Schedule: 2009-09-11 (17:30 - 18:15)
Parallel Session 4 (Room A-19)

Title: Authentic interactions on a blog used for the teaching of EFL
Authors: Annick Rivens Mompean
Abstract: The use of a blog as a pedagogical aid for the learning of foreign languages is gaining support among teachers’ communities (Soubrié, 2006; Tomé, 2007) as it can help students develop online interactions and authentic productions. The current study is analysing the use of such a multimedia setting in a group of Master students in France, studying English as a Foreign Language, who had to hold a blog in groups of three or four, dealing with a specific topic of their interest. The introduction of such a tool was meant to motivate learners to practice both oral and written expression with an added value : the authenticity of the posted messages (aimed not only at the teacher nor at the learners’ community but also made visible to the outside world).

The aim of this presentation is to measure the pedagogical added value of such a blog for the development of several forms of expression: written expression, oral production or even creation of short videos as these technological tools are now easily accessible on blogs - that are easy to create and well-known to the younger learners’ community (it is estimated that more than half of teenagers hold a blog ). The aims are in agreement with the principles of the common European Framework of References for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001), which establishes specific goals for language learners with the implementation of ICT: task-based learning , authentic interactions or collaborative learning (Wenger, 1998).

In order to determine the potential added value and the limitations of a blog for the purpose of language learning, we will focus on three main research questions:
- What are the characteristics of the publications on the blog? What kind of documents do the learners publish, how do they organise their publication of articles online ? The answers to these questions will help us build a typology of the publications and interactions taking place: type of support and type of interactions - among learners or with the outside world (Kerbrat-Orecchioni, 2005; Herring et al., 2004).
- What are the motivating factors of such a kind of publication online? Questionnaires and analysis of the reflexive journals held throughout the learning session will be analysed to measure the effect of the blog on motivation.
- What are the necessary pedagogical interventions to turn the blog into an efficient object of learning : we must keep in mind that not only is the blog an open publication space, but also a learning space. What are the rules of animation and feedback required from the teacher to favour an efficient language learning?

References:
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework of References for Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Herring, S., Scheidt, L. A., Bonus, S. & Wright, E. (2004). "Bridging the gap: a genre analysis of weblogs". Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'04). Los Alamitos : IEEE Computer Society Press. http://www2.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/HICSS.2004.1265271
Kerbrat-Orecchioni, C. (2005). Le discours en interaction. Paris : Armand Colin.
Soubrié, T. (2006). "Utilisation d'un blog en formation initiale d'enseignants de FLE : pratiques réflexives et délibérations collégiales". In Mangenot, F. & Dejean, C. (dir.). Les échanges en ligne dans l'apprentissage et la formation - Le français dans le monde - Recherches et applications, n° 40. pp. 111-122.
Tomé, M. (2007) “Recherches et expériences dans les blogs du Campus Virtuel FLE, Çédille. Revista de estudios franceses, nº 3 (2007), pp. 265-268.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice – Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
Keywords: Blog, computer-mediated communication, online interaction

Main topic: Pedagogical change in technology integration

Biodata: Annick Rivens Mompean is Assistant Professor at Lille 3 University (France) and member of the research team STL (Savoirs Textes Langage -UMR 8163 CNRS). Her research interests include computer assisted language learning and CMC (Computer Mediated Communication).
Type of presentation Paper presentation

Paper category Reflective Practice

Target educational sector Higher education

Language of delivery English

EU-funded project No

Schedule:	2009-09-11 (17:30 - 18:15) Parallel Session 4 (Room A-19)
Title:	Authentic interactions on a blog used for the teaching of EFL
Authors:	Annick Rivens Mompean
Abstract:	The use of a blog as a pedagogical aid for the learning of foreign languages is gaining support among teachers’ communities (Soubrié, 2006; Tomé, 2007) as it can help students develop online interactions and authentic productions. The current study is analysing the use of such a multimedia setting in a group of Master students in France, studying English as a Foreign Language, who had to hold a blog in groups of three or four, dealing with a specific topic of their interest. The introduction of such a tool was meant to motivate learners to practice both oral and written expression with an added value : the authenticity of the posted messages (aimed not only at the teacher nor at the learners’ community but also made visible to the outside world). The aim of this presentation is to measure the pedagogical added value of such a blog for the development of several forms of expression: written expression, oral production or even creation of short videos as these technological tools are now easily accessible on blogs - that are easy to create and well-known to the younger learners’ community (it is estimated that more than half of teenagers hold a blog ). The aims are in agreement with the principles of the common European Framework of References for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001), which establishes specific goals for language learners with the implementation of ICT: task-based learning , authentic interactions or collaborative learning (Wenger, 1998). In order to determine the potential added value and the limitations of a blog for the purpose of language learning, we will focus on three main research questions: - What are the characteristics of the publications on the blog? What kind of documents do the learners publish, how do they organise their publication of articles online ? The answers to these questions will help us build a typology of the publications and interactions taking place: type of support and type of interactions - among learners or with the outside world (Kerbrat-Orecchioni, 2005; Herring et al., 2004). - What are the motivating factors of such a kind of publication online? Questionnaires and analysis of the reflexive journals held throughout the learning session will be analysed to measure the effect of the blog on motivation. - What are the necessary pedagogical interventions to turn the blog into an efficient object of learning : we must keep in mind that not only is the blog an open publication space, but also a learning space. What are the rules of animation and feedback required from the teacher to favour an efficient language learning? References: Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework of References for Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Herring, S., Scheidt, L. A., Bonus, S. & Wright, E. (2004). "Bridging the gap: a genre analysis of weblogs". Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'04). Los Alamitos : IEEE Computer Society Press. http://www2.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/HICSS.2004.1265271 Kerbrat-Orecchioni, C. (2005). Le discours en interaction. Paris : Armand Colin. Soubrié, T. (2006). "Utilisation d'un blog en formation initiale d'enseignants de FLE : pratiques réflexives et délibérations collégiales". In Mangenot, F. & Dejean, C. (dir.). Les échanges en ligne dans l'apprentissage et la formation - Le français dans le monde - Recherches et applications, n° 40. pp. 111-122. Tomé, M. (2007) “Recherches et expériences dans les blogs du Campus Virtuel FLE, Çédille. Revista de estudios franceses, nº 3 (2007), pp. 265-268. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice – Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
Keywords:	Blog, computer-mediated communication, online interaction
Main topic:	Pedagogical change in technology integration
Biodata:	Annick Rivens Mompean is Assistant Professor at Lille 3 University (France) and member of the research team STL (Savoirs Textes Langage -UMR 8163 CNRS). Her research interests include computer assisted language learning and CMC (Computer Mediated Communication).
Type of presentation	Paper presentation
Paper category	Reflective Practice
Target educational sector	Higher education
Language of delivery	English
EU-funded project	No