Joining the 'literacy club': when reading meets

ELT Journal Advance Access published June 27, 2015

Joining the ‘literacy club’: when reading meets blogging Sy-Ying Lee

Introduction

The power of reading has been confirmed in different language situations (L1, EFL, and ESL), with different populations (adults, young adults, and children), at various educational levels (primary schools to university students), and in different settings (in school programmes or free voluntary reading for pleasure) (Krashen 2004). Its effects include the development of vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, listening, and fluency (Hedrick and Cunningham 2002; Lee 2007; Beglar, Hunt, and Kite 2012; Pratheeba and Krashen 2013). While many of these studies examined the effects of extensive reading on language learning, few investigated what processes EFL readers are engaged in and what strategies they develop to help them comprehend and express themselves better. In other words, these studies, mainly quantitative in nature, tended to ask if extensive reading results in language acquisition, instead of how it makes it happen. This question can be investigated by looking into the minds of learners through an examination of their own words. Blog posts published by language learners can serve as an important source of data for researchers, giving them the means to perform systematic analyses of the language skills, attitudes, and learning motivation of learners. Blogs, moreover, might also serve as a resource for teachers, allowing them a unique window on the thoughts and learning processes of their students. Although blog sites were originally intended to function as social networks for personal use, blogging has been widely applied as a means ELT Journal; doi:10.1093/elt/ccv030

© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.

Page 1 of 10

Downloaded from http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on June 28, 2015

This article reports on a one-year EFL extensive reading programme involving blogging, and documents its effects on learners’ literacy growth evaluated by their writing fluency (for example the number of words) and depth of reading (for example ideas reflected in the posts). While a great deal of research suggests that reading is the underlying cause of literacy growth, it is important to consider the role of blogging, a crucial mediation for reading in this programme. Results reporting the contribution and effect of blogging showed that readers wrote more in the second semester than the first and expressed more welldeveloped ideas as the extensive reading programme progressed. Most important of all, they had the chance to enjoy reading and writing for ‘real’ purposes, have their own voices heard, and gain support in this ‘literacy club’. Finally, most considered blogging useful in helping them read and write better.

of instruction in education, social science, cultural studies, and language and literacy learning (Campbell 2003; Lee 2011; Lin, Li, Hung, and Huang 2014). The use of blogging in teaching is consistent with sociocultural approaches to language acquisition, in that learners can act cooperatively and constructively with other members of the same community (Atkinson 2011; Lee 2014). This framework is also in accordance with the notion of ‘joining the literacy club’, proposed by Smith (1988). Smith argues that literacy development occurs through social interactions in a real-life community whereby members of that community demonstrate natural language use for authentic purposes and interests. With that in mind, a blog was established in this research to function as part of an experimental literacy club. EFL readers were invited to share their reading reflections and invite feedback and support through this platform.

1 How does extensive reading followed by sharing ideas on a blog affect

learners’ reading quality and writing fluency? 2 How does blogging, as a scaffold for learning and mediation for

reading, support an extensive reading programme for a group of EFL college students?

Method Participants

Twenty-five freshman students majoring in English were participating in an extensive reading programme as a mandatory class during the research period. All participants said that they had never participated in a reading class in which students read self-selected materials at their own pace and shared reflections in an open forum. Prior to this class, the students took English classes in which they read only to prepare for exams or quizzes (including Taiwan’s university entrance examination) or when English texts were assigned readings for class. These students, having studied English for nine years in school and newly graduated from senior high school, were all considered to be at the CEFR B1 (intermediate) level of English proficiency. This was assured through their enrolment in the same department of the same university as a result of their performance on the English portion of the nationwide university entrance examination.

Materials and tasks

More than 2,000 novels were available to the students through a reading lab (realized as a physical library space). They were collected based on bookstore sales information and online reviews. Teen literature and books adapted into movies were especially welcome. Students were allowed to check out these books freely and make their own reading selections.

Page 2 of 10

Sy-Ying Lee


Therefore, the first purpose of the current study1 was to observe, via the blog, a group of Taiwanese EFL college students as they interacted with self-selected reading materials. It was hoped that an exploration of their resulting blog posts might provide insights regarding the positive results shown in previous extensive reading research. Second, the investigation of blogging was based on the hypothesis that blogging after reading might make extensive reading more effective, giving students a chance to motivate one another to keep reading, engaging students in more interaction, and aiding comprehension. Two research questions were thus formed:

According to the lab records, students borrowed between five to ten books per semester. These books ranged from between about 250 pages (Holes by Louis Sachar, for example, is 272 pages) to more than 700 pages (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling, is 720 pages). An orientation was given on the first day of the reading programme, delineating the strategies that might be applied to help them read more effectively and enjoyably. For instance, they did not have to finish a book if they found it difficult or uninteresting. They were encouraged to read a book series or follow works from the same authors (termed ‘narrow reading’ by Krashen 2004), because the genre, style, and language would likely be used recurrently from book to book in a series or in works by the same author. Furthermore, they were encouraged to consult a dictionary only if it did not affect their reading flow.

Data collection and analysis

The primary sources of data were the blog posts produced by students, as it was hypothesized that these would reveal the reading processes, experiences, and reflections of the readers. First, content analysis using coding procedures was applied to extract themes and subcategories of interest for discussion (Strauss and Corbin 1998). After substantial discussion during the individual coding process, the research team (one PhD and one Masters-level assistant) reached an inter-rater reliability rate of 89 per cent. Ideas that were not agreed upon then were determined to be underdeveloped. Second, in order to obtain information regarding the language improvement students made throughout the programme, two sources of numerical data were collected: (1) the number of words that readers posted and (2) the number of idea units found in blog posts. The comparison of the total number of words that readers wrote in their posts for each semester was purported to measure whether they wrote more or less as the year progressed. It may be viewed as a crude indicator of fluency, for it may indicate the richness of the ideas expressed in the posts. Besides fluency, one way to help examine the essence or quality of the blog content

Joining the literacy club through blogging

Page 3 of 10


The tasks required of readers in this programme were simple: students read and posted their reading reflections on the blog, exchanged ideas and thoughts online about the books read, and helped each other understand the content better when anyone requested assistance. All blog posts were written in English, with ten logs required for the first semester and eight for the second. The purpose of reducing the number of logs required was to provide more time to read, and so not to suppress interest in reading by requiring too much output. The blog posts were rated mainly on the content shared and language use, and were part of the final grades for the course. During the regular class meeting each week, short text reading, class or group discussions, and student presentations were routinely done as in conventional English classes at the tertiary level. The short texts were often excerpts from books, generally not those selected by the students. Reading them in class served as an ‘advertisement’ for the students to read a greater variety of genres. Furthermore, the discussions and presentations could also be self-selected and were often a synthesis by students after reading several different materials.

was to estimate how many complete ideas were developed through the reading process. The number of idea units was arrived at following the same procedure as previously outlined, and we examined whether the number of idea units changed during the programme. First, we selected posts from three high scorers and three low scorers, based on their final grades. Two posts were selected from each reader at four different stages in the semesters, for example two posts were taken from the first two weeks of the first semester, two were taken from the end of the first semester, and another four posts were taken from the second semester. Therefore, these four stages were meant to present a reader’s developmental route in the oneyear programme.

Results and discussion Depth of reading

Interactions with texts The 25 students posted 396 posts on the blog during the academic year, totalling 140,383 words. Posts received an average of 0.41 feedback comments from peers. As part of the first coding process, the research team read all of the posts. The team concluded that the posts fell into three main themes: reflections on stories, reflections on the reading process, and reflections on language improvement. Then a more focused coding process was conducted to extract subcategories under each theme. These subcategories were then supported with statements from the posts. Students’ reflections on the stories were sometimes very simple. Some, however, demonstrated in-depth retrospection (Table 1), for example those that boldly formed a hypothesis when reading, challenged the author’s ideas, made connections between the plot and the real world, or gained insight into the human condition. The blog posts further revealed how students witnessed their own reading process and the changes that occurred after they began reading extensively, such as skipping some unknown words to maintain the reading flow, noticing details that were usually ignored, and making connections between texts. The reading strategies they discovered through their own reading experience showed that strategies can be developed through the reading experience itself, as long as readers are allowed the chance to exercise independent reading. The language improvement the learners perceived in this study may be the answer to the question of how extensive reading results in language acquisition and literacy development, which was achieved mainly through interactions with the texts and sharpened by learners’ growing critical thinking abilities that helped form ideas and insights from reading.

Page 4 of 10

Sy-Ying Lee


Third, we conducted an end-of-programme interview with each of the 25 students pertaining to the usefulness of blogging after reading. The interviews were guided by a list of questions, including their feelings towards the programme requirements, the give and take of feedback, and the possible change in their attitude towards blogging during the different stages of the programme.

statements Themes/subcategories

Sample statements

Reflections on stories Subcategories: Forming own hypothesis, challenging the author, connecting to reality, and questioning.

‘… I wasn’t sure why the fruits in the painting were eaten up. I somehow believe that they referred to the broken rules set by the adults. My friends told me they mean nothing, but I strongly believe they do!’ (S15 read Coraline, and formed his own hypothesis though it conflicted with the thoughts of his peers.) ‘… I can’t agree with what Dumbledore said. Without desires we are just like automatons … But only after realizing what we crave, we begin to pursue a goal step by step, or the desire is merely the nihility shown in the mirror’. (S1 read Harry Potter and disagreed with Dumbledore.)

Reflections on the reading process Subcategories: Developing and discovering reading strategies.

‘Knowing that my reading speed might be slowed down by the anxiety to know each and every word, I began to skip some unknown words to keep the smoothness of my reading …’ (S7 developed this strategy through reading.) ‘The reading programme does work for me! The puzzle (given by Professor Snape) makes me think of my reading habits. I used to browse through the books I read without noticing the details and thinking deeply, and that’s why I often forget the content fast. Now I find reading much more fun when I read the details carefully, details requiring logic to understand …’ (S13 read Harry Potter and gained an understanding of a problem she used to have while reading English.) ‘The theme “keen observation” is mentioned not only in Sherlock Holmes, but also in Helen Keller’s Three Days to See. HK said it’s like proposing a theory, cause she couldn’t see, while SH practiced it in case solving’. (S22 read Sherlock Holmes and thought of an article by Helen Keller that was discussed in class, a demonstration of the process of intertextuality in her reading experience.)

Reflections on language improvement Subcategories: Writing for self-expression, reading speed, vocabulary, and thinking.

‘Not only do I read faster, but also blogging helps me write with better coherence and logic, because I have to be more careful knowing it will be read by friends and the teacher.’ (S11) ‘… it was delightful when I found I could write down so many of my thoughts, though there were mistakes and typos, and it is still difficult to write with perfect grammar …’ (S8) ‘Blogging after reading encourages me to use the words I read in the novel, for they are the most relevant. These are words I know but I never think of using them. This is also helpful with my writing …’ (S14)

1 Themes with example subcategories and sample ta b l e


Page 5 of 10


‘… especially in our modern society, when everyone is endeavoring to build their own characters by using blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, posting photos of themselves … Isn’t it kind of weird now that people actually [become] acquainted with others’ fake self first … and in the meantime we all think it is okay?’ (S10 read Paper Town and reflected upon a widely observed phenomenon in our own society.)

1 The number of idea units of blog posts of high and low scorers figure

What was considered an idea unit worth sharing? Summary-based points were not counted as idea units, for example ‘The story talks about a relationship between a human being and a vampire’. Rather, idea units were comprised of ideas that extended from the story, and were discussed, related to, commented on, or disagreed with, for example ‘Though titled like a paranormal story, this book is actually talking about love, the strongest feeling of human beings, and about how love can change a person’. Other examples can be found in Table 1 (see ‘Reflections on stories’). Individual readers performed differently throughout the one-year programme. Results indicate that extensive reading plus blogging most noticeably benefited high scorers. High scorers tended to be better readers who read up to ten books per semester, while the lower scorers could read only five books, perhaps not finishing all of them. However, even students with lower scores at the end of the programme seemed to demonstrate some progression.

Writing fluency

There were a required number of posts per semester, but the length of the posts was self-determined. Although word count is not the main determinant of post quality, it does give a crude approximation of students’ ease of expression and richness of contents. There were three students who wrote more than 4,000 words in the first semester, nearly as much as a one-semester requirement for an EFL sophomore-year writing course. Four more students wrote over 4,000 words in the second semester. The results

Page 6 of 10

Sy-Ying Lee


Changes in the number of idea units This analysis was used to determine if reading and blogging resulted in improved depth and quality of reading over the period of the programme. As previously stated, we selected eight blog posts that were published by three high scorers (S8, S20, and S3) and three low scorers (S5, S17, and S10); two posts were selected to represent each of the four developmental stages in one academic year (see ‘Data collection and analysis’ above). Figure 1 illustrates the difference in the number of idea units of high and low scorers.

Average total words for the required posts Average number of words in each post Biggest improvement Average number of words in each post Largest regression Average number of words in each post 2 Improvement in writing fluency as measured by word count

First semester (ten required posts)

Second semester (eight required posts)

Improvement

3,295.80 339.57 2,185 2,185/10 = 218.5 4,224 4,224/10 = 422.4

3,723.35 470.23 5,792 5,792/8 = 724 3,793 3,793/8 = 474.13

427.55 130.67 3,607 505.5 –43.1 51.73

ta b l e

confirmed the readers’ self-perceived improvement in fluency. As shown in Table 2, they wrote more words in the second semester than they did in the first, even though they were required to write fewer logs, 3,290.80 versus 3,723.35 words. Each post increased an average of 131 words.

I have learned that reading extensively has helped me read much faster and comprehend better when I read. Now I can count on extensive reading to help me keep improving my English without attending formal classes while majoring in law. However, in this study, this achievement has to be explained by also considering the effect of blogging.

The role of blogging

According to Maloney and Campbell-Evans (2002), blogging can be regarded as another form of interactive journal writing that stimulates reflective learning and critical thinking, as is demonstrated in the student quotes above. The blogging in this programme enabled learners to express their thoughts after reading, increasing their chances of actually using the language for a real purpose. In the end-of-programme interviews, readers said that knowing their writing would be read by the professor and their peers made them ‘want to read more and write better’ (S2); getting even a small amount of feedback rendered ‘a sense of achievement’ (S25); and the blog ‘provides a reading atmosphere’ (S23), which encouraged them to continue reading. In other words, the social effect of blogging could help build a ‘reading culture’ (S6) as long as it is accessible to learners. Receiving feedback helped them ‘ponder more thoroughly about the plots, the characters, and the designated meanings’ (S5). These reflections illustrated the role of blogging as a learning scaffold and ‘dialogic mediation’ for readers to move from a receptive aspect of reading to the productive end (O’Connor and Michaels 2007). One student (S13) said that she would not have become interested in reading in English had it not been for the need to share ideas with peers using the blog.


Page 7 of 10


The biggest increase was evidenced by a female student, from 2,185 words in the first semester to 5,792 words in the second, with each post increasing by approximately 500 words. Only one student slightly regressed in the total number of words, 4,224 versus 3,793; but the average number of words per post still increased in the second semester. Now a law school student, she made the following comment regarding extensive reading:

Feedback, an important blog feature, created different types of mentality among the readers. Some said that they were eager for others to read their posts, and were eager to receive feedback; however, others felt somewhat anxious about their posts being read, and said that they rarely gave feedback to others. This may explain the low average number (0.41) of comments per blog post. Also, this ‘lost opportunity’ of having dialogue between readers might be the result of the fact that all readers were reading different books for the majority of the time. However, the potential offered by this platform for members of the literacy club to gain an audience and support one another did exist. The following thread of conversation (Extract 1), which occurred after reading an essay, The Different Ways of Being Smart (from a book by Sarah Gilbert), may happen rarely, but once it happened, it showed the power of mutual encouragement and increasing rapport among readers: Extract 1

S2: I like the last sentence you wrote. I hope there is a ‘like’ bottom [sic] here. S18: Your comment is my like bottom. Thank you. S24: Wow! Your comments are so inspiring! I would like to hit that ‘like’ button too! Actually, I think you are the smartest person in our class. You are the real magician who always give us surprise in your presentations. You once said that you need a Muse. In fact, you are the Muse of yourself. I think it is your humbleness making you so unique and outstanding. Just like Odysseus, we will all try to define who we are and where we stand. The achievement of the blog was not the ratio of being responded to, but the rich emotional and social support that flooded in through words.

Implications and conclusion

In most studies, standardized tests are used to measure language acquisition, and score comparisons are the only means used to show differences between methods. These studies do not utilize qualitative exploration to delve into the nature of student improvement or other aspects of the learner’s literacy journey, such as the changes of reading quality and writing fluency as a programme proceeds. In this study, however, a content analysis of student blog posts revealed how these changes occur, highlighting perceived improvements developed through self-selected reading. Findings revealed that interaction between readers and with texts help students exercise their critical thinking and reflecting skills, which was evident on the literacy blog. The role of blogging can be both academic and social, helping learners to learn as part of a community, regardless of the frequency of dialogue

Page 8 of 10

Sy-Ying Lee


S18: I don’t think I am smart … Being smart feels like being a rocket scientist to me. Maybe being smart in different ways is just an excuse, for most can never be like a rocket scientist. I would like to be book smart, organizing things in my life. I would like to be art smart, being a talented film composer in the future. I would like to be street smart and people smart, charming and adaptable. None of these matters, though. The most important thing is to accept yourself.

on the blog. Ducate and Lomicka (2008) observed that blogs enhance creativity and literacy ownership among learners, because they allow students to experiment with new language and express themselves in a relaxed environment. Although some students still felt that blogging put too much pressure on them, and worried whether their writing was good enough, others felt that it was this ‘stimulation’ that made them ‘write more carefully’ (S18) and that they became more fluent with every post they wrote. This idea corresponds well with the results, which reflected a growing number of words and idea units in the posts. Conceivably, the integration of reading and blogging in a foreign language curriculum was confirmed to be practical, feasible, and effective. Figure 2 presents a model illustrating the key elements of this programme.

As is the case with all research, there are gaps that this study did not fill. First and as previously mentioned, number of words is a crude measure of writing fluency, and is not valid as a measure of the quality of ideas. Additionally, judging idea units can be subjective. It would be helpful to study the relationship between growth in words and idea units. Second, the use of blogging needs to be studied more deeply. Blogging may indeed maximize the effect of reading and writing but it may also increase anxiety in some students, especially those who are concerned about their weaknesses being exposed to others. Nevertheless, this study has presented evidence that cannot be obtained using more quantitative methods, and the students’ positive reactions lend support to the idea that

2 A model of extensive reading supported by blogging figure


Page 9 of 10


This model shows that the primary ingredient for the success of this programme is involving students in as much extensive reading as possible. Blogging per se does not contribute directly to language acquisition, but has the potential of being a powerful catalyst that makes more reading happen. Therefore, blogging, according to the participants in this study, helps build a literacy club, and provides scaffolding for better comprehension and greater enjoyment of reading and writing. Meanwhile, from a social perspective, as the interviews revealed, it successfully creates the opportunity for readers to share their reading using English, which simultaneously helps form a reading culture among readers. It is hoped that such a model can be replicated in many more classrooms.

this kind of institutional literacy club can be both effective and enjoyable for foreign language acquisition. Final version received February 2015 Note 1 This research was funded by The Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under Contract Nos. 99-2511-S-009-010-MY3 and 102-2511-S-009-005-MY3.

Page 10 of 10

Sy-Ying Lee

The author Sy-Ying Lee is currently a Professor at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Department of Applied Foreign Languages. Her research interests include issues related to second language and literacy acquisition, extensive reading, reader-text interaction, and blogging. Email: [email protected]


References Atkinson, D. 2011. ‘A sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition’ in D. Atkinson (ed.). Alternative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge. Beglar, D., A. Hunt, and Y. Kite. 2012. ‘The effect of pleasure reading on Japanese university EFL learners’ reading rates’. Language Learning 62/3: 665–703. Campbell, A. P. 2003. ‘Weblogs for use with ESL classes’. The Internet TESL Journal 9/2. Available at http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html (accessed on 10 May 2014). Ducate, L. and L. Lomicka. 2008. ‘Adventures in the blogosphere: from blog readers to blog writers’. Computer Assisted Language Learning 21/1: 9–28. Hedrick, W. B. and J. W. Cunningham. 2002. ‘Investigating the effect of wide reading on listening comprehension of written language’. Reading Psychology 23/2: 107–26. Krashen, S. 2004. The Power of Reading (second edition). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Lee, L. 2011. ‘Blogging: promoting learner autonomy and intercultural competence through study abroad’. Language Learning & Technology 15/3: 87–109. Available at http://llt.msu.edu/issues/october2011/ lee.pdf (accessed on 15 January 2014).

Lee, S. Y. 2007. ‘Revelations from three consecutive studies on extensive reading’. RELC Journal 38/2: 150–70. Lee, S. Y. 2014. ‘Maximizing the effects of extensive reading through blogging’. English Teaching and Learning 38/2: 1–27. Lin, M. H., J. J. Li, P. Y. Hung, and H. W. Huang. 2014. ‘Blogging a journal: changing students’ writing skills and perceptions’. ELT Journal 68/4: 422–31. Maloney, C. and G. Campbell-Evans. 2002. ‘Using interactive journal writing as a strategy for professional growth’. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education 30/1: 39–50. O’Connor, C. and S. Michaels. 2007. ‘When is dialogue “dialogic”?’ Human Development 50/5: 275–85. Pratheeba, S. and S. Krashen. 2013. ‘Self-reported reading as a predictor of vocabulary knowledge’. Perceptual & Motor Skills: Learning & Memory 117/2: 442–8. Smith, F. 1988. Joining the Literacy Club. Victoria, BC: Abel Press. Strauss, A. and J. Corbin. 1998. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.