Saudi Students’ Perspectives of Blogs in ESL Writing

• Main Authors: Dr. Ahmed Al Shlowiy, Dr. Khaled Layali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lasting Impressions Press 2020-01-01
• Series: International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies
• Subjects: teaching writing; esl; efl; saudi students’ perceptions; self-learning; blog
• Online Access: http://www.eltsjournal.org/archive/value7%20issue4/7-7-4-19.pdf

The researchers used an intact class of convenience at the English Language Institute (ELI) in Jubail, Saudi Arabia to conduct their study to find out about the students’ perspectives about the use of blogs as an additional out-of-class ESL writing activity. These perspectives were important as mixed results about benefits and limitations of the use of blogs in ESL writing were reported in the literature. Twenty Saudi male students participated in the questionnaire and interview. The researchers aimed to gain in-depth information from the participants to try to answer the research question (i.e., what are the ELI Saudi students’ perceptions of the use of blogs in ESL writing?). As such, these twenty students who agreed to participate in the study were enough since the aim was to gain rich information to answer the research question not to generalize the findings to any intended larger population. The study found advantages for using blogs in ESL writing. These were: (1) motivation, (2) collaboration among students. (3) helping students express their views freely and (4) being user-friendly. One drawback was reported by the participants, namely, the use of impolite language by some bloggers. These positive results of using blogs were in line with the results of other primary studies reported in the literature such as Kitchakarn (2012), Vurdien (2012) and Wang et al (2011). The one reported limitation was also reported in Nepomuceno (2011). One tip was presented by the researchers to overcome this limitation. Finally, they offered suggestions for further research.