Open AccessTHE USE OF TRAVEL BLOG WRITING IN A TERTIARY LEVEL ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES COURSE
Author(s) -
Elif Kemaloğlu-Er
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psycho-educational research reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2634-7172
DOI - 10.52963/perr_biruni_v10.n3.21
Subject(s) - tourism , the internet , psychology , constructive , workload , mathematics education , computer science , world wide web , geography , process (computing) , operating system , archaeology
Blogs can be used as constructive means in EFL teaching allowing learners to exert control over their own writing and enabling them to communicate with the global community of internet users. Among different types of blogs, travel blogs can be employed as pedagogical means for real life based learning and L2 writing improvement. Through travel blogs, learners can both explore different places and write about their travel experience in L2. However, the use of travel blog writing in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has not yet been investigated. In this study, travel blog writing was integrated into a tertiary level ESP course aiming to improve learners’ linguistic skills in the fields of tourism and travel. The research investigates the learners’ views about blog writing as a part of their ESP course through a questionnaire and interviews. According to the findings, travelling and writing about the tourist attractions of one’s city via a personalized blog was found to increase writing motivation but the experience was also defined to be demanding as it requires heavy workload. Overall, this experience was reported to enhance autonomous, reflective and collaborative learning, increase cultural awareness and contribute to learners’ self-expression and L2 writing improvement.