What Potential Do Weblogs Have and What Skills May Foreign Language Learners Acquire in the EFLC?

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Didactics - English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,7, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, language: English, abstract: In this term paper I am going to describe the expansion of digital media and why digital media are suitable for learning and teaching in the foreign language classroom in general. Afterwards I am going to specify this extensive subject of digital media and to focus on weblogs; I am going to define and examine weblogs concerning their potential and skills that the foreign language learners may acquire by using this kind of communication platform. Finally, I am going to implement these competencies into practice and introduce a teaching unit which I created with my fellow students within the seminar ¿Digital Media in the EFLC¿ at Justus-Liebig-University. This teaching unit focusses on countering stereotypical thinking by using weblogs. Thus, it is necessary to examine why weblogs can be a helpful tool to confront foreign language learners with stereotypical thinking.

Over the past decades, the personal computer has become an integral part of modern life in Western society and has entered various sectors of life. Even the rise of the internet and online communication technologies has undoubtedly impacted the way people work and communicate and has become an essential tool for improving the learning process in various fields. Furthermore, Web 2.0 applications such as weblogs are rapidly achieving mainstream adoption in our media culture and have become source of information and reference.