second language writing through blogs: an investigation of learner autonomy

Employing an explanatory sequential design, the present study investigated the effect of english as a foreign language (efl) blogmediated writing instruction on the students’ learner autonomy. a number of 46 learners who were the students of two intact classes were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups.  over a 16week semester, the control group students (n=21) were taught based on regular inclass writing instruction and the students in the experimental group (n=25) made use of blogs in addition to the traditional inclass writing instruction. the data were collected through administering a learner autonomy instrument, consisting of metacognitive, cognitive, social, and affective components, and conducting semistructured interviews. the results of both quantitative and qualitative data revealed that the blogmediated writing instruction contributed to enhancing learner autonomy of the participants. more specifically, the students who experienced blogmediated writing activities showed improvement in metacognitive and cognitive components of learner autonomy. the findings offer significant implications for efl teachers.