Blackstone, et.all. 2007. Blogs in English language teaching and learning: Pedagogical uses and student responses.

The journal of Blogs in English language teaching and learning. Reflections on English Language Teaching, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 120. Retrieved on 12 November, 2011 from www.docjax.com This paper reports on an innovative approach to the implementation of a cycle of blogging activities within different levels of courses in an English for academic purposes/composition program in an English medium university in Japan. Blogs, which are interactive homepages that are easy to set up and manage, enable students to engage in online exchanges, thereby expanding their language study and learning community beyond the physical classroom. Regular blogging also encourages more autonomous learning. When a students audience includes his or her classmates, the teacher and potentially anyone with an internet connection, motivation to engage in meaningful written communication appears to increase. At the same time, when a teacher utilizing blogs implements a blogging buddy system, which assigns each student a peer review partner to help with editing before a piece of writing (the blog post) is uploaded, the result can be an effective means of facilitating greater learner interaction and reflection on skills development. Findings from an attitudinal survey conducted over two semesters with eleven classes of 145 students demonstrate that they had extremely positive attitudes toward both blogging and the blogging buddy system. Cheryl C. 2008. Smith Technologies for Transcending a Focus on Error: Blogs and Democratic Aspirations in First-Year Composition Journal of Basic Writing, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2008. Retrieved on November 12, 2011 from www.docjax.com This article traces the authors experiment with blogging in her first-year writing class and considers how and why blogs help students negotiate the unfamiliar demands of college writing and enter into a more democratic arena for learning where their voices and arguments gain fuller, freer expression. In particular, the article proposes that the space of the blog, which is familiar to many students, opens up possibilities for risktaking and interactivity that teach important lessons about the role of error and audience response in the composing process. As students rethink and revise their initial ideas, working off one anothers comments, they develop more authority as critics with valued opinions and voice and let go of some of their fear about making mistakes that can prevent inexperienced writers from discovering and communicating their best arguments. By embracing the inventive and often messy space of blogs in composition instruction, students and teachers alike can evolve a new view of what it means to learn to writeand write effectivelyin academic settings.

Drexler, et.all. 2007. Collaborative Blogging as a Means to Develop Elementary Expository Writing Skills. Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education, Vol. 6, retrieved on November 12, 20011 from www.docjax.com

This study examined a K-12/university blogging collaboration between preservice teachers and third grade students. Research assistance and writing feedback was provided to help third graders complete a five-paragraph essay and online presentation of a Native American tribe. Results indicated that collaborative blogging improved students attitudes toward writing. Feedback generated from the collaboration, rather than the use of technology itself, increased students motivation to write. Collaborative blogging improved students writing and supported development of related skills and knowledge. In addition to these intended outcomes, a number of unintended benefits emerged from the project. Students transferred knowledge learned during the collaborative project to other academic and social facets of the classroom. Students technology skills improved even though official technology-related instruction was not provided. Students developed visual literacy skills as they transformed the essays into online presentations. Finally, collaborative blogging enabled differentiated instruction while ensuring success for each student. Sampath, D and Arezou Zalipour. 2010. The Pedagogical Potentials of Weblog in Developing Students Writing Skills. International conference ICT for language leaning 3rd edition. Retrieved on November 13, 2011 from www. docjax.com. Writing is viewed hugely important, yet it is a daunting task for both English as a second language (ESL) teachers and learners. With the development of different approaches to teaching in general, numerous approaches to the teaching of writing have been evolved such as product, process and post-process approaches. Although these approaches have changed the role and status of writing over the years, writing still appears as one of the difficult areas to tackle as students lack academic writing skills and they are de-motivated to write in English. In view of this, researchers show an interest in looking into the possibilities of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools for language teaching and learning. This paper discusses the application of the latest ICT tool, which is known as weblog as an effective tool in ESL classrooms. The aim of this study is to explore the pedagogical potentials of weblog in developing the writing skills of ESL learners. In particular, this paper wishes to identify and discuss the characteristics of weblogs as an appropriate and effective tool in assisting the learners in various ways to improve their writing skills. This study will further highlight the benefits of web logging activities and the impacts of these activities on students motivation to write in English as autonomous learners.