Using a Blog to Guide Beginner Students to Use Adjectives Appropriately When Writing Descriptions in English

 

This article reports the findings obtained from the implementation of a blog used in and outside the classroom with the main purpose of enhancing students’ understanding and performance regarding the use of adjectives in physical descriptions.

Bransford, Brown, & Cocking (2000) state that Computer-based technologies offer easy access to knowledge and in that way, they promote learning. This idea is reflected through the use of blogs, which have increasingly become a popular and ideal tool to treat diverse issues in ELT with valuable success. In this case, the blog was aimed to tackle a common grammatical transfer mistake as it is the position of adjectives in the sentences.

As the author mentioned “Technology gives the language learner the opportunity to have text, audio, images and video in one place and in the same activity” (p.197). That is why using technological tools helps to increase students’ engagement and attention with the lessons and the language. Thus, performance is positively affected as the students feel more enthusiastic towards the lessons and the tasks proposed by the teacher.

 

When reading the article, I found a little surprising the fact that throughout the three stages of the intervention the students became more and more independent when working on the activities assigned in the blog regardless their young age.

Something to remark from this article and that every teacher should know, is that it shows the necessity to instruct ourselves and our students before implementing any innovation in the classroom. It is important to devote some time to explain the project, how it is used and to clarify doubts the students may have.

Although the use of the blog provided great results in this study, it can also have some limitations when replicated in different environments. We need to take into account that the school had the electronic resources that facilitated the development and success of this innovation. Nevertheless, not all schools and students have the same advantages regarding facilities and materials. So, it becomes crucial to determine beforehand the resources we have at our reach and the context in which the project would take place.

 

 

Lizarazo, O. PROFILE Vol. 14, No. 1, April 2012. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 187-209

Amado, H. PROFILE Vol. 12, No. 2, October 2010. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 153-164

Screenwriting: A Strategy for the Improvement of Writing

Instructional Practices

 

This article reported the findings of a research study that described the implementation of a writing strategy called screenwriting, which aimed to improve the participants’ creative writing skills.

Teachers commonly use activities such as role plays to foster speaking in the classroom, and screenwriting is often part of the process, although not explicitly. However, the writing process and its product are not as valued as the oral production. By reading this article, I could confirm that writing is an undervalued skill in most Colombian classrooms. As Amado (2010) indicated, some schools and English institutes assure a comprehensive education in the English field, which should cover the four skills –reading, writing, speaking and listening. However, the education these students receive shows an increasing emphasis in listening and speaking, in this way, diminishing the importance of skills such as writing.

An aspect to remark about the strategy proposed in this research is the good quality of the tasks and workshops chosen for the development of the strategy. The worksheets and assignments designed allowed the students to express themselves and enjoy writing while they improve their creative writing skills. They were also ideal for them to practice grammar and connecting ideas to generate a story in a very simple, pleasant and creative way.

I think it is important to debunk the belief that writing is a tedious activity for the students. Instead, it can serve as a means for their self-expression, creativity and communication. These type of tasks change students’ perspectives towards writing and learning.

Something I found very surprising in this article is the students’ response to the workshops. Although they were adults, they were engaged enough with the activity to go beyond what they were asked to provide for the tasks, which resulted in longer and more interesting stories than exceeded the teacher researcher’s expectations.

 

To conclude, Harper (2006) states that creative writing is an art, an action, and an activity as a mode of engagement with the world. Thus, as creative writing brings so many advantages and benefits for students, we, as teachers, should document more about this topic, so we can incorporate this practice into our lessons and make creative writing an important part in the students’ learning process.