Teaching Reading and Writing Skills to Young Learners in English as a Foreign Language Using Blogs: a case Study

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Journal of Language and Cultural Education
, 2019, 7(2) 
ISSN 1339-4584 
1 
DOI:
10.2478/jolace-2019-0009 
 
Teaching Reading and Writing Skills to Young Learners
in English as a Foreign Language Using Blogs:
A Case Study 
 
Stella Spanou
1
 & Makrina-Nina Zafiri
2 
1 
Europaiki Poreia, Foreign Language Institute, Athens, Greece 
2 
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
 
[e-mail] & [e-mail]
 
Abstract 
This study focused on the development of reading and writing skills to a group of B1 
level learners of English in a private language institute in Athens, Greece with the aid of 
blogs (a web tool), since Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) enhances foreign 
language learning. To this end, two groups of young learners were formed; the control 
group which was taught through the traditional coursebook and the experimental group 
which was taught through a differentiated approach to language teaching. The 
differentiated approach which was applied involved eight teaching sessions in a private 
language institute. Pre-tests and post-tests were administered to both groups in order to 
evaluate the use of CALL in the improvement of literacy skills. Pre- and post- semi-
structured interviews were also conducted with the students of the experimental group to 
evaluate their attitudes and feelings before and after the instruction. The aim of using blogs, 
as a web tool, was to enhance collaborative learning and social interaction. This research 
attempted to prove that blogs create a social interaction between students, and between the 
students and the teacher. For the purposes of this research, students were involved in 
process writing by making drafts and writing their posts and in active reading when they 
read other posts and texts from other web sites.