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Using a Blog to Facilitate Extensive Reading: An Exploratory Study

Magdalene Meow Khee Chew
Catherine Cheng Kiat Lee

	
  

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Abstract
Research shows that extensive reading (ER) has many benefits for language
acquisition. The challenge today is making ER appealing to the digital generation. Fora possible solution, it is pertinent to look to the social media embraced by today’s
youths. This study was conducted to explore the use of the blog as a space for sharing
peer-selected reading material to enhance reading motivation among English
Language learners. The research questions that guided this study are whether the blog
is a viable tool to facilitate ER, and how students perceive the use of this Web 2.0 toolfor ER. The sample comprised two groups of students in a private university in
Malaysia: 12 undergraduate students in a remedial language class and 18 students
enrolled in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course. A blog was set up for eachgroup of participants to post reading materials of their choice for blog members toread over a period of 8 weeks. A questionnaire was administered at the end of thestudy together with focus group interviews. The qualitative approach enabled insights
into process and attitudes. The results showed that the students were positive about
the use of the blog for reading beyond the classroom but required tangible rewards
and complementary activities to reinforce their motivation to participate. Most
significantly, the results of this study indicate that the blog is a viable tool for
facilitating ER.
Keywords: Blog, Extensive Reading (ER), Web 2.0

	
  

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Introduction
Few language teachers today would argue about the benefits that Extensive Reading(ER) can have for the language learner. Research over the past decade underscores theusefulness and effectiveness of this reading strategy which is also referred to as‘pleasure reading’ (Mikulecky, 1990 cited in Day and Bamford, 1997), and which
Krashen describes as ‘self-selected voluntary reading’ and ‘recreational reading’(2006, p.2-3).

Extensive reading has been found to improve reading skills,

vocabulary, spelling and writing (Krashen, 1993). In addition, ER strengthens thestudent’s motivation to read more (Hayashi, 1999).

With such an impressive ‘resume’, ER should be employed in every English
Language programme. Yet, the reality is that it is not. The reluctance of teachers to
implement an ER programme in their classrooms has been attributed to a host ofdeterrent factors amongst which are cost, time constraints, and the work required to
set up such a programme (Day & Bamford, 1998:46). A decade later, problems still
exist. Macalister’s (2010) study on the attitudes of teachers of University preparation
courses in New Zealand towards ER revealed that time constraints within teaching
programmes and uncertainty about university students’ view of the relevance of areading programme discouraged them from implementing ER in their institution.
Another study on Taiwanese language educators highlighted logistical issues
concerning the management of the process of ER (Sun, 2003). The online reading
programme designed by Yu-Chih Sun (2003) to overcome the perceived problems of
implementing ER among EFL learners is based on a structured system that fulfills therequirements for ER. However, it was reported that the rigid system had problems
such as workload issues, inflexibility and students’ aversion for writing reflection.

	
  

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We posit that the implementation and effectiveness of an ER programme is not only
hampered by logistical issues but also by the learners’ attitudes. It is an establishedfact that the young people sitting in the classrooms today have grown up withtechnology and are called by many names including digital natives (Prensky, 2001),
Millennial students (Elam, Straatton & Gibson, 2007 in Lomicka & Lord, 2009) andthe Net Generation (Tapscott, 1998, 2009). This group is profiled by Prensky (2001)
as needing information fast, preferring random access and thriving when networked.
These learners’ preference for an experiential, interactive and image-rich environment(Tapscott, 1998) also indicates a gap between their text consumption habit outside theclassroom and the traditional textual experiences in the classroom. Educators have to
respond appropriately to the fact that the typical teenager today encounters texts thatbear little resemblance to the book on a daily basis (Bigum & Lankshear, 1997,
Healy, 2000, in Green & Campbell, 2003). To increase the potential of success of the
ER programme, it is only logical to look to digital technology and media thisgeneration is comfortable with for an alternative platform to the traditional approach.
This study examined the use of the blog to facilitate an ER programme and is basedon the rationale that the characteristics of this Web 2.0 tool can support the principlesof this reading programme while avoiding some of the inhibitive problems.

Characteristics of the Weblog
The Weblog or blog is a second-generation asynchronous Internet tool that is defined
as an online hypertext journal that others read and react to (Blake, 2008). Its primary
purpose is to provide a space for the blogger to share writings with the online
community who then respond in writing. The interface is easy to negotiate and allows
pictures as well as audio and video clips to be included. The postings are displayed in

	
  

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Volume 1 - Issue 1 - Spring 2013chronological order and automatically archived so that a visitor can search for andread earlier entries (Sharma & Barrett, 2007).

Its versatility is underscored by

Bhattacharya and Chauhan (2010) who describe this popular Internet communication
tool as a ‘dynamic place that is connected by time and topic and a frequently posted
list of interesting websites, or a personal diary of events and thoughts, or a
combination’. Their research on learner autonomy through blogging yielded positive
results.

The blog is not a new technological platform but Lomicka and Lord (2009) rightly
point out that Web 2.0 “is really an attitude and not a technology” and is about
existing technologies being harnessed to do more and different things, a notion that
supports this exploration of the blog for enhancing reading rather than writing which
would be closer to its original purpose. There are sufficient reasons to support the ideaof using the blog as a repository for authentic target-language resources easilysourced from the Internet. Setting up a blog for a class of students to share readingmaterials requires minimal time and cost. The blog can be accessed anywhere using
any device that allows connection to the Internet such as laptops, tablet computers andmobile phones. The collaboration made possible through an easy to access platform
such as a social networking tool like the weblog could create a supportive social
climate that helps motivate the learner to participate in ER.

The blog and the key elements of ER
Day and Bamford (1998, 2002) offer 10 principles for ER which deals with thecharacteristics of ER and the conditions and methodology needed for its success. How
the blog is able to support each of these principles is explained below:

	
  

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1. The reading material must be easy
The reading material would be selected by the students for the students. It is logical toassume that the chosen reading materials would be filtered and deemed accessible tothe target audience. This implies that the materials posted in the blog would becomprehensible to the members.

2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available.
The blog members would have the Internet as a resource for reading material. There isno question about the Internet being a rich resource of a vast variety of readingmaterial. According to a Web server survey conducted by Internet Services company
Netcraft in August 2011, there are more than 460 million websites in existence. Not
only do these sites supply text on every topic imaginable but they also provide a wide
variety of text types including comics, jokes and video clips which are the staple fareof the visual-hungry digital natives (Prensky, 2001).

3. Learners choose what they want to read.
The blog would serve as a repository of reading materials deemed interesting andsuitable for reading by the learners themselves. The process requires participants tofirst choose from what they enjoyed reading to share on the blog, and then to selectfrom the shared materials what they want to read. Freedom of choice is exercised at
two points of the process. Not only would they choose what they want to read but
they would also recommend what they enjoy reading to their friends. Hence, thematerials are peer-selected and self-selected.

	
  

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4. Learners read as much as possible.
The task of sharing reading material on the blog would ensure that students read fortwo purposes. First, the students have to search for reading material to share. In otherwords, they have to read the material to determine its suitability for sharing. Next,
they are instructed to read what other members have posted which provides for more
reading. This time, it is a more ‘conscious’ reading exercise.

5. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information, and general
understanding.
The Internet allows for easy access to a wide variety of reading materials. With thefreedom of choice that the participants are given, they would naturally look for what
interests them and gives them pleasure.

6. Reading is its own reward.
The blog is for students to read and share what they read so that they can read evenmore. There are no structured activities or comprehension and language exercises tointerfere with the reading activity itself. It is believed that learners will derive bothpleasure and language benefits from reading the blog posts.

7. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower.
If the reading material is interesting and easy to understand, the reader will readfaster. Again, this is made possible by virtue of the resource being the Internet and the‘chooser’ being a peer who likely has similar interests and language ability.

	
  

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8. Reading is individual and silent.
Participating in this blogging activity requires the students to read outside theclassroom at their own pace and leisure. When to read and how much to read is leftentirely to the individual. Although the students are instructed to post at least once aweek and to read at least half of what is posted as a guide, they are under no duress as
there is no strict monitoring or accounting involved.

9. Teachers orient and guide their students
This study focused on the use of a Web 2.0 tool in ER and sought to examine its
efficacy in motivating students to read. Orientation and guidance were provided at
the initial stage of the experiment. Thereafter, the instructor kept in the background,surfacing when necessary to give verbal encouragement to the class to continue
participating.

10. The teacher as a role model of a reader.
For ER to be effective, the teacher is expected to blaze the trail for the students. Witha reading blog, the instructor can easily access what the students are reading and read
what they read. The students will see the instructor’s comments on the posts which
can be an incentive to them to read as well.

Theoretically, the blog could help eliminate the deterrent factors that make language
practitioners shy away from ER. It is then necessary to examine it from the practicalperspective. Is the blog viable as a platform for an ER programme? Can it support thecharacteristics of ER?

	
  

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The other dimension that needs to be assessed in relation to the practicability of using
this online social network tool is the users’ perception and attitude. The learners’
receptiveness towards using what they regard as a social medium for academic
purposes is important to the successful implementation of the programme.

Methodology
This study explored the use of the blog as a space for language learners to sharereading materials for the purpose of Extensive Reading. The primary focus of thestudy is to examine the viability of the blog in facilitating ER and to gain insights into
the perception of the participants towards the use of this social network platform for
ER. This paper employs the qualitative approach with a detailed explanation of thefindings from the questionnaire administered and the focus group interviews
conducted.

The Participants
The study involved two groups of students at a private university in Malaysia. The
groups were taught by one of the researchers in two separate semesters. Twelve
students in a remedial English language programme made up the first group. They
were a multinational group made up of students from Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar
and China, with Indonesians having the largest representation (7). These first year
degree students majoring in information technology and computer science wereenrolled in the language programme to raise their proficiency from pre-intermediate
to intermediate level. The programme was an intensive 12-hour per week course that
focused on language skills. The second group consisted of 18 students in a foundation

	
  

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programme. They consisted of Malaysians with those of Chinese descent making up
two-thirds of the group. The students were taking Technical English, an English forSpecific Purposes (ESP) course which was a core subject meant to equip them withlanguage skills relevant to their specialism. Their English language proficiency
ranged from pre-intermediate to advanced levels.

Procedure
The objective of the planned extensive reading programme was first explained to eachgroup. The blog for the Remedial English class was created by the instructor using
Blogger, a free blog-publishing platform, and given the name CPE Readers Club. The
ESP group created their own blog using WordPress, another popular free blog
publishing tool. The group came up with their own name for the blog – Techreaders.

The participants were instructed to post materials in their respective blogs for theircourse mates to read for a period of eight weeks. The guidelines for participation werealso posted in both the blogs.
GUIDELINES FOR MEMBERS
You can...
...share articles, news, comics, stories, poems, jokes & riddles
You should...
...provide a brief description of what you want to share...post something at least once a week...read at least half of what has been posted...comment on what you have read
You must not...
...post material with sensitive content (e.g. about politics or religion)...post pictures without text
Figure 1: Guidelines for members of the blogs (Extracted from: http://cpereaders.blogspot.com/)

	
  

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The students were allowed to select any form of reading material to fulfill the‘freedom of choice’ aspect of ER. Evidence that they had read a post was derived
from their comments. They were allowed to respond very briefly to avoid deterring
them from reading. If they were required to write at length, it could be perceived as
too much work which was the case with the Taiwanese students using the ERO
system (Sun, 2003).

The wide variety of Web content that is easily accessible also necessitated defining
perimeters for this activity. Hence, there was the reminder to avoid materials of asensitive or offensive nature such as politics and religion.

The lecturer planned to stay invisible and remain a passive observer throughout theeight weeks, only giving verbal reminders to the class to keep posting and reading.
This was to minimize the influence of external factors and maintain the study’s focus
on the use of the social media platform.

Feedback and Evaluation
A post-study questionnaire focused on gaining information on the students’participation (frequency in posting and reading), the procedure involved (how theylooked for reading material and how easy or hard it was), their feelings about theactivity of posting and reading, and their opinion of the blog (whether it needed
improvement, how to motivate students to participate and its usefulness, effectivenessand relevance to language learning).

	
  

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Seven students who formed the focus group were also interviewed. The focus of theinterview was for a more in-depth examination of the students’ understanding of ER
and its benefits, their views of reading on the Net, the collaboration aspect of thereading blog, and their level of involvement. The students were also asked to voice
their opinions of the blog. These seven represent the spectrum of participants – fromthe active participants to the observer.

Findings

The viability of the blog for facilitating ER
The results of this experiment are presented from the viewpoint of how they support
the ten ER principles (Day & Bamford, 1998, 2002). The approach adopted in thisstudy required the reading material to be selected by the students for the students.
The participants reported that they evaluated what they read for suitability in terms oflevel of difficulty and appeal before sharing it. A focus group member described theprocess involved in selecting reading materials succinctly: “Two steps – browsing andcoming across something worth sharing, ask ‘Is it appropriate to share?’ Yes? Then
post.” This implies that the materials deposited in the blog were comprehensible tothe members and therefore supports the principle that reading material has to be easy.

The participants who reported that it was easy to look for reading material comprised
46 per cent. Of these, half said it was because of the Internet which makes available awide range of reading material (principle number 2). However, there were five
students who found the task difficult of deciding what to share with their friends on
the blog. There were also a couple of students from the Remedial class who said they

	
  

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had difficulty understanding what they read on the Internet. This narrowed down theiroptions for what to share which made this part of the programme difficult.

Freedom of choice was central to the whole experience. The participants were free toselect any reading material to share within the set perimeters. They could decide
whose posts to read, when, where and how to read, and also whether to respond andcomment or not. In this liberated environment it was found that the main criterion
used by 46 per cent of the participants to pick what to post was peer influence.
Another 18 per cent specified that they looked for humorous materials that would
make the others happy. They had a clear sense of the audience when they selected
what would interest their friends rather than what interested them. The outcome was
86 per cent of the participants reported that they enjoyed reading the peer selectedmaterials on the blog. Also significant is the fact that over two-thirds of theparticipants maintained that they enjoyed looking for materials to share with theirfriends. About a third of this group said they gained new information and knowledge
from this exercise. This observation is also relevant to the fifth principle which relates
the nature of the reading materials and the participants’ interests. Clearly, pleasure,
information and general understanding form the basis of the students’ decision
making.

The 2-stage approach which required students to first read to search and post, andthen to read the shared materials increased the learners’ exposure to texts. Forty percent of the students contributed to the content in the blog at least once a week. Sixty
per cent of the members read the blog at least once a week. These participants had theopportunity to read as much as possible which supports the fourth principle of ER.

	
  

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The experiment yielded two significant results that relate to the principle that readingis its own reward. The first is that the participants did enjoy both the reading tosearch stage and reading the blog stage. However, more participants (86%) reported
that they enjoyed reading their friends’ posts at the blog stage than those who liked
reading at the search stage (68%). The second discovery was unexpected. Althoughreading was perceived to be academically rewarding, a number of participants (18 percent) felt that some form of activity such as discussion or language exercise based on
the posted material would have motivated them to be more active on the blog. Even
more surprising was the suggestion by 25 per cent of the participants that some prize
or token be offered as an added incentive to the readers.

Fulfillment of the seventh principle can be inferred from the participants’ affirmative
responses about their enjoyment when reading the posts on the blog. A significant
percentage (86%) reported that they enjoyed reading the shared materials.

The eighth principle states that ER has to be individual and silent. The students readat their own pace during their free time. The largest group (32%) read the blog at least
once a week while the second largest group (29%) read whenever they felt like itwhich varied between twice a week to once in 2 weeks. They maintained that thefrequency of their reading activity depended on whether the materials were interesting
and whether they had free time.

	
  

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The last two principles of ER emphasize the role of the instructor. In this study, thelecturer explained the objectives of ER and introduced the blog as the platform for the
programme. Guidelines and rules of conduct were given and then posted on the blog
as a permanent reference for the blog members thereby meeting the ninth principle.

The researcher deviated from the tenth principle which requires the teacher to be arole model of a reader for the reasons already explained in the previous section of thisreport. In the first part of the study which involved the Remedial Class, the instructor
kept in the background throughout as planned, reading the posts but withholding
comment. This was to find out whether the students were motivated by the social
media platform to keep the momentum they had. It was observed that by the fourthweek, that is, mid-way through the experiment, the posts became less frequent andactivity slowed down. A number of the participants expressed their wish to see thelecturer involved in posting reading materials, and initiating discussion of what wasposted.

With this discovery, the instructor played a more active role in the blog for the ESP
class in the following semester. However, that role was limited to reading andcommenting on what was read. The teacher abstained from posting reading material
so as to maintain the learners’ freedom of choice of reading material. This is based on
the rationale that any material selected by the teacher would be obligatory reading forthe students. It was found that the students preferred the teacher to be even more
active. One student felt that the blog members became less motivated with time andstronger leadership would have restored interest.

	
  

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Students’ perception of the blog as a tool for ER
The students viewed the use of the blog for this reading programme favorably.
Feedback on the effects and benefits of using this approach was obtained via the poststudy questionnaire and focus group interview.

Usefulness and Effectiveness in supporting language learning
Three quarters of the participants felt that every English class should have a reading
blog. They specifically said that it would help improve their reading and writing
skills, vocabulary and general language. There were a few detractors (14%), however,
who thought the reading blog was ineffective or uninteresting.

Effect on motivation to read
On whether the blog motivated the students not only to read more, but to read more
carefully and purposefully, the focus group were unanimously affirmative on all
points. All the focus group members thought that it was a more interesting way toread. One said it was fun while another explained that the collection of readingmaterials on the blog allowed her to encounter new kinds of reading materials that she
would otherwise not read. A more comprehensive explanation was offered by one
member of the focus group: “We are the Y Gen. Content flows faster on the Net andso better captures interest. I cannot see people needing books any more.”

One of the reasons for the participants’ liking the reading blog has to do with thedesign of the blog. They liked the versatility of the blog which allowed the design tobe changed, the attractiveness of the design and the user-friendly interface.

	
  

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Benefits from collaboration
Of the 86 per cent who enjoyed reading the posts in the blog, three quarters gave
reasons that point to the social aspect of the blog. The responses of ten of the students
reveal a consciousness of their relationship to the other participants. For example,
two participants said they appreciated the hard work put in by their friends to findmaterials to share with them. Eighteen per cent of the participants endorsed the blog
because it let them share their knowledge and also reading materials that interest themwith their friends which is further evidence of the advantage of the collaborative
aspect of this social online platform. One of the students interviewed reinforced thisidea saying that the blog gave them a greater sense of community. Another student
stated that the Internet is so ‘huge’ that it is not easy to look for specific knowledge,
but with the reading blog, others did the searching and posted materials that advanced
his knowledge.

Ideas for improving the reading blog
Although a decisive proportion of the students reported that they approved of thereading blog, it was observed that they did not participate as actively as they should.
Their responses to the questionnaire items about what would have made the blog
more effective plus input from the focus group indicated where the problems were.

A surprising 25 per cent of the students thought that a reward such as a prize, gift or
token would motivate students to participate in the blog.

Another 21 per centsuggested that the design of the blog be improved further. Complementary activities
such as quizzes, contests, brain teasers, discussion and even exercises were thought toencourage more participation. Five participants mentioned that the lecturer needed to

	
  

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be more active and to motivate them. One of the focus group members pointed out
the need for more ‘leadership’ in the ER programme. The lecturer’s participation wascited by several students to be a source of motivation.

In addition the posts

themselves were said to augment reader engagement if they contained humour,pictures, music and videos.

One of the focus group members who was not as enthusiastic about the reading blog
as his counterparts suggested that linking the blog to Facebook would generate moreinterest and attract more participation. Another focus group member echoed thissentiment with the rationale that Facebook is so popular with these young people thatlinking this social network to the blog would help reduce the academic-ness of theactivity and remove the pressure of perceived expectations from both peers andinstructor, thus making this approach to ER more casual and engaging.

	
  

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Conclusion
This exploratory study confirms that the blog is a useful and viable platform forsupporting an ER programme. Its benefits are derived from allowing easy access to avast resource of reading materials to cater to the diversified interests of a group oflearners and the convenience and ease with which a group can select reading materials
and deposit them in a common space for members to exercise the free will to read, notto read or to read again.

The students’ favorable perception towards this social networking tool is anotherimportant endorsement for this alternative approach to ER. This study confirms thatthe use of this Web 2.0 tool appeals to this representative group of the Net Generation
because it permits them to collaborate with their peers and to share their interests inthe form of text. In the words of one of the participants, this generation “crave[s] theirfellowmen’s approval more than anything else” and they “by nature like to share andknow about each other”.

While this Web 2.0 platform appears to have passed the test as a tool as an alternative
approach to a traditional language learning enhancement programme, there are someconcerns that need appropriate response and further examination. One such issue isthe difficulty faced by the learner in selecting reading materials.

In spite of, or perhaps it is more accurate to say because of, the huge resource of
online reading materials, searching for reading materials to share was not as enjoyable
as reading what was shared especially among the lower proficiency group. Hence,
having too many options is also a deterrent. A possible solution is to provide a list of

	
  

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recommended websites for those learners who need assistance at this stage of the
programme while still allowing the rest who are more adept at Web searching to go
beyond that list.

Contrary to Bhattacharya and Chauhan’s (2010) research findings, the results of thisstudy have debunked the idea that this interactive online platform could make thelearner more independent and responsible in their learning. The warning by Day andBamford (1998, p.126) concerning the lack of encouragement and concern on the partof the instructor would definitely lead to diminished interest and participation in an
ER programme was found to be valid. Evidently, the use of the Web 2.0 resource
does not eliminate the need for the teacher or lecturer’s catalytic role. In spite of theaccessibility, convenience and appeal of this online platform that encourages
autonomous learning, the students were still unable to abandon their need or
preference for traditional hand-holding. The use of the blog for ER was found to haveminimum impact on learner autonomy which is evident in the students’ preference formore active participation by the lecturer, structured activities to accompany thereading and some form of reward for their participation.

Further investigation is recommended especially on how and whether using theweblog and other social networking sites can significantly increase the effectivenessof ER in improving language. Once it can be established that the online platform cansupport the ER programme in all aspects of language learning, it could provide
language instructors with an alternative approach that would help remove thereservations currently impeding the implementation of this worthwhile programme.

	
  

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