College of Languages and Translation
Use of Blogging to Improve Writing Skills: A Study Conducted on EFL Freshman Students
Dr. Karem Abdul Latif presented his paper titled "Use of Blogging to Improve Writing Skills: A Study Conducted on EFL Freshman Students" at a webinar organized by the Scientific Research, Innovation, and Graduate Studies Unit of the College of Languages and Translation at King Khalid University, on February 19, 2025. The presentation emphasized the effectiveness of using blogging to improve writing skills.
Dr. Karem Abdul Latif, in his presentation, introduced writing as one of the challenging tasks EFL teachers must undertake. He, while quoting Al-Jarf (2015), noted that such teachers are often puzzled when choosing a suitable methodology for teaching writing.
The researcher mentioned several studies conducted by Chen (2014), Sütçü (2020), and Cheng and Lei (2021), all of which emphasized that a blog-mediated writing task is more effective in providing immediate feedback and enhancing learner motivation.
The researcher’s study primarily demonstrated the efficacy of using blogs about current global events to improve writing skills among EFL first-year students. It revealed a significant difference in writing skill development between EFL freshman learners who used blogs and those who employed paper-and-pencil tasks. Additionally, the study underscored the benefits of integrating current global events into blogging activities to foster positive learner attitudes in EFL writing instruction. His research was conducted on two groups of male EFL freshman learners at the College of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia. The experimental group comprised 24 students, while the control group comprised 23 students aged between 17 and 19 years.
Dr. Karem compiled a list of current global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the rituals of Ramadan, the celebrations of the New Year around the world, the issues of the peace process, and so on. He also displayed some of the students’ entries on the blackboard, along with their comments and examples of how they communicate and interact with the teacher and each other. Additionally, Dr. Karem presented the students’ responses to the questionnaire.
Dr. Karem concluded that incorporating blogging about current global events into EFL writing instruction proved to be an effective tool for novice EFL freshman learners, significantly enhancing their overall writing performance. Notably, the improvements observed in the blog posts underscored the pedagogical benefits of this approach. Furthermore, the webinar, characterized by its high level of interactivity and numerous engaging questions and comments, was deemed a great success.
