Presented at GloCALL 2011, Manila Yamauchi

1. Effective implementation of a class blog
in the traditional classroom setting:
Toward more learner-centered EFL instruction
Mari Yamauchi
Chiba University of Commerce
GloCALL 2011, October 28-29, 2011
Manila, Philippines
11年10月30日日曜日

2. BACKGROUND & GOALS
Japanese university students learning EFL (esp. non English
majors) need more opportunities to use English
Outside of the classroom
For communicative purposes
Goals of this 3-year research*
To build an online learning environment where students
can use English for communicative purposes
To propose practicable ways to integrate out-of-class
activities with in-class activities, esp. where there is limited
access to ICT in the classroom
*Supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (2011-2013)
11年10月30日日曜日

3. Classroom with limited access to ICT
→ Limited hands-on activities
11年10月30日日曜日

4. PLATFORMS CONSIDERED*
Teacher’s Cellphone Organized Customi- Closed Open
Grading Multimedia
readiness compatibility activities zation community community
Moodle ★★★ ★ ★★★ ★ ★★★ ★★ ★★★ ★
Blogger ★★★ ★★ ★ ★★ ★★ ★★★ ★ ★★★
Posterous ★★ ★★ ★ ★★★ ★★ ★★★ ★★ ★★★
Twitter ★★ ★★★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★★★
Facebook ★ ★★ ★ ★★ ★? ★? ★★ ★★★
Tumblr ★ ★★ ★ ★★? ★? ★? ★★? ★★★
Mixi ★ ★★★ ★ ★? ★? ★? ★★★? ★?
*As of September, 2010
11年10月30日日曜日

5. USING MOODLE - 2010 FALL
11年10月30日日曜日

6. USING MOODLE, 2010 FALL
• Using forums for homework writing assignments (to build a
learner corpus) ← English 1D (Year 1, N=33)
• Using Moodle Network to set up intercollegiate discussion
forums (= “Moodle Project” ) ← English 2B (Year 2, N=25)
• Usingforums for warm-up and follow-up activities
← English 2B, English 1D
Uhida &Yamauchi (2011), Yamauchi (2011), Yamauchi & Uchida (2011) , Harashima,
Kanda, Sato &Yamauchi (2011)
11年10月30日日曜日

7. FINDINGS (2010)
1. For some, using Moodle outside of class was difficult, or
too much of a hassle.
Very#easy#to#use#
Easy#to#use#
Was it easy Not#sure#
to use A#li;le#diffiult#to#use#
Moodle? Very#difficult#to#use#
(2B, N = 24) 0%# 10%# 20%# 30%# 40%# 50%# 60%# 70%# 80%# 90%# 100%#
16"
14"
Which would you 12"
10"
like to use for 8"
online discussion? 6"
4"
(2B, N = 24) 2"
0"
Mixi" Twi-er" Email" Blog" Facebook" Moodle"Don't"know"
11年10月30日日曜日

8. FINDINGS (2010)
2. Students enjoy communicating in English online (once they
get used to it).
3. Topics that interest them will motivate them to write in
English (if they feel they can).
18"
16"
Very good idea 14"
12"
4% 10"
Good idea 8"
Don’t know 83% 6"
13% 4"
2"
0"
Topics"I'm" Feedback" Interac<on" Scores" Rankings"
interested" from"the" with"other"
What do you think of sharing in" teacher" students"
information or opinions in English
What do you think would motivate you to join?
online? (2B, N=24)
(2B, N = 24)
11年10月30日日曜日

9. USING A CLASS BLOG
- 2011 SPRING
11年10月30日日曜日

10. USING A CLASS BLOG
•A class blog was used as the platform, which allowed the
students to post by email.
• Topics and target language objectives were selected from the
initial class survey, a Can-Do list adapted from CEFR, and
students’ posts.
• Student blogging was explicitly integrated with class work,
with a lot of pair work/group work
• Focus-on-form instruction was given before and after posting
on a particular topic.
11年10月30日日曜日

11. BLOG ALLOWED STUDENTS TO POST BY EMAIL
Posting by email → Hands on
available in a regular classroom
11年10月30日日曜日

12. POSTING USING EMAIL (BLOGGER)
11年10月30日日曜日

13. USING A CLASS BLOG
•A class blog was used as the platform, which allowed the
students to post by email.
• Topics and target language objectives were selected with
reference to the initial class survey, CEFR descriptors, and
students’ posts.
• Student blogging was explicitly integrated with class work,
with a lot of pair work/group work
• Focus-on-form instruction was given before and after posting
on a particular topic.
11年10月30日日曜日

14. TOPICS & LANGUAGE OBJECTIVES ← CEFR, SURVEY, POSTS
A1 A2 B1
• familiar • frequently used • familiar matters
everyday expressions regularly encountered
phrases • very basic personal &
in work, school, leisure
• very basic family information, • situations likely to arise
phrases shopping, local while traveling
• needs of a geography • simple connected text
concrete • simple/direct on topics familiar or of
type exchange of personal interest
• questions
information on
familiar/routine • experiences, events,
about matters dreams, hopes,
personal ambitions, reasons,
details • his/her background, explanations for
immediate opinions, plans
environment/need
11年10月30日日曜日

15. TOPICS & LANGUAGE OBJECTIVES：CEFR, SURVEY, POSTS
• Daily life: School, Part-time job, “These are the topics
Club, Friends, Family, Shopping, the students last year
Eating, Pastimes, Hobbies said they would like to
• Events: Travel, Parties, Festivals, cover in class. What
Concerts, Vacation; Memories, topics would you like to
Plans talk about in English?”
• Reviews: Books, Comics, Movies,
Dramas, Songs, Music
• News: Environment, Technology,
Society, Health, Science, Politics,
Entertainment
11年10月30日日曜日

16. TOPICS & LANGUAGE OBJECTIVES ← SURVEY, CEFR, POSTS
Blog post
A: What were you doing at 7 PM
yesterday?
Grammar Exercise
B: I (am, was) eating dinner.
(WS)
A: What (do, did) you eat?
B: I (have, had) pizza and fried noodle.
11年10月30日日曜日

17. USING A CLASS BLOG (2011 SPRING)
•A class blog was used as the platform, which allowed the
students to post by email.
• Topics and target language objectives were selected from the
initial class survey, a Can-Do list adapted from CEFR, and
students’ posts.
• Student blogging was explicitly integrated with class work,
with a lot of pair work/group work
• Focus-on-form instruction was given before and after
posting on a particular topic.
11年10月30日日曜日

18. Grammar &
Conversation
Posting
Reading &
Interview/
Survey
In-class activity
Focus on form
11年10月30日日曜日

19. RESULTS - 2011 SPRING
11年10月30日日曜日

20. ACCESSIBILITY INCREASED
2011 Spring
Was it easy Very#easy#
to post by Easy#
email? A#li7le#difficult#/#a#bit#of#hassle#
Very#difficult#/#a#big#hassle#
(2B, N = 27)
0%# 10%# 20%# 30%# 40%# 50%# 60%# 70%# 80%# 90%# 100%#
2010 Fall Very#easy#to#use#
Was it easy Easy#to#use#
Not#sure#
to use
A#li;le#diffiult#to#use#
Moodle? Very#difficult#to#use#
(2B, N = 24)
0%# 10%# 20%# 30%# 40%# 50%# 60%# 70%# 80%# 90%# 100%#
11年10月30日日曜日

21. PARTICIPATION INCREASED
400 2010 Fall (2B, N=24)
2011 Spring (2B, N=27)
300
40
200 30
20
100
10
0 0
Posts Assignements Posts/Contributer Posts/Topic
11年10月30日日曜日

22. Page views: April - July, 2011
4,000
3332
2846 2944
3,000
2286
2,000
1,000 729
58
0
2011.3 2011.4 2011.5 2011.6 2011.7 2011.8
11年10月30日日曜日

23. USING ENGLISH - BENEFICIAL; CHALLENGING & FUN
10% Do you think blogging in English will help you
7% improve your English? (2B, N=27)
Yes No Don’t know
83%
I enjoyed reading others’ posts
I enjoyed writing my opinions/ideas in English
I found myself using English more often
It was difficult to write in English
It was difficult to read in English
I'm now feeling more comfortable using English
0 18 35 53 70 (%)
What do you think of blogging in English? (2B, N=27)
11年10月30日日曜日

24. STUDENTS WANT LANGUAGE HELP/FOCUS ON FORM
How did you like the way your posts were used in class?
Good to learn how to say something I wanted to say
Easier to write something related to what was covered in class
Happy to have my posts used in class
Don’t want my posts used in class
0 18 35 53 70 (%)
Suggestions for better blogging activities?
Mistakes to be corrected
Posts to be editable
More comments from teacher
Interactions to be increased
0 10 20 30 40 (%)
11年10月30日日曜日

25. SOME OF THE STUDENTS’ FEEDBACK
(FREE DESCRIPTION)
• I feel I understand what it’s like to use English in everyday life.
• It’d be great if we post whenever we like, in addition to assigned
tasks.
• My writing skills improved through blogging during this semester.
• I’ve improved my English through blogging so I want to do more
next semester.
• Blogging in English was challenging but fun.
• I felt uncomfortable blogging first but I enjoyed it later on as I got
used to it.
• I was happy that communication with my classmates increased
through blogging.
11年10月30日日曜日

26. WRAP UP
11年10月30日日曜日

27. EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF A CLASS BLOG
• Using posting by email helps get students started easily in
a classroom with limited access to ICT.
• Giving students opportunities and help to express what
they want to express helps them realize English is a tool
for communication.
• As they get used to sharing their writing online, they will
become less shy in the classroom.
• As they want to write and communicate more with other
people, they will start using a computer.
11年10月30日日曜日

28. NEXT STEP: INTER-SCHOOL / INTERNATIONAL BLOGGING
2011 Spring 2011 Fall
11年10月30日日曜日

29. NEXT STEP: IPADS WILL HELP?
11年10月30日日曜日

30. Thank you!
11年10月30日日曜日