Using Reflective Journal Blogging to Enhance English Writing Skill
Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, Thailand
ABSTRACT
There is an abundance of useful technology to enhance students’ ability to practice their English skills, both inside and outside classroom. English teachers have to study these technologies in order to choose the correct technology that will fit the abilities of the students in the different classrooms. In this study, the researcher, as an English teacher chose Blogger.com as a platform for students to use for practicing their writing skill. Therefore, this study focuses on the effects of using a reflective journal in a blog format to enhance a group of university students’ writing skill. The subjects in this study were fourth year – English major students at Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, Thailand. The students were assigned to write a reflective journal in association with their English for Cultural Communication class. The project encompassed the entire sixteen week semester. The class was about learning Thai culture in English and learning how to educate foreigners and tourists about Thai culture by using proper English. The results of the research are in qualitative data shown in three categories; language used, critical thinking process and knowledge of their own culture. The results show the weak points of students’ language used for which teachers have to find solutions for them so they can improve writing skill. The results also show that students do not have enough skill for critical thinking to write a reflective journal. The last result shows that students still use inappropriate English to express and explain Thai culture to foreigners. The solutions are discussed in this study.
KEYWORDS
English writing skill, reflective journal, blogging, technology in English classroom, critical thinking