The development of meaningful interactionson a blog used for the learning of Englishas a Foreign Language

The use of a blog as a pedagogical aid for the learning of foreign languages is gaining supportamong teachers’ communities (Soubrie´ , 2006; Tome´ , 2007) as it can help students developonline interactions and authentic productions. The current study is analysing the use of such amultimedia setting in a group of Master’s students in France, studying English as a ForeignLanguage, who had to keep a blog in groups of three or four, dealing with a specific topicof their interest. The introduction of such a tool was meant to motivate learners to practisewritten expression with an added value: the authenticity of the posted message, aimed not onlyat the teacher and the learning community but also made visible to the outside world.The aim of this article is to measure the pedagogical added value of such a blog for thedevelopment of written expression more specifically, and to see the potential to transform areal activity which is well-known to the younger learners’ community1 into a learning activityfor the learning of English. The aims are in agreement with the principles of the CommonEuropean Framework of References for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001), which establishesspecific goals for language learners with the implementation of ICT: task-based learning,authentic interactions or collaborative learning (Wenger, 1998).Three main aspects have been considered in this article:(i) a description of the way the interactions take place on the blog;(ii) an analysis of the motivating factors for such a publication online;(iii) reflection on the role of the tutor and on the place for feedback.A quantitative analysis of the interactions shows that the project is quite successful in terms ofparticipation, as there are more posts on average than required in the pedagogical contract.Yet there are some disparities, concerning the level of activity from one blog to another andamong the participants, that can be related to the role they undertake within the blog (do theyprefer to post messages or comments, who are these for and why are they posted?) and to theirlevel of motivation. Qualitatively, the project is also positively perceived: although the blog isnot considered as a ‘‘real-life’’ one (the activity is perceived as a pedagogical one), the interactionsare meaningful because they make sense for the learners who are fully engaged in thewriting process and in the interactions. Finally, the place for feedback needs to be discussed,as the corrections online, although described as necessary, are also very often perceived asinhibiting and appear to be a critical element of the project