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The Use of Blogs in English Language Learning: A Study of Student Perceptions
El uso de bitácoras o blogs en el aprendizaje del idioma inglés: un estudio sobre las percepciones del estudiante
Keywords:
Computer assisted language learning, student perceptions, using blogs (en)Aprendizaje del idioma asistido por computador, percepciones de los estudiantes, uso de blogs (es)
In this article we present an investigation that focused on the students' perception of using Blogs as a means to supplement in-class language learning activities. Blogs are easy to manage and enable students to publish their work in a chronological manner. They help students to engage in online exchanges and promote learner autonomy. This study evaluates a language laboratory program in which forty-two first year engineering students from a college in India were introduced to blogs and instructed to use them for recording their laboratory work. Data collection reveals that despite encountering some difficulties, students had an overall positive attitude towards using blogs in their learning of English. A follow-up study was conducted a year after the initial study and the results supported the original findings.
En este artículo presentamos una investigación enfocada en las percepciones de los estudiantes acerca del uso de blogs como un medio para complementar las actividades de la clase de idiomas. Este estudio evalúa un programa de laboratorio de lengua en el cual cuarenta y dos estudiantes del primer año de ingeniería de una universidad de India, a quienes se les familiarizó con los blogs y se les instruyó en la forma de usarlos para documentar su trabajo en el laboratorio. Los datos recolectados muestran que a pesar de enfrentar algunas dificultades, los estudiantes tuvieron una actitud positiva acerca del uso de blogs en su aprendizaje de inglés. Se realizó un estudio de seguimiento un año después del estudio original y los resultados sustentaron los primeros hallazgos.
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Copyright (c) 2011 Gurleen Ahluwalia, Deepti Gupta, Deepak Aggarwal
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