Improving Descriptive Writing through Collaboration Facilitated by Online Blogs: An Action Research Study

Abstract

This research study aimed at improving descriptive writing through collaboration facilitated by online blogs. The research was applied in a public school in Naranjal, Ecuador. The application involved twenty-five hours of practicing descriptive writing to improve writing. The sample was thirty-two students with English level A1-A2, according to the CEFR. The participants faced difficulties when writing descriptive paragraphs using the target language. This action research was supported by qualitative and quantitative instruments: Pre and post surveys were applied to gather perspectives of students towards the innovation, pre and posttest were applied to measure student’s improvement, and field notes were filled during the tasks in order to analyze the participant’s collaboration and interaction during writing activities. The results indicated that the impact of the innovation was Cohen’s d= 2.36 the findings showed that the present study improved the quality of descriptive writing in the participants and the collaboration facilitated by online blogs increased the motivation and promoted interaction. Implications of this study involve other language teachers who want to strengthen writing skills in public education.