A Systematic Literature Review of the Impact of Blogs on Writing Skills

Abstract

The rapid advancements in technology have brought about various changes in the field of education, compelling teachers to adopt a social media approach for integrated teaching and learning. Among the various skills, writing is often considered the most challenging. Writing skills pose a significant barrier for second language users, primarily because the influence of their mother tongue is dominant. Consequently, social media is full of awkward sentences due to learners not having acquired proficient writing skills. The use of blogs, provides a superior learning experience for students, facilitating easy improvement in writing skills. Therefore, this systematic literature review specifically concentrated on the use of blogs in enhancing students' writing skills and it aims to address the impact of blogs on writing skills. Additionally,  the review provided a comprehensive understanding of how blogs impact broader aspects of writing, such as social interaction, collaboration, self-directed learning, peer feedback, and motivation levels, in addition to concentrating on particular areas like content, organization, grammar, and vocabulary. This review was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) review technique to ensure that it was done transparent, methodical, and highly methodologically rigorous. A total of 25 articles related to the impact of Blogs on teaching writing skills published between 2019 to 2023 were identified from Scopus, ERIC, and Google Scholar databases. Based on the analysis, it was discovered that blogs had a significant impact on students' writing skills, particularly in content, organization, grammar, and vocabulary Furthermore, aside from enhancing these linguistic aspects, blogs also demonstrated a positive impact on various other dimensions, such as social interaction, collaboration, self-directed learning, peer feedback, and an increase in motivation levels. Overall, this review offered insightful information to educators, policymakers, and students who want to use blogs for self-directed learning and improve writing skills at all educational levels.  For future research, it is recommended to explore specific blogging strategies or approaches that are most effective in improving writing skills, as well as to investigate the challenges and limitations associated with using blogs for writing enhancement.