Author

Date of Award

7-12-2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

International and Second Language Studies

First Advisor

Stephanie Dhonau

Abstract

Instructors of English Language Learners (ELLs) often focus on writing as one of the primary skills acquired in the university second language classroom. This thesis examines the role of blogging in improving interpersonal and presentational writing while also increasing students' cultural competency. It describes how to create and use a web source to promote blogging in the classroom. A classroom web source to accompany Interchange 3 as well as sixteen lessons with accompanying materials and rubrics comprise a substantial portion of this thesis to practically show how blogging might be incorporated into an ESL classroom. Each lesson enforces and highlights various cultural themes, encouraging reflection on the student's native culture (C1) as well as the student's interaction with the target culture (C2).

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