E-journaling was effectively incorporated in a study entitled A Web Based Approach to Strategic Learning of Speech Acts, conducted by Cohen and Ishihara (2005). In the upper mentioned study, e-journaling was designed as a way for the students to provide journal entries reflecting on their learning experience with the speech acts they study. The e-journaling provided an opportunity for the researchers to find out what do learners think about the testing materials; the value of immediate feedback; the disadvantage of not getting individualized feedback from a teacher. Moreover, the researchers had a chance to find out how do learners face the issue of their non-native status and their own cultural identity. In summary, the e-journaling conducted in this study allowed for interpretations of findings which would not have been possible otherwise.
E-journaling could be beneficial not only in terms of writing but in terms of learning oral language skills as well. Students could write journal entries describing their language learning strategies. Learners could focus on specific strategies used to comprehend and/ or produce the target language structure. Moreover, students could practice the target structure by producing any written responses as if they were spoken. If the instructor has access to the e-journals, he/ she can answer any questions that students might have, or even better, the instructor can interact with the students in the target language providing comprehensible input and individualized feedback.
Moving forward!
11 years ago
I like your ideas and I liked what you said about the instructor having access to the students' e-journals in order to see their progress and to critique or like you said answer any questions they may have. Do you think the students would focus too much on accuracy though and not on the content if they knew the teacher had access?
ReplyDeleteMiglena, your idea is somewhat similar to what I came up with for an activity or use of e-journaling. I like the idea of being able to provide individualized feedback that is "permanent" in that students can access it whenever they want.
ReplyDeleteThe use of online communication isn't, in my mind, disputable as a valuable resource for teaching. I'm just not sold on forced journal writing as a means to producing any valuable content or analysis on the students' parts beyond the pale of forced expression. It probably depends on the situation, as well as the students' individual temperaments.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments! It is possible that students focus on accuracy more than on the content, but I do not think that students in general will be motivated to write journals if there is no one who will read them. There is a need for a real audience. In this case the instructor and classmates could be that audience.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that students should not be forced to journal writing; this will not lead to any benefits usually associated with journal writing.