English Language Learners and Blogging

Blogging for English Language Learners. Rusual Alrubail, March 16, 2015 

Illustration Credit: Rebeca Zuñiga / @Rebezuniga

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As the author of this article Rusul Alrubail explains, “ Student blogging provides opportunities for sharing, reflection, and ownership. With ELLs, blogs can provide deeper engagement and a public forum to demonstrate their developing skills.”

The details the author shared makes perfect sense, but for me, as a newbie in this subject matter, I needed more explanation.  Reading the article further gave me just the information I was searching for in order to understand the how and why of using a blog for ESL students.  This article gave me a great introduction to blogging in general and how to use it with ESL students and in the classroom.

As we know for society today, blogging can be powerful both personally and professionally,  It’s a form of communication, learning, and reflection that can help spread “words and ideas to a wider audience.”  Rusul explains that’s why blogging can be so beneficial to ESL students.

The benefits of blogging are discussed and I learned that it’s important for the teacher to discuss these benefits with the students.  Rusul explains that blogging:

• Provides an opportunity for reflection by students and their teacher
• Opens up student writing to a wider audience
• Provides an opportunity to practice writing and communication skills
• Builds a learning support community
• Empowers student's voice
• Provides a platform for peer feedback
• Motivates and engages students in higher-level communicative learning