Exploring Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of and Attitudes Towards the use of Blogs for English Writing Skills at a Vietnamese University

VNU Journal of Science: Education Research, Vol. 36, No. 4 (2020) 36-49 
36 
Original Article 
Exploring Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions 
of and Attitudes Towards the use of Blogs 
for English Writing Skills at a Vietnamese University 
Nguyen Thanh Mai1,*, Dat Bao2 
1School of Foreign Languages, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 
No.1 Dai Co Viet, Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi, Vietnam 
2Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia 
Received 04 April 2020 
Revised 13 April 2020; Accepted 13 April 2020 
Abstract: The study aimed at finding out: i) the attitudes of both teachers and students at a 
Vietnamese university as regards the integration of blogs into English writing classes; and ii) their 
perceived advantages and difficulties in adopting such a way of teaching and learning. Data was 
collected in two stages: a preliminary questionnaire survey with 110 students and 12 teachers of 
EFL (English as a Foreign Language) writing, and follow-up interviews with 07 participants, both 
teachers and students. Findings indicated participants generally held a positive attitude toward the 
integration of blogs into EFL writing curriculum. Significant benefits in adopting a blogging 
approach included teachers’ and students’ access to computer and the Internet, their ability to 
handle blog-related technical issues, and their awareness of the possible benefits of a blog-
integrated curriculum. However, the current limited use of blogs for practicing English writing at 
the institution as well as students’ willingness to post their writings and give feedback on a public 
page were among the major obstacles. The study was concluded by some important pedagogical 
implications for the realization of a blog integrated EFL writing curriculum in Vietnam. 
Keywords: Blogs, blogging approach, blog-integrated curriculum, EFL writing, Vietnamese university. 
1. Introduction * 
The innovation of Information and 
Communications Technologies (ICTs) over the 
past decades has brought about intensive 
_______ 
* Corresponding author. 
 E-mail address: mai.nguyenthanh@hust.edu.vn 
 https://doi.org/10.25073/2588-1159/vnuer.4402 
changes in roughly every aspect of our modern 
life and has prompted education to search for 
ways to successfully integrate technological 
advances into its curricula. Up to now, a 
multitude of studies worldwide have been 
conducted on the integration of blogs, an 
application of web 2.0, into language teaching 
and learning. Specifically, the positive 
outcomes of contemporary [1-4] have 
N.T. Mai, D. Bao / VNU Journal of Science: Education Research, Vol. 36, No. 4 (2020) 36-49 
37 
strengthened educational practitioners’ belief on 
the use of blogs as a high-yielding tool in 
foreign language teaching and learning. 
The worldwide influence of ICT 
innovation, to some extent, has raised 
Vietnamese educational researchers’ awareness 
of the necessity to speed up ICT integration in 
education and training, yet research into the 
employment of ICTs for academic purposes in 
general is still in its early stages, not to mention 
the specific area of English language teaching 
(ELT). The first and very few studies targeting 
ICT applications in ELT in Vietnam included 
those carried out by Nguyen [5, 6], which 
discussed technology-enhanced EFL (English 
as a Foreign Language) syllabus design and 
materials development, and Dang & Robertson 
[7-9] which studied EFL students’ autonomy 
and e-behaviours through their participation in a 
web 2.0 Moodle site. However, available 
studies have not yet specifically addressed the 
use of blogs in the teaching and learning of EFL 
writing at tertiary level. 
The study, therefore, aims to explore the 
attitudes and perceptions of teachers and 
students at one of the public universities in 
Vietnam regarding the integration of blogs into 
English writing curriculum. The two major 
research questions include: 
i) What are teachers’ and students’ general 
attitude towards the use of blogs in English 
writing classes at the university? 
ii) What are the possible advantages and 
difficulties in adopting this way of teaching and 
learning English writing skills? 
2. Literature Review 
2.1. Benefits of a blogging approach in the 
teaching and learning of writing skills 
2.1.1. Blogging improves language writing 
performance 
Studies on the influences of blogging on 
language writing have concluded that blogs can 
facilitate and enhance the instruction of 
academic writing [10], resulting in greater 
improvement in students’ writing performance 
compared to mere in-class writing instructions 
[11, 12]. From a quantitative point of view, 
Mompean [13] noted that “the number of 
contributions was quite satisfactory as the 
students posted more messages than the number 
originally required and this can be interpreted 
as a sign of involvement in the project” (p.389). 
Also through blogging, language learners 
further develop their intercultural competence 
[3], activeness in reading [14], vocabulary base 
and background information of the foreign 
language [15], and most importantly, writing 
fluency [2, 16]. 
Because of the asynchronous nature of 
blogs, students have more time to reflect on the 
content and write without any time pressure 
[17]. That explains why there tends to be more 
open and better expression of self among online 
learners than when they are on the more 
traditional pen-and-paper mode [18]. Another 
reason for students’ personal development in 
writing has been attributed to the meaningful 
and diverse interactions that they are involved 
in while participating in blog activities [3]. 
2.1.2. Blogging fosters language learners’ 
understanding and personal growth 
The construction of weblog broadens the 
context of classroom interactions [19] by 
minimizing the limitations of time and space 
[20], therefore encouraging students’ deeper 
understanding and individual, critical voices in 
their writings. When blogging, each student 
plays two roles of a speaker/writer and an 
audience and is actively involved in a social 
process with meaningful and reciprocal 
interactions. As writers, student bloggers have 
opportunities to interact and negotiate meaning 
in the target language with authentic audiences, 
ones that are closely connected to the meanings 
generated both in oral and written form [21]. As 
consumers of blog posts, many students 
appreciate anonymity, a feature of blogs, as a 
chance to critically review and challenge their 
peers’ writings, something they may not find 
easy and comfortable to do in a face-to-face 
context [22]. 
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38 
On top of that is the instructor’s vital role in 
providing linguistic feedback and promoting 
students’ own views and capacity for self-
critique and self-reflection [2, 17, 20]. Although 
blogs are not considered ‘real-life,’ the 
multidirectional interactions among student 
bloggers, teachers and anyone else happen to 
view the blog posts are meaningful, because 
“they make sense for learners who are fully 
engaged in the writing process and in the 
interactions” [13]. In their recent study, 
Jimoyiannis and Tsiotakis [4] concluded that the 
enhanced opportunities for managing individual 
work, peer feedback and interaction, supportive 
dialogue and reflection, sharing ideas, critical 
thinking and metacognition, all positively 
influence the students’ writing quality. 
2.1.3. Enhancement of motivation through 
various authentic language activities 
Blogging helps learners become more 
involved in writing through a wide range of 
authentic activities, i.e. those having relatively 
equal cognitive challenge and complicatedness 
as real-life tasks [23-25]. Take Galien & 
Bowcher’s [1] study as an example. The diverse 
cultural background of their students was well 
catered for in the blog activity, which, under the 
broad topic of “High schools around the world” 
students were asked to write descriptive 
paragraphs to exchange their high school 
experiences. Thanks to this, the writing task 
became directly relevant and motivating 
to students. 
Other examples of authentic tasks can also 
be found in the blog-integrated curriculum 
designed by Lee [17]. In one task, students 
were encouraged to reflect on a topic of their 
own interests or concern. Another task asked 
students to choose certain podcasts in the 
language they were studying to listen to 
(e.g. Facebook or eating out and fast food) then 
write an entry to describe the content and 
explain some new words or phrases they found 
interesting. Involvement in authentic tasks like 
these helps build up learners’ confidence and 
motivation in learning, for they have some 
control over their learning. The students in 
Lee’s research were also allowed to use 
multimedia (e.g. external links, photos, and 
YouTube videos) to support the text content. As 
a result, over 80% of participants preferred 
blogging to the traditional mode of writing. 
Similar findings were observed in the study by 
Huang [3] where students reported higher 
motivation as they could choose their own 
topics and were able to incorporate writing into 
real life. 
All in all, the employment of authentic blog 
activities complies with adult learning 
principles put forward by Brundage & 
MacKeracher (cited in [24]): “adults learn best 
when the content is personally relevant to past 
experience or present concerns and the learning 
process is relevant to life experiences.” 
2.2. Challenges of a Blog-integrated Curriculum 
Although much of the existing literature on 
blog-integrated curricula has been about the 
benefits, some studies did discuss the 
difficulties that teachers and students faced as 
they took up a blogging approach in their 
writing class. For example, Petersen et al [26] 
found certain students would refrain from 
posting their works on blogs due to shyness. 
Besides, publicly commenting on their peers’ 
writing is another thing that students may not 
be willing to do, not only because it is a 
demanding task that requires skills and practice 
[27] but also because, for certain cultures 
(usually Asian), people are not encouraged to 
directly criticise their peers [22]. 
Apart from these, the use of blogs in writing 
classes may also come with typical challenges 
of any ICT-integrated curriculum. There have 
been concerns about teachers’ confidence with 
as well as students’ access to and affinity with 
computer and the Internet, especially the gap 
between those living in big cities and those in 
the rural area [28, 29]. On top of that is how to 
encourage teachers’ consistent use of 
technology as a teaching and learning tool as 
technology-enhanced lessons would require 
extra planning time and greater workload 
[30, 31]. 
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39 
3. Methodology 
Data was collected in two stages, using two 
different research techniques. Stage 1 
(Questionnaire survey) involved 110 EFL 
students and all 12 teachers of writing skills at 
the Faculty of Foreign Languages of a public 
university in Hanoi (Vietnam). The students 
were selected from 6 out of the total 11 first- and 
second-year classes using one-stage cluster 
random sampling [32], in which each class was 
considered a cluster or a collective unit consisting 
of approximately 20 single units, i.e. students. The 
questionnaire survey aimed to find out: 
i) teachers’ and students’ experience with computer 
and Internet in general and blogs in particular; and 
ii) their attitude towards the integration of blogs 
into EFL writing. The questionnaire was of closed-
ended type, but for each question there is one 
option called “Other” that allows for any answer 
other than those suggested or further clarification of 
a chosen answer. 
Based on preliminary results in stage 1, 
three students and four teachers were 
purposefully selected for stage 2 (in-depth 
interview) using one of the following criteria: 
- Having prior experience with blogs 
(preferably using blogs for practicing English) 
and willing to join the new approach of 
teaching and learning EFL writing; or 
- Having prior experience with blogs but 
not willing to join the approach; or 
- Having no prior experience with blogs but 
willing to join the approach. 
The interviews were conducted to further 
explore participants’ prior experience with 
blogs as well as highlight the possible 
advantages and difficulties in adopting a blog 
integrated writing curriculum. 
4. Findings and Discussion 
4.1. Attitudes Toward a Blog-integrated Writing 
Curriculum 
Statistical data highlight welcoming signals 
from both teachers and students (89%) 
regarding the use of blogs in English writing 
skill. None of the teachers refused to take part 
in the new approach, and only three out of 110 
surveyed students showed negative opinion to 
blogging in writing. 
Table 1. General attitudes toward the integration of blogs into EFL writing 
 Options 
Teachers Students 
No. % No. % 
Opinion towards the 
integration of blogs 
I’m interested in and would love 
to try 
I don’t want to try 
I can’t decide 
Other: (02 comments) 
11 
0 
01 
91.7 
0 
8.3 
97 
03 
10 
88.2 
2.7 
9.1 
d
A very small number of participants, i.e. 
one teacher and 10 other students, were still 
considering the adoption of blogs. However, 
from the teacher’s further comment in the 
questionnaire, she was more likely to hold a 
positive rather than negative attitude toward the 
proposed curriculum: 
“It seems to be an interesting approach, 
especially in the context that students are very 
quick in updating new technologies and many 
of them are keen on free writing. However, I 
need to find out more about this approach 
before deciding to give it a try. For example, 
whether it is feasible for the majority of 
students? Whether there are any difficulties for 
teachers? Whether teachers can control and 
assess students’ learning? Whether any research 
has been conducted to verify the effectiveness 
of blogs in writing? Etc.” 
Her explanation demonstrated a cautious 
attitude toward making a choice in how to learn 
rather than following the trend. Indeed, her 
considerations of the feasibility and other 
aspects of the approach turned out to confirm 
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the significance of the research, as these were 
indeed what the study was set out to explore in 
the first place. 
Also, in the questionnaire survey, another 
teacher expressed her willingness to adopt blog 
application in not only writing but also 
other subjects: 
“I think it’s worth trying blogs in writing 
skills. Gradually we can expand this model to 
other subjects. Each week teachers post topics 
on a class blog for students to discuss and 
comment, and their interactions on blog can be 
counted as participation”. 
This pattern of attitudes was consolidated 
by data from the in-depth interviews. Hoang, 
the youngest teacher and a former student of the 
Faculty, said enthusiastically: “if there is such 
a writing curriculum, I will be the first to join”. 
Similarly, Quoc, a first-year student, asserted 
his full support of bringing blogs into 
English writing: 
“ I’m willing to participate once it [the 
curriculum] is implemented, since this helps 
promote students’ familiarization with Internet 
environment and the use of written language to 
express themselves.” 
The fact that most teachers and students at 
the Faculty held positive attitudes toward the 
employment of blogs in EFL writing subtly 
implies that they perceive this type of 
instruction as worthwhile to be adopted. As the 
direct recipients of the proposed blog-integrated 
curriculum, a positive attitude among students 
is particularly important, since it determines 
their engagement to the online learning 
environment as well as their language outcomes 
[33, 34]. The more students believe in the 
benefits that the online environment could bring 
about, the greater sense of community they 
experience [35] and the more active learners 
they will become [36]. 
4.2. Possible Advantages in Adopting Blogs in 
EFL Writing 
4.2.1. Easy access to computer and the Internet 
Survey data indicated the number of 
students having access to computer and the 
Internet accounted for very high percentages 
(99.1%). Among them, 31.8% had 6 to over 
10-year experience with computer, 41.8% had 
been using computer from 3 to 5 years, and 
only 26.4% had less than 2-year experience. 
Moreover, learners could access the Internet 
from various locations: at home (85.2%), in the 
dormitory (16.75%), at public access points 
(13%), and at the Faculty (7.4%). These figures 
allow for greater confidence in the realization 
of the integrated approach to EFL writing in 
the future. 
The statistics also proved that the EFL 
teachers at the Faculty had no problem 
accessing to the facilities needed for the blog 
approach to writing. Specifically, all 12 
teachers had access to computer and Internet, 9 
of whom had been using computers from 6 to 
10 years and the other three had experienced 
computers for over 10 years. Teachers could 
also access the Internet from different locations, 
for example, at home (100%), at school via the 
Faculty’s wireless system (7 teachers), at public 
access points like Wi-Fi cafés (3), and in the 
dormitory (1). Internet access was even made 
easier and ubiquitous with the convenience of 
3G/4G mobiles and D-Com 3G USBs. Overall, 
the availability of facilities among teachers of 
the Faculty was undoubtedly an advantage in 
implementing any ICT-integrated curriculum. 
4.2.2. Ability to handle blog-related 
technical issues 
In terms of technical issues, participants 
who had some prior experience with blogs 
reported that they did not encounter any 
remarkable difficulties in using this application. 
Hoang recalled his early experience as a 
student blogger: 
“I found using blog rather simple. My 
friends introduced that blog page for me, then I 
learned to manage it myself.” 
Bao (a freshman) and Thi (a sophomore) 
both considered blog as one kind of popular 
knowledge they could pick up easily: 
“ blogs are designed in a way that many 
people can easily take up. That is universal 
knowledge, so I can teach myself how to use. 
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Anyway, if something comes up, I can always 
search for instructions from the Internet” (Bao). 
The actual experience of these teacher and 
students underlines the user-friendly nature of 
blog, and therefore the feasibility of the blog-
integrated curriculum. What teachers need to do 
to ensure a higher chance of success is to 
provide students with some brief pre-training 
on preferably blog’s technical features and 
conceptual basis [37] as well as its function in 
the writing course and in students’ own learning 
[38]. Hoai pointed out a simple solution: 
“We’ll look for students who are competent 
in computer technology in each class and ask 
them to help with the training.” 
Hoang asserted that such training did not 
need to be complicated but covered only 
the basics: 
“The most important thing is to help 
students establish and manage their own blog 
page. I believe they can learn very quickly 
under the assistance of their friends and 
guidance from the teacher.” 
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