Journaling presents many opportunities in the language classroom

April 19, 2018

Natalya Betzig, graduate student teacher from Boston University’s School of Education

Photo by Angelina Litvin on Unsplash

Prior to spending this year as a student teacher in Ms. Blitz’ ESL classroom, I occasionally
assigned journal assignments to my 8th graders. I often viewed journaling as a way to hear from
my students, about their lived experiences and personal views on topics related to what we
were studying in class or ideas of their choosing. I mainly regarded the classroom journal
process as an added means for me to understand and learn from each of my students, as well
as a way for them to reflect on class-related themes. Although these motives were valid
grounds to implement journal assignments in the language arts classroom, I was missing the
mark. My mentor teacher’s expert implementation of journal writing, along with my research,
has made me realize that I was missing out on some key facets of quality journal instruction!

J. Williams (2012) makes a case for journaling as a means of language instruction. Although
many educators have traditionally envisioned writing instruction from a “learning to write”
stance, recent research suggests that it can and should be intended as a process for “writing to
learn”. If seen from this perspective, writing can be intentionally utilized as a powerful learning
tool to advance language development (Williams, 2012).
As I plan what my learning space for future years, I have re-conceptualized what journaling will
look like in my classroom. Below are some synthesized thoughts on implementing a quality
journaling component in the language classroom:

1. When assigned on a consistent basis, journaling provides a sound means to collect and
maintain current data on student progress. Effective teachers will look to student
writing for trends when selecting new focus areas (in grammar, vocabulary, or writing
structure).
2. At the very least, journaling warrants regular, targeted, individual feedback from the
teacher – both affirming and corrective. For instance, after instructing students in use
of irregular past tense verb forms, the teacher might push students to use past these,
then mark any correct or incorrect uses of the past tense when they next read journals.
3. In addition to providing instructive feedback, teachers may also choose to converse
with each of their learners, through written responses. This takes time but can be a
great way to connect with each student. In a 50-minute period, a teacher seldom has
the capacity to authentically check in with each learner, listen, and respond.
4. Because of its slower pace, journaling offers students more time to notice their own
learning gaps, search for vocabulary that they may lack in their target language, practice
new grammar skills, and self-correct. For elaboration on this aspect of journaling, see
Williams (2012).
5. When journal prompts are connected to classroom themes, they allow students to
engage with and relate to topics from a personal standpoint. In this way, it can give
voice to learners who may not yet have the academic vocabulary to speak often in class,
or who may just not feel as comfortable participating in public. It can also provide more
data on how well students comprehend such topics, and whether clarification is needed.
6. If routinized, journaling can be a time-saver! When students are accustomed to
beginning class with a 15 to 20-minute individual writing exercise, this gives the teacher
time to check in with students at the beginning of class, collect assignments, return
graded work, and complete administrative tasks like taking attendance.

Disclaimer: In order for all of the above elements to work in concert, journaling should really be
made a habitual part of your classroom routine! When students are expected to journal
regularly, they become more comfortable with the writing process and accepting of teacher
feedback. They also gain the benefits of regular, extended language production. Moreover, as
their year unfolds, their journal becomes a time capsule. It allows students to witness how
they have grown as writers, in the span of a year!

Tags: Journaling, writing, language acquisition, second language acquisition, language learning,
language development, teaching, language arts

Article Referenced:
Williams, J. (2012). The potential role(s) of writing in second language development. Journal of
Second Language Writing 21(4), 321-331.