I’m a member of BESIG, a special interest group within IATEFL. A couple of days ago, I posted a message to the list asking if anyone in the group knew of any business English blogs (looking for gist for my blog-mill)…much debate has ensued, much of it against blogging.

Here’s my latest post to the list (BE = business English):

“Hey Eric, David, Graham and all Besig-ers…

Regarding the current mini-debate as to whether blogs are important for BE, I’d like to make three points:

1) I think email, traditional websites, and discussion groups are great. I think blogs are great. All have their place in any profession, and for BE teachers each one is a tool (whether for teaching or professional development) appropriate for some situations and not others. Either/or is not my point. And everyone has their own style and some may prefer discussion groups, and others may prefer blogs. Pluralism is good.

2) Please don’t use my woeful blog as an example of a good blog. I didn’t, and more importantly that would be a disservice to anyone following this discussion and pondering the points being brought up. And to use my blog as an example for what’s wrong with blogging …well, that’s like looking at a draft of the first short story of a beginning writer, and then declaring “literature is a waste of time”. My blog has been in existence for less than two weeks! I’m a beginner and am “finding my voice” as the bloggerati say. And when the comments are quantified and analyzed as Eric has done, I agree that they appear to be a poor example of sustained discourse.

Nonetheless my short stint as a beginning blogger has been very enriching for me professionally. It has pushed me to reflect upon and organize my thoughts the way discussion groups haven’t (for me, see #1 above). And if you read and click through this debate you’ll see that there has been some solid discourse. And Eric’s right that this example is only a tempest/teapot thing, but on the other hand several hundred top education technology professionals read James Farmer every day, and I was able to speak with them in a public space, and for me (see #1) that is not somehow inferior to what is happening in this discussion group.

3) Last point: I agree with Eric (again!) that there is a fad/bandwagon effect going on. With blogs, I’m sure we’ll see something similar to the internet bubble-crash-consolidation. And I really, really agree with Aaron Campbell’s mantra “pedagogy before technology“. But I believe that the core technologies of syndication and aggregation will form a central axis for the web (and are doing so already, especially in the perhaps-faddish blog form).

In many professional communities (e.g. software, design, marketing, journalism) thought leaders now use blogging as a (the?) central medium for information, brainstorming and idea interchange. So, back to my original question: does anyone know of any BE blogs?

(Eric, I wish that you would start one…I disagree with your conclusions in your last message, but your argument is stimulating and many points are solid. You’d be a great blogger.)

And, I spent too much time on this forum message, and thus haven’t blogged today. So, re-purposing shamelessly, I’m posting this reply verbatim on my blog.”

Cheers!