Week 2: 
 Part 1, Distance Learning for Language (Blake 2008)
I must admit that I had my doubts about distance learning when it was first introduced, seeing that my previous methodology training and teaching experience at CSULA was a bit resistant to technology and how it could accommodate Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). However, I find Blake’s research on distance learning to be very relevant to what I have personally noticed at other institutions regarding SLA instruction with Spanish language courses. For the most part, I have noticed other courses to be designed as hybrid or blended learning formats, and perhaps this also eases the apprehension that past instructors may have about the use of technology dominating the classroom, since very few all-virtual online instruction classes are currently offered. However, what struck me the most when I first read the studies done on distance learning and its effects on L2 learners (Chenoweth, Ushida and Murday 2006), was that “the results showed that the scores for the treatment and control groups were not significantly different for oral production and only slightly different in the case of the writing samples, with essays by the students in the online group being judged superior to those of the control group on a variety of measures…” (Blake 85). Because of the frequency of what I assume would be asynchronous CMC, their expressive abilities would definitely improve given that as a hybrid course it might be more demanding of their attention to written accuracy in terms of grammar and syntax. What the studies leave me pondering though, is whether these hybrid courses might benefit Heritage Learners more over L2 learners, simply because they already have the grammatical input engrained as heritage/ native speakers, and may need to refine these skills in terms of writing.

  Part 2
As students in the course, I feel that keeping a blog may be a more accessible alternative to keeping “journals” for students who are digital natives. Since it is an asynchronous form of CMC , keeping a blog allows for personal reflection that forces the L2 learners in turn to articulate their thoughts in writing. I think that it is an extremely useful method of facilitating communication, especially for instructors who are “digital immigrants” are given the ease of access in setting up a blog. Although I have not previously used blogs in the classroom setting, I will start to incorporate it into my current language class with heritage learners, since the current syllabus requires them to keep a weekly journal of a short novel (Antes de ser libres by Julia Alvarez) which they will be reading throughout the course. Keeping a blog is also more accessible in the sense that it does not limit feedback to the instructor (one-to-one), but also encourages the class as a whole to reflect and initiate dialogue for expansion (one-to-many). This also facilitates a more socially connected form of reflection that is more inclusive in the sense, because of its accessibility on the internet.