, I helped

my students build their literacy through Blended Learning activities and collaborative

work; thus, they were able to express their feelings without fear of being criticized, they

established social relationships, and their respect for others increased when students wanted

to belong to a group and they had to develop cooperation among them. The use of

Facebook encouraged the development of students’ responsibility when they had the

possibility to choose their friends, their favorite groups, their music, express their ideas, and

so on. In order to do that, some of the post-reading activities proposed exercises in which

students had to share their likes about music, favorite sport teams, and music. According to

students’ likes and interests evidenced in the survey, I incorporated some different topics in

my lesson plans, which included their manifested interests and where Facebook helped

them to improve their knowledge and that constituted a self-actualization through their

writings or comments.

Facebook was created for sharing likes and feelings beyond face to face interaction.

Language as a self-expression was a vision that could be implemented in the pedagogical

platform; it was another way to engage students in shaping their literacies through

technology and the language knowledge acquired in class.


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Savignon (1972) used the term communicative competence to characterize the ability

of language learners to interact with other speakers, to make meaning, as distinct from their

ability to perform on discrete-point tests of grammatical knowledge. Given the last

definition, I say that the implementation of Facebook as a tool in the curriculum built

literacy, where youngsters had the possibility to express their feelings or ideas based on the

content of the language curriculum. As Tudor suggests, “A humanistic teacher would wish

to create the possibility for the learners to express their personal feelings, not as something

incidental to their learning program, but as an integral part of it” (p. 66-67).

Vision of Learning

There are some aspects towards which traditional learning has generated students’

indifference. For example, language learning does not propose meaningful contents, the

environments are not relevant for learners, the tasks or activities are not helping students in

their learning process, and teacher-centered classes which do not allow students’

participation in order to improve their learning. Thus, students do not feel attracted to this

kind of education, they need an education where they have the opportunity to read topics

related to their interest in order to participate by giving their opinion about the topics

exposed.

In conclusion, I can say that students were able to interact in order to build and

develop English language activities such as sharing, requesting, playing, imitating,

apologizing, requesting, naming, etc. to involve and engage them in their language

learning. Tudor (2001) expresses that students’ participation in meaningful activities can


45

promote a positive effect between students and language learning.

Experiential learning in students’ learning process was a relevant vision for shaping

literacy through BL and Facebook, because this allowed students to have the possibility to

use ICT tools which were more meaningful to engage them in their language learning.

Students’ experiences and knowledge supported their language learning and developing

communicative skills. Understanding the real-world, problems or situations encouraged

students to feel that the activities were meaningful and according to Tudor (2001) were

“relevant to their life goals and concerns” (p.100). To develop tasks or activities in the

classroom and through Facebook there was a first change in the teaching methodology I

used as I focused on students’ life to address their goals and interests and to involve them in

language learning. Although the meaningful activities were a part in the development of

literacy in the target language, students’ personal experiences provided opportunities to

practice and give or receive feedback among learners. Tudor (2001) indicates that

experiential learning is a “naturalistic form of learning or ‘picking up’ of a language that

can take many forms, depending on the context in which the language is being learned and

the purposes of learning” (p. 78).

For involving experiential learning in the learning process, it was necessary to

consider the role of the teacher who engaged students in their real-life issues and the use of

technology through different dynamics and techniques to increase their motivation and,

thus, improve the learning process. In order to do that, the teacher needed to plan lessons

carefully based on students’ goals and concerns and accept the new challenges in the use of

technology as a dynamic tool through which students could shape literacy and share their


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knowledge through collaborative work. Incorporating technology in the learning process

implied the change of the learning environment; the classroom was not the only place to

acquire knowledge, the house or an Internet café were places where students were more

comfortable to learn the language. Thus, it was very important for students to have a

positive attitude towards learning to obtain a positive result.

Vision of the Classroom

The vision of classroom I embraced was that of the communicative classroom. “The

classroom would, therefore, become a place of communication which would allow students

to practice the communicative skills that they would need to use outside the classroom in

real interactive situations” (Tudor 2001, p.113).

Communication is one of the objectives in language learning; in my research this

communication focused on writing and reading skills; these skills were chosen taking into

account my learners’ needs (See chapter 1). Although these skills made a part of literacy,

they also helped my students understand their classmates, the teacher or other people’s

ideas in order to express their opinions or thoughts according to the topic or communicative

situations on Facebook.

Shaping EFL literacy in my students was not an easy job, but for achieving that

objective, I had to pay attention and work on some techniques in each skill. For reading, I

focused on the pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading activities to facilitate reading

comprehension. To shape writing skills in the learners, it is necessary to take into account

the connection between reading and writing; Brown (2007) says “students learn by


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observing, or reading, the written word. Students can gain important insights both about

how they should write and about subject matter that may become the topic of their writing”

(p. 347). According to the last quote, the reading activities provided learners with a clear

example for writing; although this was a good strategy for shaping the writing skill, it was

necessary to implement other strategies such as brainstorming, correction of texts, and

working in groups.

BL was the approach I followed and it was as closely related to the communicative

classroom as the vision of classroom, because interaction inside and outside the classroom

was relevant, experimental, and meaningful for my students’ language learning, specifically

for shaping literacy to improve their communication.

Vision of Technology

Including Facebook in my research project was integrating technology in the language

learning process. Facebook, as a part of technology, was only a tool that students enjoyed

and used all the time; but to accomplish the concept of integration on Facebook in my

students’ language learning, it was necessary to think as a teacher who had to take into

account pedagogy to obtain meaningful outcomes from students. Earle (2002) affirms that

the integration of technology must embrace the learning experiences, the curriculum, and

the teaching practices.

Facebook, as a technology tool, offered interesting characteristics for engaging students

in shaping their EFL literacies. The most important feature of Facebook was its wide

acceptance among students; they liked it a lot. Another characteristic of Facebook as a


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social network was that it helped me and my students to participate in a synchronous way in

conversations and discussions in English. Warschauer (1998) names some benefits of the

use of technology of which some are included in my research; for example, by using

Facebook, students work collaboratively and participate in a different environment to

discuss topics related to their real-life. Finally, the incorporation of technology for shaping

EFL literacies came from the necessity to involve my students in meaningful language

learning activities where they and I participated in a BL-mediated methodology.

Pedagogical Intervention

The texts were approached following the techniques of pre-reading, while-reading, and

post-reading; likewise, they included vocabulary and content to provide students with

linguistic tools to do their own writings. Students used the target language in their writings

for different purposes, such as giving opinions, ideas, expressing feelings, or criticizing.

The activities were designed to be developed in two settings; first in the classroom,

where students worked in groups of two or three people. I introduced readings, videos or

songs about topics of interest to adolescents and through which learners had the opportunity

to learn vocabulary and to practice reading comprehension; during the development of the

reading activity, I explained the main topic in the reading, the video, or the song. After that,

students asked questions to clarify doubts about the activity. Although I presented three

different steps to approach the readings mentioned above, all of them were implemented

through reading strategies to guide readers in evaluating their comprehension, paraphrasing,

inference-making, prediction, and elaboration as suggested in a study by McNamara,


49

Levenstein, & Boonthum in 2004 (Hiebert, Menon, Martin & Bach, 2009). The kind of

activities included were close or open ranging from false and true, synonym and /or

antonym exercises, reading images, Yes/No questions, Wh-questions; to completing ideas

or sentences by paraphrasing, these along with writing activities about the topic dealt with

in the reading. In the writing activities, students used the vocabulary and grammar

structures contained in the reading activity in order to express their opinions, ideas, feelings

or arguments according to the activity and relate the text content with their background

knowledge and experiences. Students began with a draft which was corrected by the

teacher using a writing code; then, they corrected their writings and posted them on

Facebook group. Afterwards, students had to read their classmates’ comments and write a

comment about it; the teacher printed their writings, corrected them again, and gave them

back to students in order to correct them and post them again. Although my research

focused on writing and reading skills in English, my students had the opportunity to work

and practice their listening and speaking skills.

To obtain the data, I organized the activities in lesson plans. Students were encouraged

to work on their literacies in two different settings: The classroom and Facebook. Both

places involved writing and reading activities. The lesson plans developed in the classroom

offered students different literacy activities such as reading different kinds of texts,

including picture reading, expository, poetry (song), and articles about general information

which were related to students’ interests and social problems teenagers face. Students were

asked to analyze them and connect the issues presented there to their own contexts. For that

purpose, first, they worked in groups to find synonyms of key but difficult words in the


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texts to ease their understanding; they interpreted images, deduced ideas, and answered

comprehension questions to show their interpretations of texts.

Afterwards, they corrected their writings using the writing code provided and submitted

it again for revision by the teacher-researcher. Students corrected their texts once more

before posting their literacy work on Facebook. Students had the opportunity to work in

the school’s lab; there, they wrote their opinion and read and commented on each other’s

opinions based on some guidelines provided in the classroom. This pedagogical

intervention was carried out for eighteen months.

The appendix A, illustrates the organization of the curricular platform, that chart depicts

the organization of the three pedagogical interventions carried out during this research.

There, I show the name of the lesson plans, the setting where the interventions were

developed, dates, general and specific activities, and the instruments used during the

interventions. About the general activities, the lesson plans followed the same structure:

Pre, while, and post-reading. The post-readings were done in two settings: In the classroom

and on Facebook. The last workshop was different because I took into consideration the

students’ observations done in class, where they expressed a different kind of reading;

according to that, I used a song as a reading.

In the next chapter, I describe the data analysis carried out and the findings of this

study. Besides, I depict the procedures for data analysis, the categories, and subcategories

which emerged from this research.


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Chapter V

Data Analysis and Findings

In this chapter, I report the observations and interpretations that emerged from my data

collection. As expressed in the research question: How do 11th grade students shape their

English literacies through the use of Blended Learning activities and Facebook? The aim of

this research is to know how a group of 11th grade students shape their literacies using

Blended Learning activities and Facebook. In the next section, I describe the procedures

and the results of the data analysis obtained in my research. I also report the categories that

emerged from the data to answer the question and present the conclusions about it.

Procedures for Data Analysis

As I mentioned in the previous chapter, this is a qualitative research “which used the

data collection for discovering the research questions’ answers in an interpretation process”

Hernández, Fernández & Baptista (2010 p.7). Since my research is based on a qualitative

paradigm, I decided to base my data analysis on the Grounded Theory Approach.

According to Strauss and Corbin (1990), the purpose of this design is to develop theory

from the data analysis process. I used Freeman’s steps for data analysis (1998) in which I

had to name patterns, group those patterns, find relationships, and display categories and

subcategories that emerged from the analysis.

I analyzed 16 instruments with the data collected: Four field notes, seven students’

artefacts, 3 audio recordings, and 2 surveys. In order to organize and systematize my

instruments, I used a format in Excel, which included the kind of instrument, the number of


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instrument, the date, place, time, participants, goal, description of the activity, setting, data,

and labels. On this format, I wrote the observations made, in two different settings

(classroom and computer room), the students’ artefacts and the transcriptions.

The first instrument I organized and systematized was the field notes; for writing field

notes, I recorded the classes and I took notes about my observations with the intention of

making do a complete analysis. I organized field notes by number of lesson, number of

field note, and student’s initials. For example: Lesson1_Fieldnotes1_MR. I had some

difficulties, to name the observations because most students’ actions were similar in the

three lesson plans and I had to read my notes several times.

The organization of students’ artefacts was similar to the organization of field notes. For

example: Lesson1_Artifact1_EG; but most of these artefacts were pictures of the students’

activities (lesson plans) and about the Facebook group. The organization of this instrument

was the easiest because, as I mentioned above, I took pictures of my students’ artefacts.

The most difficult instrument to analyze was audio recordings because the students’

voices were recorded with their cell phones and the audios of the recordings were difficult

to understand; that was the reason for doing data analysis only of three audios. I had to

listen to all the audios and I chose the audios in which students’ voices were clear. After

the transcription, the organization followed the same structure as the last two instruments.

For example: Lesson1_Audiorecording1_LT.

Naming. Naming was the first step which I took to code or name the data found in

the instruments analyzed, based on the most important concerns in my research, namely,


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literacies and Blended Learning.

Shaping literacies through Blended Learning activities and Facebook correspond to

a current situation where students are interested in using ICT to be able to participate in the

school activities. Davidson (2010, p.250) states that “the literacy skills are not only in the

individual’s head; she said that literacy is an interactive process that is modified according

to the sociocultural environment.” As expressed by the author, Facebook is a part of that

sociocultural environment where students could develop their literacies.

I used the Excel program to analyze the data; I used the excel program; there, I

named the columns according to the instruments that I used in my research. The first part in

Excel was to write all the codes in a column to identify the frequency of each one of them,

and the instrument they derived from. After that, I had in mind the concerns which I

worked on in my literature review for naming the data. The first thing I did for naming was

to put in parentheses the principal issue coming from the data in the students’ instruments; I

wrote if the data corresponded to reading, writing, reading & writing, Facebook, or

collaborative work. After that, I began to read students’ artefacts several times with the

aim of giving the appropriate name to the data in light of my research question.

Grouping. After naming the data, I proceeded to group the names, taking into

account Freeman’s steps (1998). He says that “grouping involves reassembling the names

you are giving to parts of data by collecting them into categories.” In order to organize the

codes in groups, I took into account the first identification that I had done according to the

concerns; after that, I read the codes several times for finding similar characteristics among


54

them and the frequency of the codes in order to be grouped in possible categories.

Finding relationships, patterns, and themes. In this step, while I read the groups

again, I colored the codes which had common topics to observe and analyze the data, and

find the relationship among them and identify the possible categories.

Displaying. Finally, for defining the categories and subcategories, I collected and

organized the instruments by date. After that, I read the students’ activities and the scripts

for audio recordings to find answers to my research question. According to my findings, I

named the data so that I could answer the research question; then, I re-read the labels to

classify them by taking into account my constructs: Literacy, Blended Learning, and

Facebook. I used different colors to identify some characteristics among the constructs and

I put an X in the most used labels in each instrument with the purpose of defining possible

subcategories. When I obtained the subcategories, I read them again and I started to find

similarities among patterns from which the categories would emerge. Figure 5 illustrates

the two categories and four subcategories that emerged from the analysis.


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Figure 5. Categories and subcategories.

In order to answer my research question “How do 11th grade students shape their

EFL literacies through the use of Blended Learning activities and Facebook?” and taking

into account the results obtained in the data analysis, I can say that 11th grade students

shaped their literacies in two ways. First, students understood readings and posts about

social issues and expressed their ideas about them; this category is supported by two

subcategories: Using students’ linguistic, textual, personal and social knowledge to

understand and write about social issues collaboratively; and Learning and organizing

students’ literacy activities through collaborative work.

The second category is called Reading students’ world and developing their online

participatory writing and presence. This category was based on two subcategories:

Affirming students’ values through the identification of teenagers' social problems and

How do 11th grade students shape their EFL literacies

through the use of Blended Learning activities and

Facebook?

Understanding readings and posts about social issues and expressing ideas about them.

Using students' linguistic, textual, personal and social

knowledge to understand and write about social issues

collaboratively.

Learning

and organizing students' literacy activities through collaborative

work.

Reading students' world and

developing their online participatory writing and

presence.

Affirming students' values through the identification of

teenagers' social problems and proposing solutions, expressed

in online activities. Showing students online presence transcending class-

work to online work.


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proposing solutions expressed in online activities and Showing students’ online presence

transcending the class work to online work.

The last categories were confirmed after data triangulation where I could support the

findings with students’ artifacts namely writings, posts, pictures, ideas, and the field notes

based on the teacher- researcher’s observation.

Below, I describe each one of the two categories with their respective subcategories,

which emerged from the analysis of different instruments used in this research. Each

instrument was labeled in three steps; first, I put the number of the lesson, then, the

instrument used and its corresponding numbering, and finally, the initial letters of students’

names.

Categories of Analysis

Understanding readings and posts about social issues and expressing ideas about them

collaboratively

This category is supported by the two subcategories mentioned above. Below I

depict the ways in which students demonstrated how they understood the readings and how

they wrote their ideas based on specific social issues proposed by the teacher researcher or

themselves. This was achieved firstly when students used their linguistic, textual,

personal and social knowledge to understand and write about social issues

collaboratively.


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Through the intervention, students developed different activities in groups, which

allowed them to interact and learn to negotiate in their group to understand and express

their ideas in the L2. Osguthorpe and Graham (2003) argue about the benefits of using BL

environments stating that BL helps students to have access to pedagogical richness,

knowledge, social interaction, and personal agency; all of them engaged in collaborative

learning, where students could discuss, develop, and listen to their ideas and their partners’

in the classroom, as well as online. The pedagogical intervention was done in a BL

environment in which students could shape their EFL literacies, interact among themselves,

learn about teenagers’ troubles, linguistic topics and vocabulary, be respectful and work

collaboratively. The linguistic part was applied in order for students to express their ideas

in L2 appropriately; they paid attention to the semantic and syntactic way of writing their

texts or answering some questions. I present below an example of how students developed

their linguistic competence, when talking about the correct form of a word.

CC: Espere la armamos, porque toca de forma larga. The young wrote the

letter because your mom is depressed.

MR: No es your. Acuérdese que es su de él. Eso es his o her, no me acuerdo…

CC: es his, porque es un hombre.

Figure 6. Lesson1_Audiorecording1_MR.

In the above example, one student of the group read the answer and he noticed that

it had a linguistic mistake; he highlighted the mistake and asked his classmate about the

correct word to answer the question. This illustration shows the collaborative work done


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by students to use the appropriate words, as to convey the appropriate meaning.

Furthermore, the example demonstrates that to understand readings and written texts about

social issues, students applied their linguistic knowledge, and considered their textual and

social knowledge in their pedagogical interventions.

KM: Sigamos… ahora las fotos.

VG: Esta es la mamá, el joven preocupado, y la doctora.

KM: Entonces, escribamos que el joven está abusando de las drogas y…

LM: No, mire la foto, ese chino no está fumando, tiene cara de preocupado…

KM: Por eso, porque la mamá ya se enteró.

VG: La que tiene medicamentos es la mamá, miren.

LM: Miremos el orden, la mamá esta con los remedios, el chino esta preocupado y la

doctora es la mamá que esta trabajando.

KM: Pero la mamá no se esta tomando los remedios, se los va a dar al joven.

LM: Dejemos así y escribamos. We pensamos, think…

KM: Escriba esto que está acá, text is about…

LM: Sí. Acerca de…, qué?

VG: De lo que dijimos, que la mamá se la pasa trabajando.

LM: Eso no es un problema; que tal si decimos que los problemas entre el joven y sus

padres.

VG: No, porque no está el papá.

KM: Jajajaja, y eso qué importa, cuando usted pelea con su mamá no necesita a su

papá.

LM: Jajajaja, uich tan pasada, pero sí; además mire la foto de la doctora, hay un tipo

ahí; puede ser el papá.

VG: Bueno sí.

LM: Me hizo perder la idea; ¿cómo se dice entre?

KM: Between.

LM: Ya, escribimos esto.

KM: Pero no usamos ninguna palabra de las que están acá.

LM: Punto aparte, ¿por qué es la pelea?, jajajaja

VG: Porque la mamá trabaja mucho.


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LM: Si, Because her mom…

KM: Ya usó una, mom; jajajaja

LM: No está preocupada por el joven, ¿está cómo se escribe?

VG: Espere…, be.

LM: Worried teen; y…

KM: Que es más importante el trabajo.

LM: Sí, eso… Ahora, pongamos otras palabras.

VG: Escribamos que el joven tiene que ir al doctor porque está preocupado por esa

situación.

LM: Sí, pero no que está preocupado por que ya lo escribimos, escribamos otra palabra;

medication.

KM: El joven necesita ir al doctor…

LM: Cambiemos joven, por otra palabra.

VG: Boy

LM: Huy sí, esa. Busque necesita.

VG: n-e-e-d

KM: Leamos, para ver cómo vamos.

VG, KM, LM: The boy need to help of a doctor and medication…

KM: está medication, to help y doctor.

VG: Y digamos que ese problema es sicológico y tiene consecuencias si no se cura.

LM: Bueno, ¿cómo se dice traer…?

VG: To bring.

LM: Sin el to; y ¿consecuencias?

VG: Consequences, pero con q

LM: Venga…

KM: Nos falta escribir dos palabras.

LM: Como el chino fue al sicólogo, la mamá se puso feliz y fin…

KM: Escriba, que tiempo después la mamá…

LM: Yo escribo y ustedes me ayudan con las palabras.

KM: Hágale…

LM: Cambiar, ¿cómo se dice?

KM: change; c-h-a-n-g-e.

LM: Lo leo; after time the mom transformer a happy woman because his son to have


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The Relation bad Between the Family

The poor undersand between the parents and teenagers is a common trouble, that

rarely becomes important.

Teenagers don’t have accompaniment of their parents. Teenages becomes

teenagers irresponsaable. An advice for the parents is to build a space of

communication in which they do not have to shout. The parents and teenagers

should listen them in order to understand and have good relationship.

a change very good and she don’t to abuse of your time in work.

KM: Están las dos palabras que hacian falta?

LM: Sí.

Figure 7. Lesson1_Audiorecording1_KM.

The last transcription showed how students worked in groups; each of them shared their

vocabulary and social contributions according to their knowledge in order to write a

coherent text in L2. From this point, I realized that through group work students had the

opportunity to construct a coherent text by using their own ideas and knowledge. It is

illustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 8. Lesson1_Artifact1_KM.


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According to Davidson (2010), literacy is developed when children understand and explore

their culture, and their social context. Thus, the pedagogical intervention included

meaningful readings about social issues in order to help students relate the readings to their

social contexts, taking this idea into account. Students had the opportunity to read images

about family situations, read a text and show their understanding of texts about teenagers’

social problems, and of a song about love memories. Building upon these understandings

and textual knowledge, they also wrote posts about their families, opinions about teenagers’

problems, and finally, gave their personal opinions about their classmates’ posts. This kind

of readings promoted in students their participation, as they expressed their opinions or

their points of view about the readings. Figure 9 illustrates a reading comprehension

exercise, using the lyric “Photograph;” there, students answered questions about their love

knowledge and experience and they also expressed their opinion about the importance of

photographs in their lives.


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Figure 9. Lesson3_Artifact4_LT.

In the last artifact, students supported their pictures with some writings which were

built through their social knowledge and their readings.


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Another relevant feature of this first category was that of Learning and organizing

students’ literacy activities through collaborative work. Students understood and did their

literacy activities through a collaborative use of different resources. For shaping their

literacy, they relied on the teacher’s help, their notes, their own knowledge, the use of the

dictionary, vocabulary, image reading, and the use of their target language. The use of

resources collaboratively helped students improve their vocabulary and learn from their

classmates, as they expressed in Figures 6, 7, and 8, in which they students answered

questions about the collaborative work they did. These questions were answered in the

surveys conducted after finishing the lessons.

Figure 10. Lesson1_Survey1_MR.


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Figure 11. Lesson2_Survey2_CM.

Another example of students’ opinion in group work is illustrated in Figure 11,

where students also argued about the importance of their peers to do their literacy activities.

Furthermore, they stated that collaborative work helped them organize their task, especially

when it was very long.

Figure 12. Lesson1_Survey1_KM.


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For shaping their literacies, students used the vocabulary learned through the

different class activities. They developed pre-reading activities, which were designed using

the new vocabulary identified in the readings. Vocabulary learning was fostered through

different exercises such as crossword puzzles, scrambled words, synonym and opposite

exercises, and translation from the L2 into the L1 of the unknown words for them. The

knowledge of this vocabulary was necessary to understand the readings and to give an

opinion about them.

Figure 13. Lesson1_Artifact3_JG.


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Figure 14. Lesson3_Artifact3_BG.

The above pictures illustrate pre-reading exercises in which students had to match a

word with its correct synonym. In those examples, we can observe that participants

translated the vocabulary into L1 to know and understand the unknown words for matching

the correct synonym. With this activity, I could see that students used the dictionary as a

tool to increase their vocabulary. The vocabulary in Figure 13 was studied in the reading

“Teen worries mom abuses medication,” which was used to comprehend the reading,

answer the questions about it, give students’ opinions about it, and suggest some solutions

about the topic in the lesson.

The vocabulary in Graphic 14 was reviewed in session number 2, “The most

Common Problems Teenagers Face Today.” As I mentioned above, the vocabulary was a


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very important tool for students to do the activities assigned, since it helped them

understand the readings and answer the questions properly; but in this lesson students used

that vocabulary in order to give their opinion about each teenagers’ problem proposed in

the second lesson.

Another way in which students learned and organized their literacy activities was by

using their own knowledge about their common problems. Figures 15 and 16 show other

pre-reading activities done in lesson plan number 2, where students relied on their own

knowledge of teenagers’ social problems. In these activities students listened to one

another and worked with their partner to organize and locate the given vocabulary.

Figure 15. Lesson3_Artifact3_JT.

The above example was the first pre-reading activity in lesson 2. In this activity

students were asked to use their knowledge of vocabulary and work collaboratively to

express their opinion through a ranking exercise, being number one the most important

problem among students and number eleven the least important.


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Figure 16. Lesson3_Artifact3_LL.

Graphic 16 illustrates how students located some phrases or words in a principal

group. The vocabulary was previously studied as shown in Figure 15. The teacher-

researcher provided participants with a list of vocabulary about the classification and

location of each one of the words given in a correct way and they had to read, understand,

and negotiate with meaning among them. The negotiation considered their own vocabulary

and their knowledge of teenagers’ social problems. In addition, it was present when

students talked among themselves and argued their points of view to solve the activity.

This vocabulary was also used in the reading and helped participants in their reading and

writing activities.

Other examples in this subcategory of strategies used by students to shape their


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literacy are portrayed in Graphics 17 and 18. Both activities were carried out in lesson plan

number 3, which focused on the song “Photograph.” In Figure 17, students reviewed the

vocabulary of the song through a crossword puzzle; in this activity participants were not

interested in translating the words but in paying attention to find the words. However, this

activity helped them to keep in mind the L2 word to do the next vocabulary activity, as it is

illustrated in Figure 18.

In Graphic 18, students dealt with the same vocabulary as in lesson 3, but in this

opportunity words were jumbled and participants had to organize them correctly. For doing

this activity, students checked the crossword puzzle, asked for the teacher’s help, and

finally, they distributed themselves to look up the unknown words in the dictionary for

translating them from L2 into L1.

Figure 17. Lesson3_Artifact4_CC.


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Figure 18. Lesson3_Artifact4_Unscramble words.


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Figure 19. Lesson3_Artifact4_PR.

As a final example, Graphic 19 shows the use of the bilingual dictionary. The L1

and collaborative work were resources used by participants to prepare themselves for the

literacy activities. This description was taken from the class observation made on March

20th 2015, when participants worked in pairs to do the activity proposed by the teacher.

The different resources presented in the observation below were used to understand the

lesson’s reading, to answer the questions about it and to express students’ ideas in relation

to the main idea of the reading.


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All students talked and worked with his or

her partner in order to do the activity;

most of groups had one dictionary, only

the group 9 had in use two dictionaries

and both students were talking in Spanish

and using the dictionary.

(Writing)Encouraging students for working

in collaborative way.

(Writing) Dictionary as a tool for doing

their English writings

(Writing) Using L1 for doing the ir activitis.

Students began to look the bilingual

dictionary for translating the words which

they did not know in the box

(Writing) Dictionary as a tool for

understanding.

Figure 20. Lesson1_Fieldnotes2_EG.

The above examples about the first category show that eleventh grade students

understood the readings and wrote their opinions when working collaboratively and as they

participated in different ways to do the activity. Some of them asked the teacher, others

looked at their notes and looked up the words in the dictionary to translate the unknown

ones; but all these strategies were accompanied by the use of their L1. The use of the target

language was present in all lessons. Participants used their native language for expressing

their social knowledge, to make decisions about what to write, and how they should

organize the activity. However, the use of the L2 was evident when students had to show

their knowledge of vocabulary in English, give their linguistic knowledge, read, and

understand the texts in the L2 for finding main ideas, identifying the author’s intentions,

and expressing their ideas about the social issues. As a conclusion, the collaborative work

done by students helped them shape their literacies and promoted the emergence of the


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second category, which I am going to discuss in the next section.


presence

As I mentioned above, this research was carried out following a Blended Learning

teaching methodology, but in this category I am going to focus on the tasks carried out by

students with computer-mediated instruction; specifically, the use of Facebook to shape

their literacy. However, I also considered the writing activities done in the classroom but

which were related to Facebook activities as I illustrate below. In addition, this section

introduces students’ thoughts about some social problems that they face, along with

possible solutions. Two subcategories below support this category to evidence how

eleventh grade students shape their literacy in Blended Learning environments. These

categories are:

✓ Affirming students’ values through the identification of teenagers’ social problems

and proposing solutions expressed in online activities.

✓ Showing students’ online presence transcending the class work to online work.

Affirming students’ values through the identification teenagers’ social problems and

proposing solutions expressed in online activities.

Along the pedagogical intervention, students discussed teens’ social problems in

which they had the opportunity to know, learn, and express their opinions about the issues

proposed by the teacher-researcher. This subcategory emerged from the activities done by


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students in the classroom and on Facebook. As I depicted above, the first part of the

intervention was done in the classroom where students developed the pre-reading and

while-reading activities. However, the while and post-reading activities were also

developed face to face and online. During the while and post-reading activities, students

put into practice their vocabulary, linguistic topics, and their knowledge to answer Yes/ No

questions and Wh-questions about the texts; they were also able to identify main ideas, give

opinions, and propose solutions for social problems of teenagers.

In this part, students worked in a face to face collaborative way for the development

of literacy, considering the readings proposed in the lessons. They wrote their opinions

about the social issues, answered the reading questions, and gave their opinions in the

classroom about revising and correcting their writings. After that, students posted their

writings on Facebook to share their thoughts with their classmates, and engaged in the

development of their literacy skills. Bonilla (2012) discussed her experience in a research

study in which ICTs were used with college students with the intention to involve them in

an enquiry writing process as a way to develop their writing skills, building knowledge, and

reflecting upon a social situation. In a similar way, in the current research students reflected

upon their thoughts and knowledge about the teenagers’ social problems face to face and

online, as it is illustrated in Graphics 21, 22, 23, and 24 below. In these activities, literacy

was shaped through collaborative work as students worked together to make meaning out

of the proposed texts, learn about the problems, and answer the questions about them or

give their opinion about the issue. This first activity was done in the classroom because in

this setting, students had the possibility to re-read and correct their writings based on


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teacher’s feedback; after making their own corrections they posted them on Facebook.

Figure 21. Lesson2_Artifact4_LM.

In the last picture, students answered the questions proposed in workshop 2, giving

their opinion in regards to the reading “The Most Common Problems Teenagers Face

Today.” This group used the vocabulary studied in pre and while reading. They identified


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the answers and discussed them relying on their social knowledge, in spite of their

linguistic mistakes.

In Figure 22 below, students posted their classroom activity on Facebook. This

group used the writing codes provided by the teacher-researcher and they corrected it so

they could post it properly on Facebook. However, we can observe that students expressed

their arguments clearly in order to be understood by their classmates, overcoming some

linguistic mistakes in their writing.

Figure 22. Lesson2_Artifact5_LM.

Another example to support this subcategory is illustrated in Figure 23 in which

group 1 identified “acne,” as the most difficult problem that teenagers face today. In this

example, participants gave their opinion about that teenagers’ problem as in example 24.

They also used the vocabulary and linguistic topics previously studied and their knowledge


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ACNE

We consider that a young

people’s problem is low self-

esteem due to acne.

The first solution that we

propose is that teenager have

to love their body and do not

lament for a common poblem in

adolecents. The second advice

is that they should visit a

dermatologist finally the teens

may drink plenty water for to

solver a acne’s problem.

of this topic. This picture shows two writings: The first text has some mistakes that the

teacher-researcher highlighted by using writing codes so students could make corrections.

The second one is the correction made by the participants before posting it on Facebook.

Figure 23. Lesson1_Artifact3_MR.

Picture 25 shows the final text posted on Facebook. This writing expresses the

students’ thoughts about a typical teenagers’ problem in which they propose solutions to

the acne problem. As I mentioned above, students used their own linguistic and world


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knowledge.

Figure 24. Lesson1_Artifact4_MR.

The other way, which emerged from this subcategory, was when students had to

give their opinion about the issues proposed by the teacher-researcher or by their

classmates in the readings and their own writings. These readings allowed students to

express their thoughts about their families, love relationships, values, and social relations.

McBride (2009) states that the use of Social Network Sites encourages students to

learn a second language, because this tool allows people to do self-expression and social

interaction, which are important aspects in language learning; but this author mentions that

Social Network Site activities ought to contain a pedagogically useful design to engage

students in their foreign language tasks. Regarding this subcategory, participants related

Facebook and their language learning through workshops which were organized taking into

account students’ level and interests; in this case, teenagers’ social problems in order to

engage students in their learning and affirm their values.

Students had as a reference the workshop readings, the song used in the final lesson,

and their classmates’ posts; in addition, they used their life experiences, social knowledge,

Group 1


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vocabulary reviewed in the activities, and linguistic topics in order to shape their literacy.

Participants worked in a Blended Learning environment where they wrote and corrected

their opinions in the classroom before posting their writings on Facebook. Facebook was

not only a social website to communicate, but also a relevant tool of learning used by

eleventh grade students. This social site helped participants to affirm their values and to

shape their literacy as it is illustrated in the examples below.

Figures 25, 26, and 27 show some parts of the students’ videos in which participants

demonstrated the most important aspects of their lives. This activity was done in lesson

three. In this workshop, the teacher-researcher used the song “Photograph” as a text;

students had to design a similar video for the song based on the lyrics. For doing the

activity, some participants used their family and personal photos, others wanted to use

images downloaded from the Internet; in addition to the photos or images, students wrote

sentences to explain, describe or comment on the pictures showing their value affirmation.

The students’ writings were focused on their family, love, and social relationships.

“She is my mom. I love this

person because is beatiful and

strong”

”My mother is the most

beautiful love”

”When I was six my father

was my role model”


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”Thanks to him” ”and her” ”born the most beautiful in

the world”

”My father died two months

after, this news was very sad

an my mother would marry in

December”

”My brother is te most

importan person in my life” ”This is my family, I love

them”

Figure 25. Lesson_Artifact7. Students’ Family pictures

The last figure is a collage of some students’ pictures where they affirmed their

feelings about their family members. Most of the students expressed their love and

gratitude to their parents, other students expressed their feelings about their family

situation.

Figure 26 illustrates a love relationship among students. As I mentioned above this

activity was based on the official video of the song “Photograph.” This example shows us

the importance and the value of love relationships for them. This student wrote about her

boyfriend and she highlighted his qualities.


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”He is my boyfriend. Love this person much is a incredible and strong”

Figure 26. Lesson_Artifact7. Love relationship

The example below is a collage which is illustrated in Figure 28; in these pictures,

students expressed their feelings in terms of social relations through their photos and their

writings. Participants depicted the social relations built in school. In this activity, students

wrote about the importance of these people in their life.


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“Today my classmates are very cool and is the finally

the high school for our”

“My teacher a very intelligent woman which speaks to

me nice and makes me feel good she is the one who

advised me love”

“When I was in the tenth year lost but received much

more that they lost”

“Paula is my friend since 2012 when we began high

school with the teacher Gloria Malagon”

“This year ends a large part of my good life with the

people”

Figure 27. Lesson3_Artifact7. Social relationship

Another evidence of students affirming their family values through online activities,

is given in Figure 28. This figure shows students in group number 14, who posted their


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point of view about a teenagers’ problem; participants wrote about the value of

communication as a way to improve the relationship between parents and teenagers. Their

classmates gave their opinion about the topic proposed by group 14 after reading the post;

there, we can read that most of the participants agreed with the teenagers’ problem and tried

to support their answer. To express their points of view about the importance of holding

good family relationships, participants used the topics learned in class such as modal verbs,

the simple present, vocabulary studied in the workshop, and their social knowledge.

Figure 28. Lesson1_Artifact4.KM. Social relationship


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A final example of this subcategory is illustrated in Figure 29. Here students

affirmed their value of love relationship through lesson plan number 3. This activity was

done in the classroom, where students worked in groups to read and understand the

“Photograph” lyrics proposed in this lesson. To answer the questions, students used their

experiences in love relationships, their own knowledge of vocabulary, and linguistic topics.

Figure 29. Lesson3_Artifact6.MR. Love relationship

Another feature of this category was Showing students’ online presence transcending

class work to online work. This emerged after analyzing the data collected on Facebook,

where students shaped their literacies through their comments, opinions, ideas about social

problems and affective and critical responses to classmates' comments. For Pennington et

al (1996), interaction among students encourages them to write better because they have an

authentic audience and a purpose. During the online part of the pedagogical intervention,

participants had the analysis of teenagers’ social problems as a writing purpose to practice


86

their literacy and, at the same time, the teacher- researcher used this to know how students

were building their literacy. As I mentioned above, this subcategory emerged from the

activities done on Facebook, where students posted their opinion about a teenager’s social

troubles and their classmates had to read and write comments on them. For doing this

activity, students worked in the technology classroom, they used their bilingual

dictionaries, and asked questions to the teacher and their peers to be able to understand their

classmates’ posts and write their comments in English.

The class organization here was in groups of 4 people and it gave most of them the

possibility to organize their job and support themselves, while others played a leading role

among the group to develop the activities proposed by the teacher-researcher. A part of this

methodology was developed on Facebook, which helped students express their ideas and

feelings in a more participatory and tolerant way. Reid (2011) describes how teachers can

use Facebook for different academic purposes, especially for encouraging interaction and

participation to discuss important aspects of debates aiming at developing critical

awareness in students.

Students’ presence was identified when the teacher-researcher observed that some

students, who had never participated in the traditional classes, were interested in

commenting on their classmates’ posts to express their thoughts or knowledge despite their

linguistic shortcomings.

Figure 31 illustrates how students showed their online presence through their

comments. In this online activity, the group had to post their writing done in class about a


87

teenagers’ problem and their classmates had to give their opinion about the topic proposed.

The teens’ problem proposed by group 13 was the youngsters enlisted by the FARC;

besides the problem, students were asked to write the solution to the issue; their classmates

read the topic and commented on it, taking into account their knowledge of this. Some

students agreed with group 13 on the importance of getting agreements between the

government and the guerrilla, and supported the group’s idea by giving other solutions such

as the need of offering further opportunities to teenagers; other groups disagreed;

nevertheless, they participated with their opinion in trying to offer a solution.


88

Figure 30. Lesson1_Artifact4.JR.

Another example which portrays how learners transcended the class work to online

presence is illustrated in figure 31. In this artifact, students posted their previous work

which was done in class; here, participants expressed their thoughts about specific reading

questions so that their classmates could read and comment on them. In this writing activity,

students had the opportunity to participate with their opinions about the problem exposed.

There were comments in favor of the problem posted, others commented about the non –

completion of the activity, and others said there were writing mistakes or the ideas were not

understandable, which shows a group of students’ views about the different teenagers’

problems, that students had the chance to read and give an opinion about through their

answers. Some of their partners read the opinions and commented on the lack of coherence

in some questions, especially number five and six; other students agreed with their

classmates’ answers. According to this example, participants read the post and evidenced

their online presence and participation.


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Figure 31. Lesson2_Artifact6.CM.

During the pedagogical interventions in the classroom, students had the opportunity

to share their ideas and feelings in L1 and L2 to do their tasks; but some participants did

not contribute with their opinions. They helped their peers to look up the unknown words

in the bilingual dictionary, because they were aware of their linguistic weaknesses.


90

However, in the online interventions, they participated with their writings as it is illustrated

in figure 32. Figure 32 is a collage in which two students participated when they used and

commented on most of online activities, despite their linguistic limitations. Although they

made linguistic mistakes, they read and shared their thoughts in L2 in a comprehensible

way. Some comments illustrated below were written in the technology class where

students used their bilingual dictionary and their own knowledge regarding vocabulary and

literacy skills in L2; other comments were made in their houses.


91

Figure 32. Students participated in online activities

Students had a democratic participation in online activities because they were free

to participate any time, as it is shown in Figure 33. There, students commented their

thoughts respectfully and freely. They had the opportunity to criticize, argue, and support

their classmates’ posts. The example below was an online activity proposed in lesson 1, in

which students chose a teens’ problem in order to give some advice about it and their peers

read, understood, and commented on it according to their feelings and own knowledge. As

we can read in the activity, students used simple sentences, and although some of them

made linguistic mistakes, their writings were understandable and respectful.


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Figure 33. Lesson1_Artifact4.HO.

Along the pedagogical intervention, I could perceive that Facebook and the classroom were

useful environments for students to enhance their reading comprehension and to engage

them in expressing their ideas through writing. Through the activities suggested in these

environments, participants found strategies for working collaboratively to better understand

the reading, express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings about their social problems.


94

Chapter VI

Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications

This research study was carried out to answer the question How do 11th grade

students shape their literacies through the use of Blended Learning activities and

Facebook? For developing this qualitative action research, students worked through

collaborative work based on teenagers’ social problems. The result of this study revealed

two categories which helped me to answer the research question.

The first category was Understanding readings and posts about social issues and

expressing students’ ideas about them collaboratively. In regards to this category, I can say

that the use of collaborative methodology in a Blended Learning environment helped

students organize themselves in order to read, understand, and write their ideas. Besides,

the inclusion of meaningful readings encouraged students to show interest in doing the

literacy activities.


presence, was the second category that emerged in this research through the readings

proposed by the teacher-researcher. This provided students with social knowledge and

vocabulary for them to express their own ideas considering their world or personal

situations. Furthermore, the use of Facebook as a useful pedagogical tool engaged students

in writing their ideas and feelings and reading their classmates’ thoughts expressed through

their posts.


95

The integration of Blended Learning activities and Facebook was an interesting

project because students had the opportunity to listen to and share their social problems

among themselves in the classroom, as well as on Facebook: In both learning

environments, students worked in groups as I mentioned above, but in the activities

developed in the classroom, students were more collaborative because they focused on

doing the activities properly. Through collaborative work, participants learned new

vocabulary and linguistic topics with the help of their peers, the teacher, and the use of

different tools such as bilingual dictionaries and students’ notes; besides, the readings used

in the pedagogical interventions broadened students’ perspective of their social problems.

The tasks carried out in the classroom strengthened the EFL literacy activities on Facebook.

Through this social network, site participants could express their thoughts and give advice

about the teens’ struggles in an affective, critical, and understanding way.

Also, in this research study, I could notice that students were more engaged in their

learning process and were motivated to increase their knowledge of English, so that they

could express their opinions easily and coherently. Students’ reading ability improved as

well because they were usually in touch with reading texts.

Finally, eleventh grade students not only developed EFL literacy through Blended

Learning activities and Facebook, but they also learned to be more participative with

themselves and with their classmates when they had to do their interventions.

Pedagogical Implications

This research study helped me re-evaluate my teaching practices as an English


96

teacher because it showed me the importance of improving my practice to engage my

students in their learning process. Through this research study, I learned about different

methodologies, especially the Blended Learning as a learning language method and

scenarios which were used by my students to put into practice their knowledge of English

through their participation and socialization of their problems.

The design of the lesson plans demanded me to know about literacy, methodology,

and technology, topics which contributed to create the material and activities implemented

during the pedagogical intervention. The material created was used in different ways and

environments as I depicted in chapter V. The inclusion of these materials and activities

engaged students in their English learning in a creative and meaningful way. These tools

contributed to a wider participation of students in discussing teenagers’ social problems and

Facebook generated a positive impact on them, as some reported in the surveys.

Being an English teacher and a researcher at a public school is a big responsibility

because my research study not only focused on English writing and reading skills, but it

also had to generate respect and teamwork among my students. I also learnt that the

collaborative work is an excellent tool for developing knowledge among students.

Through the research study, I could understand that technology is a valuable tool in

the teaching of English. We, as teachers, cannot avoid the inclusion of this tool among

students and in their learning process. Thus, considering our school’s emphasis is on

technology and systems, one of the purposes could be an interdisciplinary project where we

can include English and system subjects in order to involve students in meaningful and


97

interesting learning. Besides, this school is undergoing a bilingualism process where

Blended Learning methodology could easily strengthen the learning and teaching of

English because the use of technology is of teachers and students’ interest.

Finally, one of the most valuable benefits that I got as a teacher researcher was to

design lesson plans taking into consideration students’ academic needs, interests, previous

knowledge and experiences and the social nature of language learning. Also, I learnt to

implement new methodologies for me such as Blended Learning and following a useful

structure to organize reading lessons such as pre, while and after reading activities.

From my students work in class, I learnt that they obtained great results when they

worked in group to understand texts of their interest and express their opinions about social

issues through writing using face to face and online interaction. All in all, in my opinion, I

also became a better observer because now, I take into account each detail of my students’

behavior, I reflect more on my teaching practice and I plan and implement more activities

to help them improve their learning of English as a Foreign Language,

Limitations of the study

I had two difficulties for developing my intervention. First, the use of online

translators by some students. The use of this tool was present in some interventions, but

especially in the first lesson plan. Although the teacher-researcher explained to students the

objectives of this research study and clarified that the use of online translators was not

allowed in this research because it could not bring real evidence to answer the research

question, students were tempted to use them. However, through the observations and audio


98

recordings, the teacher tried to avoid the use of online translators and students used their

bilingual dictionary. At the end of this project, students understood the importance of

learning a foreign language by using different tools (readings, collaborative work, inference

skills, dictionaries), instead of relying on online translators, which cannot make a difference

in special cases of the language.

The second difficulty in this research study was the time for doing the pedagogical

interventions because as I mentioned in chapter 1, the English class has three hours per

week, being this little time for teaching and learning about the L2. Besides the short time

for teaching English, there were other problems, such as the absence of some participants to

school and the activities proposed in the school timetable. These issues influenced on the

students’ tasks because on some occasions, participants could not finish their readings or

writings, and they had to wait for one or two weeks to complete their tasks. Sometimes, this

fact pushed students to finish the task quickly without analyzing it.

Further Research

The findings of this study unveiled the importance of introducing a social network

site in the teaching and learning of English, where students can engage in meaningful

issues. The pedagogical interventions encouraged students’ participation in the classroom

as well as on Facebook; especially on the latter, because students with huge linguistic

difficulties could understand their classmates’ posts and express their thoughts in the L2.

This research study opens the possibility to use Blended Learning as a learning

method, especially at my school because it is in the process of becoming a bilingual public


99

school whose emphasis is on technology and systems. Taking into consideration the

aforementioned, Blended Learning is a good option for integrating the classroom work with

the potential of ICTs, especially if the topics used to develop students’ literacies are

connected to students’ real contexts and worries.


100

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107

Appendix A: Curricular Platform 2015

1ST STORY: TEEN WORRIES MOM ABUSES MEDICATION

SETTING OBJECTIVES DATE GENERAL

ACTIVITY

SPECIFIC

ACTIVITIES

DATA

INSTRUMENTS

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

FACEBOOK

To introduce

modal verbs

topic to

students.

To infer a text

based on

images and

To read and

understand the

reading

purpose for

giving

opinions.

To give opinion

about

teenagers’

problems

To read and

comment

students’ posts.

March

2nd week

LESSON

PLAN 1

March

2nd week

LESSON

PLAN 1

April

2nd and 3rd

weeks

LESSON

PLAN 1

April

3rd week

LESSON

Answering

questions

Pre-reading

Activity

While

reading

activities.

Post-reading

activities.

Post-reading

activities

1.Understanding the

requests in order to

answer them.

1. Inferring what

the text is about

according to the

images and

vocabulary given.

1. Reading images

to complete

sentences using the

correct modal

verbs.

2. Identifying

sentences with their

function, according

to the modal verbs.

3. Working with

synonyms.

4. Reading the text

proposed for this

lesson.

5. Asking

for/verifying

information about

the reading, using

Wh questions.

6. Writing about

teens’ problem and

giving advice about

it.

7. Correcting

students’ writings.

1. Posting the

writings.

2. Reading the

posts to comment

on them.

Field notes based on

observation.

Artifacts based on

students’ answers.

Field notes

Audio recording

Artifact based on

students’ texts

Students’ artifacts

Field notes

Audio recording


Video recording

(Field notes)

Survey


108

PLAN 1

2nd STORY: THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS TEENAGERS FACE TODAY


ACTIVITY

SPECIFIC

ACTIVITIES

INSTRUMENTS

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

FACEBOOK

To introduce

students to

reading through

the new

vocabulary.

To read and

understand the

readings.

To give opinion

and advice

about

teenagers’

problems.

To post

students’

writings and

comment on

the posts.

May

2nd week

LESSON

PLAN 2

May

3rd and 4th

weeks

LESSON

PLAN 2

June 1st

week

LESSON

PLAN 2

July 3rd

week

LESSON

PLAN 2

Pre-reading

activities

While reading

activities

Post-reading

activities

Post-reading

activities

1. Rating from 1

to 10 teenagers’

problems

according to

students’ own

experience.

2. Identifying

teen’s problems.

3. Working with

synonyms.

1. Understanding

the texts proposed

in the reading. 2. Comprehending the readings

through True,

False, and Not

said exercises, to

complete

statements and

concept map, to

identify main

ideas and features,

to match correct

answer, to

represent by

pictures.

1. Asking for and

giving opinions

and advice

according to the

readings and own

knowledge.

1. Writing and

explaining on a

post about youths’

problems.

2. Reading the

classmates’

opinions and


Field notes


Field notes


Field notes

Audio recording


Video recording

(Field notes)

Survey


109

commenting

about them.

3RD STORY: PHOTOGRAPHS


ACTIVITY

SPECIFIC

ACTIVITIES

INSTRUMENTS

CLASSROOM

CLASSROOM

FACEBOOK

To know and

use new

vocabulary

To understand

the author’s

intention.

To express

social feelings

through the

videos.

August

2nd week

LESSON

PLAN 3

August

3rd week

LESSON

PLAN 3

September

2nd week

LESSON

PLAN 3

Pre-reading

activities

While

reading

activities

Post-reading

activities

1. Identifying

vocabulary

through

crossword

puzzle,

organization of

the words,

translation of

unknown words,

and completing

the song using

the words

listened.

1. Asking for/

verifying

information

about the song,

using Yes/No

and Wh

questions.

1. Making a

photograph

collage or video.

2. Commenting

on students’ life,

using pictures or

videos.


Field notes


Field notes

Audio recording



110

Appendix B: Interests, difficulties and proposals about the English class


111


112


113


114

Appendix C: First instrument, the students’ artifacts


115


116


117


118


119


120


121


122


123


124


125


126

Appendix D: Second Instrument, Field Notes

Research question: ¿How do 11th grade students’ shape their EFL literacies shaped through

the use of Blended Learning activities and Facebook?

FIELD NOTES No. 2

DATE:

March 20th, 2015

PLACE:

Venecia School. Room 203

TIME:

2 hours (aprox)

PARTICIPANTS:

36

GOAL: ✓ To know how my students shape their reading and writing skills.

ACTIVITY: 1. Students have to observe the pictures below, read the words below, and

write about what do they think the reading is about;

DESCRIPTION

SETTING:

Classroom

PARTICIPANTS: For this activity, students organized in groups

of two or three people.

This second observation is a part of my first lesson plan, which integrated the use of Blended

Learning and how my students shaped their literacy. The writing transcription below is a part of

my first artifact about what my students inferred about the text.

First Writing Texts

Words and pictures for inferring what the text is about:

mom doctor worried teen to abuse happy woman to help medication


127

Data Labels

The teacher began to explain the activity, the group of Julian Trujillo did not pay attention to the explanation and they did not read the activity introduction. They began to do the exercise in different form but after they asked to the teacher and did the exercise according to the instruction.

Although the teacher said them that they could not use their electronic devices for translating, the groups of Julian Trujillo and Sebastian Garcia tried to do it. They had to use the bilingual dictionary. They do not like to use the bilingual dictionary, however the teacher noticed that they were very dependent on the dictionary;

In the activity, they had to observe three images and understand some words; according to that, they had to deduce what the text about was. All students talked and worked with his or her partner in order to do the activity; most of groups had one dictionary, only the group of Esteban Guacaneme had in use two dictionaries in the group and both students were talking and using the dictionary. Students began to look for the translation of the words which they did not know in the box, them they began to observe and deduce the images; some groups asked to the teacher if the first image was about a doctor or a mom; the teacher said students that they had to look the third picture and compared with number one and they had to infer; after the teacher’s explanation students continued with the writing activity.

(Reading and Writing) Students don’t demonstrate interest in the activity.

(Reading) Allowing students for asking for clarification.

(Writing) Electronic devices using for translating (Writing) Allowing the bilingual dictionary use for doing students writings.

(Writing) Promoting the creativity among students . (Writing)Encouraging the collaborative work among students.

(Writing) Allowing the teacher’s


128

Most of groups said the ideas in Spanish and translated them in English. During the activity, students were very disciplined and interested in the activity.

interaction for understanding and doing the activity. (Writing)Allowing the L1 use for writing in English. (Reading and Writing) Encouraging students to participate in the activity.


129

Appendix E: Consent form


130

Documents

Building EFL learners’ literacy through Blended …repository.udistrital.edu.co/bitstream/11349/5734/1/MolanoAriasNa...experience and knowledge about TICs and English language teaching