Examining the Effectiveness of Extensive Speaking Practice via Voice Blogs in a Foreign Language Learning Context YU-CHIH SUN National Chiao Tung University ABSTRACT Educational blogs have drawn the growing interest of researchers and language teachers due to the user-friendly interfaces as well as the powerful archiving features. The purpose of the current study is two-fold: (1) to examine the effectiveness of extensive speaking practice on speaking performance in voice blogs, and (2) to examine learners’ perceived gains in extensive speaking practice via voice blogs. The participants of the study were 46 college students learning English as a foreign language in Taiwan. They were taking a one-semester English speech class that lasted for 18 weeks. The participants were required to post voice blog entries during out-ofclass time on a class blog as a supplement to the insufficient speaking practice in the class. The participants’ gains in speaking skill were evaluated by two raters who examined the learners’ first three and last three voice blog entries. Participants’ perceived gains in speaking skills were collected through questionnaires. The results indicate that students generally perceived gains in their speaking proficiency. However, there was no significant improvement in their pronunciation, language complexity, fluency, or accuracy. The results corroborate previous studies that the personal and authentic nature of blogging might encourage students to focus more on meaning expression, rather than accuracy.
KEYWORDS Blogging, Voice Blog, Speaking, English as a Foreign Language, Computer-assisted Language Learning
INTRODUCTION Blogs (text, audio, or video based) have become one of the most well-received online applications in recent years. Blogs are personal online journals or web publishing that allow an individual to reach a potentially worldwide audience via the Internet (Martindale & Wiley, 2005; Poling, 2005; Sun, 2009). They provide a promising forum for active, interactive, and collaborative online communication. With the relative ease of publishing that blogging software affords, the number of blog users has grown tremendously and blogs are now being used for personal, educational, journalistic, and commercial purposes (Campbell, 2003). Blogs differ from listservs, websites, voiceboards and mediaboards in that blogs are controlled and owned by the users themselves. While listservs, websites, and mediaboards are frequently organized around specific topics, the blog is still primarily centered on and identified with its author or authors. In addition, most blogging software provides mechanisms that allow users to label their posts. By categorizing the posts, users can organize their content in a structured space. In addition, a feature called “track back” enables a notice to be sent to a blogger whenever someone comments on an entry in their posts. Furthermore, customization in terms of aesthetic or structural functions is another unique feature of blogs. The look and feel of a blog can be customized (color, images, fonts, etc.) and picCALICO Journal, 29(3), p-p 494-506.
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tures can be added to enhance a blog’s attractiveness and give it a highly personalized feel (Baggetun & Wasson, 2006; Campbell, 2003). Studies suggest that in the blogosphere, learners are actually supported in a collaborative environment due to the openness of blogging which encourages learners to freely express themselves, and interact and share with other users (Baggetun & Wasson, 2006). Individual work is also supported, for learners are encouraged to independently prepare blog content while engaging in an in-depth exploration of ideas. Meanwhile, a great sense of freedom and ownership has also been reported, which fosters increased learner participation and motivation (Baggetun & Wasson, 2006; Richardson, 2006; Sun, 2009; Xie & Sharma, 2004). LITERATURE REVIEW Language Tasking As defined by Skehan (1998), a task is an activity that puts emphasis on meaning, involves communication and problem-solving, and relates to real-world situations. Willis (1996) also defined tasks as things that are not concerned with language display and are not conformity-oriented and practice-oriented. Task complexity significantly affects learner perceptions of difficulty and stress level (Robinson, 2001). Thus, task designers need to create an intriguing and relevant task at the appropriate level (Nunan, 1989). The online setting itself provides a dynamic language learning environment that could give learners opportunities to interact and negotiate meaning, to produce varied and creative language, to have enough time to complete the task, to receive feedback from others, to have an ideal stress and anxiety level, and to foster learner autonomy (Egbert & Hanson-Smith, 1999). In Lee’s (2010) study, integrating peer feedback on the task-based Wiki project not only prompted further discussion and interactive exchange of ideas, but also encouraged focus on form for language accuracy. In addition, the structure of the task will also influence a student’s ability to focus on the task. Kern (1995) indicated that an increase in language production in text-based chatting software might have come at the expense of grammatical accuracy. Thus, as suggested by Pellettieri (2000), text-based tasks that require learners to not only produce language but also reflect on the language produced can promote higher levels of learner focus on grammatical accuracy. Innovation in evaluating student performance in task-based projects is essential to shed accurate light on what students have achieved. In this vein, task-based language assessment provides formative feedback to learners and teachers (Norris, Bygate, & Branden, 2009). Skehan (1992) proposed a three-way task analysis to investigate task-based instruction, including code complexity (e.g., linguistic complexity and variety, vocabulary load and variety), cognitive complexity (e.g., cognitive familiarity and processing), and communicative stress (e.g., time pressure, length of texts used, opportunities to control interaction). Skehan (1998) and Skehan and Foster (1999) further identified three key aspects for evaluating learner performance: accuracy, complexity, and fluency. Through rich observations of language in use, task-based evaluation can not only serve its assessment function, but also raise awareness of learners, teachers, and other stakeholders about the achievement of language learning (Norris et al., 2009). Blogs in Language Learning Blogs have emerged in many educational contexts as a promising tool to facilitate learning. Numerous studies have specifically highlighted the advantages of using blogs in language classes to enhance students’ higher-order thinking skills (e.g., critical thinking, evaluating, and synthesizing skills) (Mynard, 2007; Noytim, 2010), foster self-expression, selfreflection, and collaborative construction of L2 knowledge, develop English writing skills (Armstrong & Retterer, 2008; Bloch, 2007; Campbell, 2003; Leja, 2007; Noytim, 2010; Sun, 2009), facilitate the development of a L2 community of writers (Sollars, 2007), de-
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velop a sense of voice (Bloch, 2007; Rezaee & Oladi, 2008), and facilitate the recording of learners’ learning experiences (Noytim, 2010). In Noytim’s (2010) study, the participants perceived blogs as tools for the development of English skills, receiving more opportunities in expressing themselves freely, fostering creative and critical thinking skills, and supporting the learning community. In particular, the sense of ownership in the blogging process encouraged students to write freely and, thus, focus more on the fluency of their work, rather than accuracy. Regarding using blogs to facilitate speaking skill development, Hung (2009) indicated that using blogs as electronic-speaking portfolios helped identify students’ weak points in speaking, offered additional speaking practice opportunities, and reduced speaking anxiety. In addition, blogs served as useful tools to archive learning progress and to provide alternative speaking assessment. EFFECTIVENESS OF EXTENSIVE SPEAKING VIA VOICE BLOGS In Taiwan, foreign language speaking classes are mostly large, with limited opportunities for authentic communication. Learners are commonly faced with a lack of opportunity to practice the target language both inside and outside of classrooms (Ho, 2003). Integrating blogs into language classrooms creates additional opportunities for language practice and interaction in the target language outside the classroom (e.g., Greer & Reed, 2008; Kim, 2008). This study employed an authentic blogging task that involved posting and replying to blog entries online. As blogging has already become one of the most well-received internet applications, the researcher designed a blogging task to be as authentic as possible so that it is related to real-world situations. The structure of the blogging task aims to be meaningoriented, rather than accuracy-oriented, by eliminating the influence of grading by instructors. Appropriate task complexity was maintained by providing freedom of topic choice and freedom of blog posting length. In other words, the researcher is interested in exploring whether such an unstructured or ‘organic’ approach to integrating online blogging technology into language learning would generate beneficial learning outcomes. The author conducted a large-scale study examining the use of voice blog in an EFL speaking class in 2007. In Sun (2009), the author reports on a qualitative, exploratory study of language learning using voice blog. The current study, which is also part of the larger study, aims to examine whether extensive speaking practice via voice blogs can improve learners’ speaking performance and to investigate learners’ perceived gains in speaking proficiency via voice blogs. Specifically, the study is to examine whether or not practicing speaking via blogging platform could lead to development in fluency, pronunciation, complexity, and accuracy over time. Two research questions guided the study: 1. Does extensive speaking practice via voice blogs improve learners’ speaking performance? 2. What are learners’ perceived gains in speaking skills after extensive speaking practice via voice blogs? To explore the first research question, a quasi-experimental research design was employed to compare the oral performance of learners in their three first and three last blog entries. To explore the second research question, a survey questionnaire was administered to provide a description of learners’ perceptions of speaking practice via voice blogs.
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METHOD Participants The participants of the study were 46 Taiwanese college students (15 females and 31 males) from two speech classes (N=24 and N=22 each). All students were non-native speakers of English with an average of nine years of study in English as a foreign language (EFL), and none of them had ever studied abroad in any English-speaking country. Course Description The English class was intended to enhance students’ English oral proficiency and publicpresentation skills. This one-semester course lasted for 18 weeks and the class met two hours per week. Public-speaking skills and related knowledge were the instructional foci in the first hour of class. Major activities implemented for this class period included lectures on public-speaking skills, video demonstrations of speech delivery, in-class discussion, and role-playing. As an extension of what had been covered in the preceding hour, the second hour of class focused on hands-on practice of public presentation. Procedure The class voice blog was introduced to the students in the first meeting as a tool for additional speaking practice. The first task for the students was to register on the website during the first week of the class. Later, the major task for each student was to produce a total of 30 voice-blog entries and 10 responses to classmates’ blogs by the end of the semester. The responses can be related to the content, meaning, or form of the blog entries. The overall blogging environment was characterized as informal, personal, and exploratory, within which the students were encouraged to decide for themselves what to say, and when and how to say it. The teacher-researcher demanded no rigid procedures for preparing voice-blog posts, nor did she require students to carefully monitor themselves for grammatical accuracy. The requirement of the blog assignment in the class was simply that students complete 30 blog entries and 10 comments over the course of the semester. Instrument The researcher developed a voice-blog survey that aims to understand participants’ perception about voice blogs. The full survey can be found in Sun (2009). The current study presents a practical survey of six five-point Likert scale questions examining learners’ perceived gains in speaking skills, including gains in overall oral proficiency, fluency, pronunciation, idea organization, lexical accuracy, and grammatical accuracy (See Appendix 1). Rating of the Blogs In addition to the self-evaluation, objective scoring of students’ first and last three blog entries was conducted to examine the degree of improvement in their speaking performance after a semester’s practice. The scoring of each blog was done by two raters: the teacherresearcher and another rater. The second rater was an experienced English-language teacher who was, at the time of this writing, working on her master’s thesis in TESOL. She had taught many classes for students whose language proficiency and age were similar to those of the students in the current study. Both raters were non-native speakers of English. In order to avoid raters’ bias resulting from the identification of the time of a recording (i.e., occurring among the first three entries or the last three entries), the teacher-researcher developed an assessment website that presented only a randomized list of the titles of the first three and last three blog entries and a hyperlink to each title. Each hyperlink led to a file of a particular voice-blog entry but revealed no other information about the blogger. That is, the raters did not assess blog entries by directly visiting the blogs. The absence of direct visits helped ensure that the assessment would be blind in terms of the time of the record-
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ing. In this way, the researcher sought to avoid possible bias resulting from raters’ expectations. The rating criteria for the voice-blog entries included fluency, pronunciation, accuracy, and complexity. Fluency refers to the degree of ease of speech, including speaking speed, hesitation while speaking, hesitation before speaking, and long pauses. Pronunciation refers to the clarity and accuracy of pronunciation, such as individual sounds (e.g., phonemic distinctions), stress, rhythm, and intonation, as well as linking, elision, and assimilation of sounds. Accuracy refers to grammatical and lexical accuracy, such as errors in grammar or word order, and wrong or inappropriate word choice. Finally, complexity refers to the range of grammar and vocabulary used to produce complex and varied utterances. The raters rated student performance on a five-point scale (1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 = acceptable, 4 = good, and 5 = very good) for each of the rating criteria. Each of the components in the scale is given equal weighting. Research has shown that rater training can successfully enhance a rater’s self-consistency as well as inter-rater reliability (Hughes, 2003; Mousavi, 2002). Therefore, a 30-minute rater-training session was implemented; the teacher-researcher first familiarized the other rater with the rating criteria. After the training session, both of the raters rated a series of selected ‘benchmark’ blogs that spanned different levels of ability. Then, the raters compared each sample piece and discussed how it should be rated. After reaching agreement on the benchmark blog entries, the formal rating began. The raters then completed each rating independently. A Pearson’s product-moment correlation was performed for determining the coefficient (Pearson r) for measuring inter-rater agreement. The results indicated that the two raters positively correlated at a high level (r = .915). RESULTS A total of 1,239 voice-blog entries and 646 comments on classmates’ blog entries were posted by the 46 participants enrolled in the one-semester speech course. On average, each participant posted 27.5 voice blogs and 14.3 comments on the class blog over the course of the semester. Transcribed examples of representative voice-blogs are included in Appendix 2. Language errors in the blog entries were not edited. Pseudonyms were used in all examples. The length of voice blog post ranges from 30 seconds to 422 seconds (Mean=107, SD=47.63). The length of reply ranges from 12 seconds to 240 seconds (M=75.62, SD=36.70). Table 1 illustrates the distribution of the length of voice blog posts and replies. The nature of the students’ posts and replies can be classified into the following four categories: (1) sharing the enhancement of oral communication skills, (2) sharing life experiences, (3) exchanging information, and (4) social networking. Table 1 Length of voice blog posts and replies Length of post and reply Less than 1 minute 1-2 minutes 2-3 minutes 3-4 minutes 4-5 minutes More than 5 minutes
Number of posts 174 748 230 62 19 6
Percentage (%) 14.0 60.4 18.6 5.0 1.5 0.5
Number of replies 280 282 75 9 0 0
Percentage (%) 43.3 43.7 11.6 1.4 0 0
A paired-samples t test was conducted to evaluate the mean differences between the first three and last three blog posts. The results indicate that the length of the first three voice
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blog posts (M =109.34 seconds, SD =51.38) were significantly longer than the length of the last three posts (M =103.68 seconds, SD =43.48), t(207) =7.33, p,.001. Table 2 presents a descriptive analysis of the participants’ rated performance on the first three blog entries and the last three blog entries. It can be observed that the mean scores of the first three blog entries for all four scoring rubrics were slightly higher than the mean scores of the last three entries. Table 2 Descriptive analysis of rated performance on the first three blog entries and on the last three blog entries Scoring rubrics
Mean
Fluency
3.46
Pronunciation
3.42
Complexity
3.41
Accuracy
3.39
Timing of entries First Last First Last First Last First Last
three three three three three three three three
Mean 3.58 3.33 3.49 3.35 3.48 3.34 3.47 3.31
Std. Deviation .72 .70 .65 .69 .52 .50 .54 .51
N 129 128 129 128 129 128 129 128
A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to compare the mean differences among the four subscales of the scoring rubric for voice blogs (fluency, pronunciation, complexity, and accuracy) on multiple dependent variables. The results of the MANOVA show a Wilks value of .967 and F (4, 252) =2.13, p =.078. Because the p value is more than 0.5 (the alpha level established in the study), the results suggest that the mean differences among these four subscales of scoring rubrics are not statistically significant. In other words, the scores for students’ first three and last three blog entries suggest that, in general, students’ initial speaking performance did not differ significantly from their later speaking performance. Regarding students’ perceptions of speaking practice on the blog, the participants overall believed that the voice blog did enhance their oral proficiency (Mean =3.89, SD =0.75). In other words, about 76% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that voice blog enhanced their oral proficiency. Regarding the specific language skill areas in which the participants believed that they had made progress, fluency received the highest score (Mean =4.11), followed by pronunciation (Mean =3.64), idea organization (Mean =3.51), and lexical accuracy (Mean =3.33). The perceived area of least improvement was grammatical accuracy (Mean =3.02). Table 3 presents the percentages of student responses on the fivepoint Likert-scale survey.
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Table 3 Percentage of responses on learners’ perception of progress Progress in language skills Overall oral proficiency Fluency Enunciation Idea organization Lexical accuracy Grammatical accuracy
Strongly disagree (%) 0 0 0 0 2.2 6.7
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
(%) 4.4 0 8.9 11.1 8.9 20.0
(%) 20.0 15.6 37.8 35.6 46.7 46.7
(%) 57.8 57.8 33.3 44.4 37.8 17.8
Strongly agree (%) 17.8 26.7 20.0 8.9 4.4 8.9
DISCUSSION The results of the present study show no significant difference between students’ first three and last three blog entries in terms of accuracy, fluency, pronunciation, and complexity of speaking performance. One probable explanation is that blogging’s free and relaxed environment differs greatly from the traditional classroom speaking environment, where grammatical control and accuracy are highly emphasized. In addition, as shown in Sun’s (2009) study, a majority of EFL participants considered voice blogging not only as a means for enhancing oral communication skills, but also as a means for self-presentation, a chance for information exchanges, and a new way of social networking. Thus, greater emphasis on content and less emphasis on form accuracy could account for the lack of significant improvement in their last three blog entries. The findings lend support to the work of Bloch (2007), who stated that by “purposefully telling the students not to worry about grammar and spelling, for example, we deemphasized the development of these aspects of academic literacy in favor of a focus on more macro level features of rhetorical development” (p. 137). Students in the blogosphere can be more willing to take risks with language production and emphasize the content of expressions over the accuracy of language usage, thus resulting in no significant difference related to accuracy in their later blog performance. In this regard, the findings show that students tend to be motivated by the contextual demand for authentic and free expression of meaning, and thus leave accuracy to play a secondary role. In addition, time is also a consideration. One semester’s practice on a blog might not be sufficient for any significant improvement in speaking to develop. Another time issue in the current study is that some participants completed their blog assignments at the last minute instead of spacing the practice out over the semester. This is similar to results found in Sun’s (2009) study. One consequence of these rush jobs is a significant diminution of the quality and quantity of the blogs. Similar weaknesses may also apply to participants who, whether spacing out their blog activities or not, spent more time on preparation than production. It was reported by some students that even though they spent considerable time on preparing a blog entry, most of the time went to brainstorming the topic, checking grammar or vocabulary, or even rehearsing the same small amount of content many times. Thus, the actual time on ‘extensive speaking’ production turned out to be very limited, resulting in failure to exhibit significant improvement in speaking skills. Furthermore, the lack of corrective feedback provided on students’ blog entries may also explain students’ insignificant improvement in speaking skills. Furthermore, the researcher did not set up the study to ensure either that students would focus on speaking extensively on the voice blog or that they would do so with concentrated effort. Further reasons for a lack of improvement may be due to the Hawthorne effect that
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has commonly been observed in education (Adair, 1984; Neuman, 1991; Snyder, 1993; Sun, 2009). As indicated in Sun’s (2009) study, participants’ enthusiasm toward voice blogging decayed once the novelty wore off. As the semester progressed, the students’ flagging interest in blogging, as well as the increasing demands of other coursework, gradually led to more infrequent or limited postings late in the semester. In other words, some students rushed to meet the assignment deadline rather than work on the blogs with consistent effort. The results of the survey of students’ perceived improvement in speaking indicate that students generally hold a positive attitude toward the effectiveness of blogging on the improvement of their speaking skills. One possible explanation for students’ perceived improvement, especially in fluency, is that through extensive speaking practice on voice blogs, students can reduce their speech anxiety over time and become more comfortable and confident in speaking in a foreign language. In addition, as there is no evaluation criteria imposed on the blogging assignment, students can be free from the traditional standards imposed in a speaking class that center on accuracy and form. Instead, in the blogosphere, students can pay more attention to their content and meaning expression, thus leading to their perceived improvement in speaking fluency. The results corroborate with a previous study on voiceboards in which language learners generally considered online interaction experiences beneficial in developing their communication competence (Mclntosh, Braul, & Chao, 2003). CONCLUSION The dynamics of the blogging environment provide an additional avenue for speaking practice outside the classroom. The results of the study indicated that the approach of using blogs as a means to facilitate speaking skills did not generate significant improvement in students’ overall speaking performance. However, students generally had positive perceptions of their speaking skill development over this same amount of time. Pedagogical Implications Providing students with practice opportunities on voice blog outside the classroom could enhance students’ confidence and perceived gains in their speaking skills and make students feel more comfortable in speaking in the target language. However, as students tended to produce shorter entries later in the semester, measures to motivate students through the end of the semester should be taken into consideration (e.g., voting for the most popular posts or inviting visitors to join the class blog). As in Sun’s (2010) study, one semester of writing practice on the blogs generated significant progress in students’ writing proficiency in the EFL context, the insignificant improvement in speaking skills in the study may be due to the fact that development of speaking skills might take more practice and longer time than the development of writing skills in an EFL context. Future research employing longitudinal study could shed new light in this regard. Another probable explanation may be due to students’ lack of commitment in writing blog entries on a weekly basis. For future application of blog projects, teachers can make students submit their blog entries at weekly intervals to reduce problems due to procrastination. In addition, concerns are raised in the study about the ways in which educators can best integrate technology into curriculum design and course objectives. One concern is finding a balance between meaning and accuracy in educational blogging. As Skehan (1996) suggested, optimal learning can be achieved by focusing on both meaning and accuracy within a task-based methodology. The challenge presented here is to foster students’ free expression of meaning in a natural and authentic learning environment and, at the same time, to promote students’ self-monitoring of language output and accountability for learning outcomes (Willis & Willis, 2001).
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Another concern is setting specific goals for voice-based asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC). Future applications of blogging approaches in foreign language classrooms need to consider the goal and purpose of the blogging project. That is, the extent to which accuracy or meaning should be emphasized depends on different purposes of course design. For the purposes of boosting self-confidence and reducing speech anxiety, less emphasis might be placed on the accuracy of speech in student blogs, thus freeing students from an overly conscious awareness of rules as well as possible judgments made by teachers or others. In contrast, if the main purpose of the implementation of ACMC is to enhance awareness of accuracy, then more explicit guidelines and instruction for spoken blog entries need to be specified so students can be directed to monitor and reflect upon their language production in their blogs. In addition, peer-review evaluations of either accuracy or meaning can also be adopted to further enhance interaction and cooperative learning using blogs. Recommendations for Future Research Future research focusing on the learners’ shift in motivation throughout the blogging task and how it influences the quantity (e.g., length) and quality (e.g., performance of the speech) of the blogs could shed light on the approach of online language tasks. Moreover, qualitative analysis of students’ blogging processes, their focus of the task (formality vs. meaning), and motivation differences in structured and unstructured blogging tasks could shed light on the influence of blogging tasks on language learning. The current study was limited to examining students’ performance on the first and last blog entries, not on students’ general speaking proficiency. Further research examining students’ overall progress in speaking proficiency and the relationship between language proficiency and progress in speaking proficiency can provide more insight on a broader perspective of language assessment. Furthermore, more research is needed to examine the correlation between students’ voice blog performance and their actual performance on speaking proficiency tests. As in the current study, only code complexity has been investigated in the task output; future research examining cognitive complexity and communication stress is highly recommended. Finally, one semester may not be sufficient to measure speaking improvements. A longitudinal study will also be of interest to researchers and classroom teachers in order to better understand the differences between the short term and long term effects of extensive speaking in blogs. In summation, the current study shows that non-threatening and learner-centered blogging can help provide additional speaking practice in an EFL context and boost learner motivation to practice speaking outside the classroom. However, the results show no significant improvement in students’ oral language performance. While this study has its limitations, it can serve as a basis for further study in integrating blogs into the language classroom. Future research centering on different approaches of integrating blogs into classrooms is called for.
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REFERENCES Adair, J. G. (1984). The Hawthorne effect: A reconsideration of the methodological artifact. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69(2), 34-345. Armstrong, K., & Retterer, O. (2008). Blogging as L2 writing: A case study. AACE Journal, 16(3), 233–251. Baggetun, R., & Wasson, B. (2006). Self-regulated learning and open writing. European Journal of Education, 41(3-4), 453–472. Bloch, J. (2007). Abdullah’s blogging: A generation 1.5 student enters the blogosphere. Language Learning & Technology, 11(2), 128-141. Campbell, A. P. (2003). Weblogs for use with ESL classes. The Internet TESL Journal, 4(2). Retrieved September 25, 2007, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html Egbert, J., & Hanson-Smith, E. (1999). CALL environments: Research, practice, and critical issues. Virginia: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Inc. Greer, M. L., & Reed, B. (2008). Blogs hit classroom: Students start reading. PRIMUS, 18(2), 139-148. Ho, Y. (2003). Audiotaped dialogue journals: An alternative accuracy of speaking practice. ELT Jour-
nal, 7(3), 269-77. Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hung, S. T. (2009). Promoting self-assessment strategies: An electronic portfolio approach. Asian EFL Journal, 11(2), 129–146. Kern, R. (1995). Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers: Effects on quantity and characteristics of language production. Modern Language Journal, 79(4), 457-476. Kim, H. N. (2008). The phenomenon of blogs and theoretical model of blog use in educational contexts. Computers & Education, 51(3), 1342-1352. Lee, L. (2010). Exploring wiki-mediated collaborative writing: A case study in an elementary Spanish course. CALICO Journal, 27(2), 260-276. Leja, H. (2007). Improving writing skills in foreign language classes. In M. Camilleri, P. Ford, H. Leja & V. Sollars (Eds.), Blogs: Web journal in language education (pp. 27-34). Council of Europe, Strasbourg. Martindale, T., & Wiley, D. A. (2005). Using weblogs in scholarship and teaching. TechTrends Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 49(2), 55-61. McIntosh, S., Braul, B., & Chao, T. (2003). A case study in asynchronous voice conferencing for language instruction. Educational Media International, 40(1), 63-74. Mousavi, S. (2002). An encyclopedic dictionary of language testing (3rd edition). Taipei: Tung Hua Book Company. Mynard, J. (2007). A blog as a tool for reflection for English language learners. The Philippine ESL Journal, 1(1), 77-90. Neuman, S. (1991). Literacy in the television age. Norwood: Ablex Publishing. Noytim, U. (2010). Weblogs enhancing EFL students’ English language learning. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 1127–1132. Norris, J., Bygate, M., & Branden, K. (2009). Task-based language assessment. In K. Branden, M. Bygate, & J. Norris (Eds.), Task-based language teaching (pp. 431-454). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communication classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Pellettieri, J. (2000). Negotiation in cyberspace: The role of chatting in the development of grammatical competence. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 59-86). New York: Cambridge University Press. Poling, C. (2005). Blog on: Building communication and collaboration among staff and students. Learning & Leading with Technology, 32(6), 12-15. Rezaee, A. A., & Oladi, S. (2008). The effect of blogging on language learners' improvement in social interactions and writing proficiency. Iranian Journal of Language Studies, 2(1), 73-88. Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. California: Corwin Press. Robinson, P. (2001). Task complexity, task difficulty, and task production: Exploring interactions in a componential framework. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 27-57. Skehan, P. (1992). Strategies in second language acquisition. Thames Valley University Working Papers in English Language Teaching, No 1. Skehan, P. (1996). Second language acquisition research and task-based instruction. In J. Willis & D. Willis (Eds.), Challenge and change in language teaching (pp. 17-30). London: Heinemann. Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. NY: Oxford University Press. Skehan, P., & Foster, P. (1999). The influence of task structure and processing conditions on narrative retellings. Language Learning, 49(1), 93-120. Snyder, I. (1993). Writing with word processors: A research overview. Educational Research, 35(1), 49–68. Sollars, V. (2007). Writing experiences in a second/foreign language classroom: From theory to practice. In M. Camilleri, P. Ford, H. Leja & V. Sollars (Eds.), Blogs: Web journal in language education (pp. 15-24). Council of Europe, Strasbourg. Sun, Y. C. (2009). Voice blog: An exploratory study of language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 13(2), 88-103. Sun, Y. C. (2010). Extensive writing in foreign-language classrooms: A blogging approach. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 47(3), 327-339. Willis, D., & Willis, J. (2001). Task-based language learning. In R. Carter & D. Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages (pp. 173-179). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. Harlow: Longman. Xie, Y., & Sharma, P. (2004). Students’ lived experience of using weblogs in a class: An exploratory study. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/ contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED485009
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APPENDIX 1 Voice blog survey Section one: Please respond to the following statements by rating your agreement on the scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Voice Voice Voice Voice Voice Voice Voice
blog blog blog blog blog blog blog
is is is is is is is
helpful helpful helpful helpful helpful helpful helpful
in in in in in in in
improving improving improving improving improving improving improving
my my my my my my my
general oral skills. public-speaking skills. oral fluency. pronunciation. grammar accuracy. vocabulary accuracy. idea-organization skills.
APPENDIX 2 Examples of different types of blog entries Learning Activity Blogs Title: Tomorrow’s Toastmasters Hello, everyone. I’m Kevin. Tomorrow morning, we’ll have the first toastmasters in our class, and I’ll be the first toastmaster, too. Last Thursday, when I knew I’ll be the first toastmaster, I feel very very shock, and I tell something, like oh my God to my classmates immediately. But after calm down, I thought it is a good chance for me to promote my English speaking ability. Today, I have connected with tomorrow’s speakers, Annie, David, Dan, and Brian and our general evaluator, John, and the timer, Angela. We’re all preparing for tomorrow’s toastmasters, and I think we’ll try to do our best to make it. I hope all of us can learn something from tomorrow’s toastmasters and enjoy it. Self-presentation blog Title: Skipping class Last night, I talked to my study mate all night until three o’clock in the morning. It sounds ridiculous, but we just couldn’t quit. Besides, I didn’t sleep well, only having a shallow sleep. Things that cram in my head were all what we talk that night. What’s worse, I skipped the class the next day. I stayed at the dorm almost all day, preparing for the exam and finish, finishing the rest of the project work. To be frank, I think life in a dorm completing my studies is somehow more meaningful than going to the lecture. It really makes me want to escape some time. Information-sharing Blogs Title: Do things that will make me happy right now Sometimes, we’re doing things we may be unwilling to do, like our job, homework, preparing for the exam. Such boring things like that. We have no choice. That’s our responsibility. We even have no excuse to escape from them. I read an article about how to be a cheerful person. The author mentioned about one thing I think that’s very important and I want to share with you. That is, at least doing one thing that will make you happy every day. I’ll feel content to read some funny books or books that I’m interested in, and I wonder if I would attend the cooking club in NCTU. I want to make my own cake or dessert. I really enjoy that. In my opinion, how to lead a happy life is a big deal. People work hard for happy days, but why not try to do something you just love. Just right now.
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CALICO Journal, 29(3)
Voice Blogs in a Foreign Language Learning Context
Network-building Blogs Title: Coward boy I think I am a shy boy. Every time, I can’t catch the opportunities. The most important reason is that I don’t have much courage. For example, sometimes, the teacher ask every classmates some questions and invite someone who know the answer to share it. I knew the answer, but I dare not to raise my hand. Another example, if I like a girl very much, I have no courage to tell her. What I dare to do is to care for her at a distance. I’m really a coward boy. Okay, in the end, if anyone want to make a friend with me, you can call dorm phone, five-five-six-six. I’m very pleasure. AUTHOR’S BIODATA Yu-Chih Sun is a professor in the TESOL program at the National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. Her research interests include computer-assisted language learning, academic writing, and speech instruction. AUTHOR’S ADDRESS E-mail:
[email protected]
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