Reading Prompt #1 Response

What has been your experience with blogs prior to this class? Are there any blogs you regularly visit? Do you have your own blog? Richardson describes the many potential uses of weblogs for classroom pedagogy and practice. What are some ways blogs could be used effectively with ELL students?

Levy described many different types and methods of evaluation of CALL software programs or websites. As an ESL teacher, describe at least one component you would want to see in an evaluation that would help you decided whether or not to use it.


I think, before beginning this class, I had a pretty familiar relationship with blogs in general. In addition to writing my own blog (off and on) and both my own sites and my Myspace page, I would also regularly follow the blogs of my close friends, especially those living in places far away from me. I was also a big fan of several video blogs, especially “The Show with Zefrank”. Check it out and learn how to make an Earth Sandwich! I would often become excited at the realization that such interesting and innovative content was being created not by large media conglomerates, but instead individuals or small groups (often with way better results).

I think the ways in which blogs and video blogs could be effectively used with ELL students are numerous. I am particularly interested in cultural exchange between ELLs and people in English-speaking countries, so blogs could serve as a tool for both the ELL to describe their everyday lives using their L2 (and achieve valuable writing practice while at the same time writing on issues important to the ELL), and a way for English speakers to have access to first-hand descriptions of life in foreign cultures. Blogs could also easily function as a tool for receiving direct feedback on L2 writing from either the ELL’s peers in class or from readers on the Internet as a whole.

As for my preference for evaluating ESL software, I would have to borrow from a piece of Chapelle’s evaluation method and say that aspects of the software’s “authenticity” would be my main focus. Especially since I plan to eventually teach primarily adults and higher-education students, determining the link between a CALL program’s aims/goals and the particular motivations of my students would be critical. Older ELLs (in my opinion) often have quite specific motivations for studying English, and if classroom software did not help them reach their goals for outside of the classroom, I would find it not worth the class time. Therefore I would review both the software and survey my students with this aspect in mind before deciding on any particular CALL software to use.