BALL (Blogs Assisted Language Learning): Are Malaysian Secondary School Students Prepared to Use Blogs in ESL Learning?

Abstract

This study aimed to find out second language learners' perceptions on the use of blogs in their learning process. Participants were 20 secondary school students from a suburban school in Kelantan, Malaysia. The students read articles, discussed in their respective groups and posted their comments in their group blogs in two kinds of learning environment; being supervised face-to-face and virtually.  A survey and also oral interview were administered to elicit participants' perceptions on the use of blogs. The results showed that although the incorporation of blogs in ESL learning were perceived positively among the learners, teachers need to be aware of several factors affect the effectiveness of using this technology in their teaching such as students’ gender, personality and learning preferences.  This paper also provides some pedagogical implications in the use of blogs for ESL learning.