This study aims at improving English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing instruction at secondary level by implementing a blended instructional design that may foster self-regulation through public online learning diaries (Diaries) and formative feedback in a wiki device in combination with face-to-face (F2F) instruction. Also, all elements are interwoven in the assessment program strongly supported by personalised feedback. In Part I, comprehending chapters 1 to 4, we provide the general theoretical framework for this research, which is based on a competence approach to compulsory education that the countries in the EU have adopted. Our aim is helping students to improve in three of the eight key competences (European Parliament, 2006): Learning Foreign Languages, ICT and Learning to Learn. First, we have reviewed and contextualised what the literature says about EFL writing and different approaches to teaching it and discussed the role of grammar, vocabulary and multimodality pathways in learning to write in a foreign language. Then, we have reviewed the literature on self-regulation for learning (SRL) and self-efficacy and the effects that a public design can have on vicarious learning. We have appraised the role of Diaries, feedback and assessment to improve SRL. Subsequently, we have discussed Diaries in EFL writing in a blended design, and how they can help us improve the students' autonomy in learning. This literature review leads us to formulate our basic assumptions for the instructional design that we will put to the test. From this review, we conclude that a Diary which integrates cognitive, metacognitive and free writing tasks is a suitable tool for EFL writing instruction and ongoing authentic assessment activities with interactive formative feedback to observe and improve self-regulation strategies. Additionally, a public design can act as a basic form of dialogic feedback, even if what students do is lurking at what other students are doing. In Part II, comprehending chapters 5 to 7, we state the three goals of our research to evaluate an instructional design grounded on literature findings that we developed to improve English as a foreign language (EFL) writing instruction in context. We describe the three main components of the learning diary (Diary) and the writing assignments. We study an EFL class of 10thgraders, aged 15 to 16, at a working-class state school in Barcelona and their English teacher, who was a long-experienced professional, newly arrived at that school. There were 26 students in this class (15 boys and 11 girls), of which we selected six (two strong, two average and two weak ones) for close observation. The instructional design combined face-to-face (F2F) teaching following a textbook with an online platform (a wiki) where students completed the Diary and a variety of writing assignments, with the online supervision of the teacher who provided personalised on-site feedback. In the Diary, and mostly as homework, students had to show their capacity to manage learning strategies and writing competence. In the first place, students had to file F2F instruction and produce examples of use of grammar and vocabulary in the form of sentences (cognitive tasks). Secondly, they had to monitor and correct their writing productions (metacognitive assignments) after the teacher had provided personalised feedback on them. She also developed a system of engagement rewards to incentive correct procedures and participation. In part III (Chapters 7-10) we present the results to our research questions. In Chapter 7 we depict the results concerning goal 1. We observe the activity in the online PWS and the students' and teacher's perception of it. In the first place, we consider the temporal dimension of the Diary. Then we move on to study how well the students completed it by task, student and term. Next, we study the writing assignments completion by task and term. Fourthly, we consider the positive and negative effects of the online platform. Finally, we deal with the teacher and students' views of the PWS. Chapter 8 is devoted to feedback. We analyse the amount and characteristics of the teacher's feedback depending on the task, as well as its timing for both the Diary and the writing assignments. We also consider the nature of conversations in the PWS. To conclude, we focus on the students' views on feedback Results for goal 3 are exposed in chapter 9, which analyses in which ways the students' actions and perceptions in the PWS evolved. In the first place, we ask ourselves which improvements can be reported in the Diary. Secondly, we look at the connections between the Diary and the writing assignments. Thirdly, we observe improvements in the writing assignments, comparing the teacher's marks to external control measures, such as the state exam and the Write & Improve tool. Finally, we consider the teacher and students' views. A final chapter 10 gathers a panoramic interpretive reading of each of the selected students and the teacher as to draw their learning profiles. For each of the six selected students, we consider their views on the PWS and the writing and feedback impact on them. In part IV we discuss our findings. About the PWS (goal 1), online designs can set students in action, but the technical problems some students face may cause frustration. It also confirms that stronger students are better at SRL, but their agency may not always be directed towards learning. If weaker students are more SRL focused, the chance is that they will advance more. Scarce metacognitive knowledge, low self-efficacy and lack of motivation make progress slow. Students will favour cognitive tasks over metacognitive, which are not adequate in compulsory education when they were based in understanding what the teacher said instead of in what they understood. Teachers need to plan supervising controls to ensure that students do not leave everything for the last minute, and can pay attention to the teacher's corrections at different moments. Students did not like that the Diary was compulsory, and they did not like that it was public either, but their perceptions concerning the latter improved significantly, and they used each other's productions as guidance. The Diary was a threat to average and weak students because it was hard work which, if not done, meant failing the term. The wiki's lack of popularity was strengthened by technical problems. For goal 2, the teacher's strategy to provide unfocused, indirect, personalised feedback was not appropriate because it meant a lot of work and did not make some of the students respond to it. The fact that it was timely could not solve the design flaw that it was delivered at the end of the term. These students were the same that show low interest for the design (Darío(a)) or weak students with low metacognitive strategies and linguistic knowledge. So, the students who needed it more (although Mariana(a) became an exception) were the ones who used it less. The students' perception of feedback was positive enough, but somehow unconscious of the effort it meant to the teacher. For goal 3, when we study the students' performance in the Diary in some depth, we observe that some students used agency for purposes other than learning, and this behaviour is not related to their linguistic knowledge, but bears relation to how much they make sense of a task and the characteristics of the assessment program. Students did not make sense of the cognitive part of the Diary because the sentences they wrote were not connected with the writing assignments. Furthermore, feedback that focuses only in WCF or sentences rather than paragraphs is not appropriate to teach EFL writing, because such input only addresses one aspect of the overall writing ability. Students value the sentences they wrote in the vocabulary task significantly worse at the end than they did at the beginning of the year. However, they value significantly better that the Diary is an efficient tool to learn English. As for its metacognitive part of the Diary, results were poor when the students were not capable of noticing for themselves what they had learnt, but depended on metacognitive explanations from the teacher which they often did not understand. Students expressed that they liked writing more when they could freely choose what to write about, and this perception improved significantly at the end of the school year. But results show that when students are free to write what they please, the use of translators increases. For this reason, designing tasks that makes them use the vocabulary and grammar they have just been taught would give more meaning to instruction and avoid the dangers of technical cheating. Rich environments where students are exposed to a lot of input (such as films in English subtitled in English) promote EFL writing, especially when the students are asked to carry out a diversity of tasks that stretch for some time.

This study had a research purpose and a pedagogical purpose. Research disclosed the dynamic, changing nature of (learner-internal and learner-external) variables that influence strategic competence for developing EFL/ESL writers. This competence was found necessary for international graduate students to move from writer-centered learning to reader-centered communication. The research instruments proved to be practical tools for guiding learners' processes of learning and writing a scholarly paper or article and avoiding plagiarism. The implication for teachers and program administrators is a systematic approach for developing self-regulation (control) in EFL/ESL writing. The first part of the book reports on the mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) research. The second part gives an in-depth report of the 6 cases used in the research. The third part presents tools for systematically developing self-regulation in scholarly (and academic) writing with (a) student and teacher checklists for formative assessment that are valid and reliable; and (b) a model syllabus for teachers that can be adapted across disciplines and genres. These tools deal with learning strategies and their applications to writing and writing instruction.

This groundbreaking book offers a down-to-earth resource for the practical application of blended learning in higher education as well as a comprehensive examination of the topic. Well-grounded in research, Blended Learning in Higher Education clearly demonstrates how the blended learning approach embraces the traditional values of face-to-face teaching and integrates the best practices of online learning. This approach has proven to both enhance and expand the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching and learning in higher education across disciplines. In this much-needed book, authors D. Randy Garrison and Norman D. Vaughan present the foundational research, theoretical framework, scenarios, principles, and practical guidelines for the redesign and transformation of the higher education curriculum. Blended Learning in Higher Education Outlines seven blended learning redesign principles Explains the professional development issues essential to the implementation of blended learning designs Presents six illustrative scenarios of blended learning design Contains practical guidelines to blended learning redesign Describes techniques and tools for engaging students

This book equips pre-service teachers, research postgraduate students, teacher educators, and language specialists with specific knowledge and skills about the principles, research, and applications of digital portfolios within the EFL writing contexts. While most digital portfolio scholarship focuses on higher education, this book targets primary-level and secondary-level school audiences, namely pre-service teachers, teacher educators, and Ministry of Education staff members with a focus on EFL writing. The rationale behind this design is that the published literature on digital portfolios tends to be generic and one-size-fits-all; there has been scant published scholarship about the development of digital portfolio literacy among teachers and pupils, which could enable them to upgrade the teaching and learning of writing in a larger EFL environment. This volume fills this gap by illustrating the why, what, and how aspects of digital portfolios in ten reader-friendly chapters. Guiding educators to enrich their pedagogical repertoire via the portfolio approach, this book emphasises a healthy balance between principles, research, and practice. It is an easy-to-follow guide to setting up digital portfolio systems and coaching pupils to improve writing, ensuring the dissemination of digital portfolios with high fidelity.

This book addresses the urgent need for insights into integrating digital technologies in EFL teaching. The book explores strategies for leveraging e-learning tools to enhance language learning experiences. Methodologically, it synthesizes existing literature, incorporates case studies, and gathers insights from interviews with experienced EFL instructors. Key findings highlight the effectiveness of digital strategies in promoting language acquisition, engagement, and interactivity. However, limitations include challenges related to technology access and varying digital literacy levels among students. The book’s impact lies in reshaping EFL pedagogy by bridging traditional methods with contemporary digital resources. The contribution to research is evident in synthesizing current scholarship and identifying emerging trends in digital language education. Practitioners benefit from practical applications, fostering innovation in teaching approaches. “Digital Pathways in English Pedagogy” is a valuable resource fostering a paradigm shift in EFL instruction by embracing the transformative potential of digital technologies.

Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Pedagogy - Higher Education, grade: 18/20, , language: English, abstract: The purpose of this study is to highlight the causes that lead students to procrastinate, to see how these causes affect students’ writing, and to seek how can we find ways to limit its negative impact so students can have better achievement on their written tasks. The aims of the study at first is to demonstrate the effective strategies of writing so the students can follow and solve the problems they face during the writing process. Then, highlighting the importance of both time management and self-regulation in improving the writing skills. In other words, the aim is to show that students who manage their time and succeed in being self-regulated are going to reach higher levels of academic achievement. Lastly, we aim to suggest some tips and recommendation about overcoming the academic procrastination by showcasing the impact of time management which can help our students to reduce their procrastination habits. The target subjects are Master 2 students at the department of English at Ibn Khaldoun University of Tiaret. To reach this aim, this investigation is based on a relevant literature and on data collected through a mixed methodology based on both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative method is presented as email questionnaire and the qualitative consisted of an email interview.

This book explores how EFL writing teacher education is theoretically, pedagogically, methodologically and sociopolitically shaped, given teachers’ unique local contexts and circumstances. It showcases practitioners and researchers teaching in, or studying, geographic areas that have as yet been under-represented in international publications, and it focuses on ways that specific contexts create unique opportunities and constraints on what developing teachers know and do in their work. The chapters prioritize local voices and materials to build a more inclusive and comprehensive picture of L2 writing globally, enabling the book as a whole to both document and further shape pedagogical approaches to L2 writing. Readers will be able to use the unique insights contained in this book in their own classrooms and professional development activities.