Topics 2
Journals in the Language classroom
Writing to learn:
Writing to learn is based on the assumption that students’ thoughts and understanding can grow and clarify through the process of writing. And growth in thought and understanding can certainly happen in the foreign language classroom.
How to do a classroom Journal:
2. The language of the journal could be English, but it could also be their first language (L1). Or it could be a mixture of both. For advanced students, it makes sense to have them use the target language. For beginners, a journal in their native language might be a place where they can express their feelings without having to worry about remembering difficult grammar or vocabulary.
3. Collect and read the journals on a regular basis—but do not correct. If you feel you should respond, then write about something you liked. Remember that “in a language class, in the end, everything boils down to the same question: Can you use language in ways that allow you to convey whatever your thoughts are? … Can you express something about yourself, your ideas, your curiosities, and questions?”
4. Ask students to leave a blank page between entries for room to comment later. Class time could be devoted to having students read and reread entries and respond to what they have written. In my experience, students really enjoy having a chance to comment on their own growth and development in the journal.
5. Encourage students to write about a wide variety of topics, but the topics should always, at least in some way, connect with the class. In his book, Engaging Ideas, John Bean suggests that one way to begin class is to ask students to discuss a question that they wrote about the night before in their journals. Such a question might be “What confused you about today’s reading or class?”
6. Keep a journal along with your students. Ask your students to write during class time, and write along with them. Writing with your students tells them that the teacher takes the idea of journals seriously, and so should they. Keeping a journal along with your students also helps you see how much time is needed to complete a task, helps you be more reasonable with what you expect, and gives you a clue as to how interesting the prompts are that you give to your students.
7. Look for ways to use the journal during class time. Even if you can find only five minutes per week of class time, that time could be used for journal writing. Look for ways to connect the journal with what you consider important in the class. In the final section of this paper, I suggest specific journal writing activities.
Conclusion:
Students certainly could keep electronic journals in the form of a blog or a wiki, or through email. However, paper-based notebooks offer a number of attractive features. A paper journal does not require electricity or an Internet connection. A paper journal is lighter and more portable than most computers. And while paper journals can be destroyed in rain or fire, people never lose an entry due to a computer virus or hard drive failure.
Paper-based journals also offer an additional advantage: they bring mind and body closer together.
Certainly journals will not work for everyone, but, for many students and teachers, journals offer an opportunity to find a personal connection with the course material.
My attitude:
Thank you, the topic writer. I have benefited a lot. It is a new experience. We will implement that new lovely experience in our classrooms. I have an additional attitude. The classroom journal is a great project in my point of view. It enables the teacher to know how learners feel towards the course they learn and the teacher himself. It is a kind of reflection that is needed in the process of evaluation. I like it.
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