Blog-based online journals for English As A Second Language learners

The research on the use of blogs as online journals was carried out with a group of twenty five Form Four students in a secondary school in Kuantan, Pahang. The aim of the research is to find out the effects of blogs as a tool in developing writing in English as A Second Language. The instruments include questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and analysis of the blogs content. The research covered students’ perspectives of blogs as the medium for online journals, the effectiveness of blogs as a tool to assist students’ writing skill and to what extent blogs could help students to enhance their writing skills. From the findings, it is discovered that there is a positive impact on the development of students’ writing throughout the research as gained through the instruments. From the research, the students claimed that blogs is an interesting medium for them to write their journals as compared to writing in their log books. Blogs also could help them developed their writing skill in English Language; and through the various features in blogs, students were able to write more effectively

Shifting themes, shifting roles: the development of research blogs

The study described in this paper investigated the use of research blogs by postgraduate students over a four-year period. An initial, one-year, pilot focused on the research blogs of three first-year doctoral students (Ferguson, Clough, & Hosein, 2007). Analysis indicated that blogs were used to promote a community where students were encouraged to reflect and share ideas, skills and stories of research life. The blogs also acted as memory repositories and encouraged collaboration. The main study followed the students’ blogs for another three years, as they completed their doctorates and took jobs as early-career researchers. It investigated changes in the use and content of research blogs during this period. All three students continued to make use of their blogs for reflection over this period, and the blogs’ use as a memory repository became increasingly important, especially during the period of writing up research. Once the students had made the transition to early-career researcher, the nature of their blog use changed and began to fragment. This was due, in part, to issues of confidentiality, and data protection associated with their employment. While they continued to use their original research blogs to promote community and collaboration, the constraints of their work meant that new posts were often posted in closed blogs, or were marked as protected. At the same time, they were required or encouraged to make use of project-related blogs as part of a planned communication strategy by their employers. The findings of this longitudinal study clarify the changing expectations and needs of learners, employers and society in relation to researchers’ blogs, and identify skills, awareness and knowledge needed to support the use of blogging by research students

Culture or social interaction? A study of influential factors on weblog design

The importance of blogs and social networking as medium of interactions had gain substantial popularity in mainstream media. Such popularity is due to blogs timely publication, ease of use and wide availability. Blogs hypertext and hyperlinks spread information and influence through an underlying social network. Taking into consideration that past studies on web design have focused on cultural traits on design elements, this paper aims to analyse the patterns on blog design from the perspectives of social influence and interactions. Examining design patterns from five networks of blogs using content analysis method, the results show that design of blogs in an online network shares similar elements and the pattern is different from one network to the other

INTRODUCING JAVANESE WEBLOGS ENHANCES PARTICIPATION TOWARDS JAVANESE DISCOURSE

Weblogs have powerful effects on the society, millions of people read blogs daily. English is the main language used, but indigenous languages including Javanese are also used to blog. Javanese blogs need to be introduced especially to young generations to maintain the existence of this old language as they tend not to use it in school and at home. The method used in this study is descriptive, the data are mainly taken from internet. By visiting the suggested blogs, readers will realize that Javanese still exists and needs to be maintained by participating themselves in any of these Javanese blogs

Postgraduate blogs: beyond the ordinary research journal

The study described in this paper investigated ways in which keeping a research journal as a blog rather than as a paper document influenced the postgraduate student research experience. Four blogs (three individual and one collaborative blog) initiated by three research students were used as the corpus of data. The three individual blogs acted as alternatives to the traditional research journal. The analysis indicated that blogs can promote a community where students are encouraged to reflect and share ideas, skills and research life idiosyncrasies. Blogs also acted as memory repositories and encouraged collaboration amongst the research students

Group influence on blogs design behaviour

Issues of national culture influence on web design behaviour have been rampant and stimulating on static web pages across the globe. The emergence of a new breed of publication-type web page brought about by the advancement of web technology however, saw a different species of online communication groups. Bloggers as these groups are called; used blogs as their communication and publication tool to distinguish themselves from other websites and online social media users. Since bloggers are groups that are recognised and credited to cultivate their own culture, the idea that national culture has an influence on blogs design behaviour and preferences may have been weakened. Bloggers groups themselves would be the influential factor that determines design preferences of bloggers in a network of blogs. To address the issue, this paper has conducted an assessment on blogs from six countries using content analysis method, national culture traits and SIDE model to ascertain design features characteristics and behaviour. Results from both the global and local blogs in each country showed that blogs design preferences in one country differ between both the global and local bloggers. Furthermore, global bloggers design preferences in countries under observation are found to be similar to one another

Blogging for the Sake of the President

Many western researchers have hailed blogs of politicians as new, interactive, and ‘inherently democratic’ tools of political communication. Yet, as this chapter illustrates, blogs can be of comparatively even greater appeal to politicians in semi-authoritarian political contexts: In Russia, 29 out of 83 regional leaders (roughly 35 %) were keeping a weblog in May 2010. This chapter accomplishes a comprehensive content analysis of all governors’ blogs and, subsequently, fleshes out a typology of three characteristic types. In conclusion, it is argued that politicians’ blogs are playing a far greater role in generating legitimacy for the Russian political system than they do in democracies, because the semi-authoritarian Russian system lacks other mechanisms which generate (input) legitimacy in developed democracies, such as highly competitive elections

Promotional Blogs for [New] Bold Muku Project

Promotional blogs for [NEW] Bold MUKU Project were inspired by the current situation when Indonesian teenagers have no big interest in reading books because of the digital media. In 2011, a book-sharing movement, Bold MUKU Project, tried to track back Indonesian teenagers' reading interest and yet did not work successfully due to the unspecific target market, the lack of planning, sources, and member structuring. Therefore, the promotional blogs must be created based on the interest of the target audience and relevant concepts. The results of the surveys and the concepts of Internet consumer behavior and theory of copywriting by Rob Bowdery are considered to create promotional blogs for [NEW] Bold MUKU Project, that is, the main blog and an Instagram account. The main blog provides information and discussion among the community. The second promotional blog is Instagram as a place to attract viewers to open the main blog. In conclusion, in order to have successful promotional blogs, the contents of the promotional blogs must fit to the target audience's interests and needs