Wednesday, 27 January 2016

EFL Blogs – A Tool of Self-development or a Tool of Self-promotion?





This article takes the role of the devil’s advocate and deals the ongoing debate on how teachers are utilizing the blogs. Every coin has two facades. It is very likely that one side may be more appealing whereas the other rather disturbing.

Firstly, no one can deny that blogs have ameliorated the EFL profession due to the following reasons:

  • It is a portal of sharing information and expertise. E.g. Seminars are published, free tips are offered so as to make EFL lessons more creative etc
  • Remaining up-to-date. E.g. Become informed of the latest changes that the government has made the affect EFL teaching – Cameron has just announced funding for the ESOL classes which means more job opportunities for EFL teachers.
However, detractors have accused EFL teachers for using blogs as a channel of self-promotion. In particular, many advertise their language school, their books and generally project their own work on the field. For instance, they may upload a video of a play that they staged so as to impress the public and attract potential clients. 

Indeed, have you ever considered why don’t EFL bloggers publish other good books on ELT along with the ones they have written? Why do they only include their books?

After all, it all depends on what perspective one perceives blogging and how each individual utilizes it. To what extent do EFL teachers use it as a means of self-projection? To what extent do blogs contribute to global EFL knowledge?

Reason has proven that the truth always lies somewhere in the middle.

What do you think?

4 comments:

  1. Hi Emma,
    Just like in other theories/hypotheses in ELT, I don't think there is a black-and-white in using ICT tools for ELT. It's one of the effective approaches that we can employ. It always depends. haha

    I find the commercial feature inevitable in many blogs, and it perhaps is motivating the bloggers to keep writing. Blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter seem to share the same feature of drawing others' attention and ADVERTISING the users themselves. So in my superficial view, it's understandable :P

    Thank you for mentioning these inspiring issues!

    James

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    1. I understand you point. Indeed, everything should be marketized in order to continue existing.

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  2. Hi Emma! The issue you raised is really inspiring!

    I absolutely agree with the downside of the educational blogs. Throughout these years, I can really see how educators have made good use of their blogs or other social media platforms to promote themselves as some sort of celebrities to boost the number of followers (Yet I totally agree that gaining followers is a form of recognition to their work somehow and can motivate bloggers to keep writing). Some of them even make money by collaborating with brands of other fields like skincare, clothing and even food and beverages. This has totally distorted the aims of starting an educational blog!

    Laurie x

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    1. I'm glad that you mentioned that bloggers need followers that acknowledge their hard word. I think we all need some type of recognition. It is a driving force to keep up the good work.

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