Introduction
Introduction to the Study
Language is the expression of human personality in words, whether written or spoken (Wrenn, 1952). Through the history of language education, educationalists have tried to find ways to improve learning. English language teaching (ELT ESL) methods went through several adjustments as researchers looked for opportunities for improvements in teaching. In several areas like technology, politics, science and education, English is a window opened to the world and this fact makes English an international, or in other words, a global language.
In the 2005-2006 academic year, the Ministry of Education of TRNC implemented a change in the curriculum and course books for the sake of a transition to a more learner- centered approach in the second stage of the primary education. According to the new program, the long and strenuous journey of English language education starts with the 9- year compulsory basic education, in which the 9th year is the preparatory year for the secondary school. Every student has the opportunity to choose between the Turkish and English based programs. When the English based program is chosen, in addition to the courses of the common Turkish based curriculum, the student takes a 2-hour Academic English course during the 6th year. Continuing in the English based program in the following years depends highly on the achievement of the student in English and Academic English courses.
The ultimate aim of the learner-centered approach is to create alternatives and oportunities for the learners to direct and take control of their learning. The learner is centralized and the needs of the learner have priority in the learning process. Involving learners in the process increases motivation and therefore the overall success in learning.
Learner-centered strategies like cognitive and metacognitive strategies are utilised for this broad-spectrum purpose. The cognitive strategies provide learners with the ability to use their previous knowledge in order to cope with a new problem. Cognitive strategies help
“process and transform information” and “help the learner to actively be involved in the knowledge acquisition process” (McCrindle and Christensen, 1995). Metacognition means being aware of the way for the solution, in other words, thinking about the learning process.
In North Cyprus, from the educational perspective, there are several issues that make English necessary and significant. The language of instruction of the universities in North Cyprus is English and accordingly the students have to be at an adequate level of English to be successful at the preparatory school exams of the universities to begin their undergraduate education.
Countries have unique grounds to determine their policies concerning the organisation and implementation of foreign language teaching and learning. The principal objective of the language education in general should be in parallel with the main aim of the language itself, which is communication. Communication, the flow of information between people, is the central component of life. Writing is a language skill used for communication.
People can communicate via writing. Writing, the skill of situating thoughts into the text form, according to Grabe and Kaplan (1998), is a communicative and “an internally motivated activity” and as Celce (1991) states “needs to be encouraged and nurtured”
during the language study. In this light it can be said that writing is improved when it is put in a motivating context.
Literature indicates that reflective journal writing is used by many professional education programs to facilitate the development of the process of reflection and reflective learning during training as one of the learning activities (Conner-Greene, 2000; Patton, Wood and Agarenzo, 1997; Woodward, 1998). As an assessment method, reflective journals improve student assessment performance (Connor-Greene, 2000). They provide evidence of understanding of content knowledge, reflection, professional judgment and application and improve critical self- reflection and self-awareness (Biggs, 1999; O’Rourke, 1998).
One of the best ways to improve a skill is to practice. Dewey (1933) relates the importance of “learning by doing” as he states that “experience acts as an organizing focus for learning”. Viljo Kohoren, Riitta Joatinen, Pauli Kaikkonen and Jorma Lehtovaava (2001), when explaining experiential learning, state that “experience plays a significant role in learning” and they mention about personal journals and reflections as experiential learning techniques. Adler (2002) suggested that a way to assess metacognitive aspects of learning is to ask students to keep learning diaries. According to Oxbrow (2000) free writing practice enables learners to gain autonomy, providing them the opportunity to discover and share a wide range of learning techniques as well as helping them develop not only cognitive, but also metacognitive and affective strategies so that they can move towards greater independence and take greater control of their learning themselves. Oxbrow (2000) applied a strategy training procedure to the teaching of writing skills in English at a first-year university level in the Canary Islands, Spain, which involved the initiation of journals for providing informal, autonomous writing practice in order to supplement more formal instruction techniques, and as a research tool for investigation into the learning strategies that students already use or are in the process of acquiring. Oxbrow (2000) used dialogue journals in order to encourage reflection on learning processes, especially learning
to write, and for strategy training and awareness raising as well as for writing development and as a result the written language improved. A further aim of integrating dialogue journals was to establish a more personalised relationship with students in a non-threatening and motivating way, which was in effect controlled and monitored by the learners themselves.
As an English teacher at Polatpasa High School, the researcher observed that even the most successful students are reluctant and have difficulties in writing. The process of writing is complex and cannot be memorized. Therefore, the effect of keeping a learning diary to improve the learners’ writing, vocabulary and reflective abilities should be determined and investigated.
Aim and Scope of the Study
The research aims to investigate and determine the effects of keeping diary as a means of improving learners’ writing, vocabulary and reflective skills. Further, it attempts to present an alternative teaching approach in order to solve the learners’ writing problems.
In order to achieve the main aim of the research, the researcher has attempted to find the answers to the following questions:
1. What was the student performance in writing before keeping the diary?
2. Has writing in a diary improved the vocabulary knowledge of the students?
3. What did the research participants learn from diary writing?
4. How did diary writing improve the writing skills of the participants?
5. How did the students reflect on their writings?
Limitation of the Study
The study is limited to the secondary students of Polatpasa High School. The researcher had to implement the diary keeping process to the classes she was assigned to teach. The language level of the students discovered to be less than it was anticipated by the researcher before the study.
Definition of Terms
To ensure a clear understanding of the research, terms used throughout the study are defined as follows:
REFLECTION: Reflection is serious and careful thought. It is the process whereby learners think about and try to make sense of prior situations and experiences. The Oxford English Dictionary (1994) defines the word reflection as ‘the action of turning back or fixing the thoughts on some subject; meditation, deep or serious consideration’.
METACOGNITIVE STRATEGY: Manages a learner’s thinking about and planning for learning. It includes self-evaluation, planning and self-monitoring. Reflective practice involves a metacognitive approach in which professionals observe their own actions, evaluate them in light of theory, and use that theory to generate and monitor improvements in their own practice. The main concept of metacognition is thinking about one's own thoughts. Metacognitive knowledge is what one knows, metacognitive skill is what one is currently doing and metacognitive experience is what one's current cognitive or affective state is. The source of metacognitive thought is tied to the person's own internal mental representations of that reality, which can include what one knows about that internal
representation, how it works, and how one feels about it. Flavell (1979) defines metacognition as “the knowledge and cognition about cognitive phenomena".
ACTION RESEARCH: Action Research involves inquiring into one’s own practice through a cyclical process which involves planning, acting, observing and reflecting. Action research is defined as "a systematic approach to investigating one's own situation (Bailey and Nunan, 1996). Most models of action research represent a sequence of planning, acting, observing, reflecting, and replanning, which necessarily involves certain longitudinality.
LEARNING JOURNAL: The learning journal is a written record of what one has done each day: a diary. It is a record of activities, thought, observations or feelings. A learning journal is a hand written in a notebook or on a pad of paper as a means of recording, thoughts, reflections, personal opinions and even hopes and fears during an educational experience.
Journal is a systematic and analytical record of one’s reflections. The most popular vehicle for promoting reflection is a ‘learning journal’. There are many different types such as workbooks, diaries, logs, progress files and profiles. All serve as a point of focus for students to look back over their recent learning and order their thoughts to identify strengths, witnesses, new levels of understanding learnt and review attitudes.
REFLECTIVE JOURNALS: They are used to allow students to reflect on their own learning. They can be open-ended or the teacher can provide guiding, reflective questions for the students to respond to. These provide an understanding on how the students are synthesizing their learning but it also helps the students to make connections and better realize how they learn. Reflective journals are used for reflection of experience.
LEARNING DIARY: A learning diary is a notebook, booklet of blank pages, or an electronic or audio source for students to record thoughts, reactions to learning experiences, and personal fears about a learning activity. A learning diary is used to record one’s
thoughts and feelings or what has happened on that day. It is a means of self-analysis because it gives the students the opportunity to reflect on their difficulties and successes.
LOG: is a type of journal. Log is a full written record of an event, a journey or a period of time. Learning logs are journals in which students record personal responses, queries, feelings, thoughts and knowledge about processes and content of their learning. They are not diaries to record daily activities or another book to record information. Learning logs involve students in identifying, analysing and reflecting on aspects of their learning, rather than recounting or describing an activity.
CHAPTER TWO
Review of Literature
Historical Background to the Study
The idea of thinking about one's own cognition can be confronted since the time of Plato and Aristotle. Plato claims that people get background knowledge through inquiry performed in their past lives. As people go through life, they form assumptions about the answers to various questions, and in the meanwhile use them as though they were background knowledge for still other situations.
The term reflection, stated as thinking above, refers to the ‘perception of the state of our own minds,' (Locke, 1690) or 'the notice which the mind takes of its own operations' (Brown, 1987). Researchers from different fields have different perspectives on the meaning of reflection but the concept usually refers to deeper thinking and learning. John Dewey, a writer of philosophy, psychology, education, political science and arts explained reflection as the ‘active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends’(1910). Reflective thinking involves (1) a state of doubt, hesitation, perplexity and mental difficulty in which thinking originates, and (2) an act of searching, hunting, inquiring, to find material that will resolve the doubt, settle and dispose of the perplexity (Dewey, 1933). He states that one reflects in order to know whatever he wants, whenever and wherever he wants to know. Reflection is ‘an important human activity in which people recapture their experience, think about it, mull it over and evaluate it’ (Boud, Keogh and Walker, 1985). Schon (1988) describes reflection as ‘people’s attempt to make sense of the
largely unordered and chaotic world in which they operate’. Dewey (1933) and Schon’s (1983) works gave descriptions of the reflective process. They presented the process of reflection as having the following sequence:
- Think back
- Try to remember as much detail of the events as possible - Investigate reasons for the events
- Re-frame events in light of several theoretical frameworks - Generate multiple understandings
- Decide on what needs to be done next in relation to the analysis of what has already happened.
According to Schon (1983), it is essential that learners can learn through reflection upon experiences. In this manner, the learners will be better able to construct working schemas that will help them on future learning tasks.
Reflection in Education
Reflection has a great deal of background to the art of teaching and it has become a vital and prolific part of teaching and learning. For many years, ‘reflective teaching’ has been an extremely popular concept among professional educators in the UK and internationally (Pollard, 2002). When we come to the art of teaching in terms of reflection, reflection is defined as the way of thinking to describe what a learner or an educator himself does.
From the educational perspective, reflection is regarded as a way to think about educational matters that involves the ability to make rational choices and assume
responsibility for those choices (Ross, 1990). Reflective education facilitates the linking of theory and practice, develops the proficiency of students to critical evaluation and enables them to take a more active role in their learning (Bain, Ballantyne, Packer and Mills, 1999).
Individual reflection is an important strategy that may enhance the development of insight, increase cognitive awareness, promote critical thinking, and prompt personal transformation (Andrusyszyn and Davie, 1997).
When delving into the literature to learn about reflection, it is found that the professional development in teachers and improvement in students generated by reflection is outstandingly distinguishable. Reflection is a ‘process that may be applied in puzzling situations to help the learner make better sense of the information at hand, and to enable the teacher to guide and direct learning in appropriate ways.’ (Loughran, 2002)
Reflective Teaching
reasoning, critical thinking, analysis, planning and evaluating. Reflective teaching which refers to teachers subjecting their beliefs and practices to self-analysis means looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about why you do it, and thinking about if it works.
It is a process of self-observation and self-evaluation. By collecting information about what goes on in our classroom, and by analysing and evaluating this information, we identify and explore our own practices and underlying beliefs. This may then lead to changes and improvements in our teaching. Reflective teaching is therefore a means of professional development which begins in our classroom.
Pollard (2002) reviewed the process of reflective teaching as supporting the development and maintenance of professional expertise and feeding a constructive spiral of professional development and capability (see figure 1).
Figure 1: The Spiral of Professional Development
Pollard (2002) lists the seven key characteristics of reflective practice as:
1. Reflective teaching implies an active concern with aims and consequences, as well as means and technical efficiency.
2. Reflective teaching is applied in a cyclical or spiralling process in which teachers monitor, evaluate and revise their own practice continuously.
3. Reflective teaching requires competence in methods of evidence-based classroom enquiry, to support the progressive development of higher standard teaching.
4. Reflective teaching requires attitudes of open-mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness.
5. Reflective teaching is based on teacher judgement, informed by evidence-based enquiry and insights from other research.
6. Reflective teaching, professional learning and personal fulfilment are enhanced through collaboration and dialogue with colleagues.
7. Reflective teaching enables teachers to creatively mediate externally developed frameworks for teaching and learning.
In reflective teaching, teachers reflect upon their classroom experiences by self- observation and self-evaluation. They collect data about their own teaching to examine their attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions and then use the information obtained as a basis for critical reflection on teaching practices (Richards, 1996). Teachers ask themselves;
Why am I doing what I am doing?
What are the consequences of my teaching?
How could I have done that differently?
How can I improve?
Henderson (1992) defined reflective teachers as expert teachers who know their subject matter and are able to teach it well. Reflective teachers embrace their decision- making responsibilities and regularly reflect on the consequences of their actions. They are receptive to new knowledge and regularly learn from their reflective experience.
Reflective teaching implies a process of gathering, recording and analysing the teachers’
thoughts and observations, as well as those of the students in order to make changes for enhancement. Zeichner and Liston (1996) define reflective teacher as the one who:
‘examines, frames, and attempts to solve the dilemmas of classroom practice;
is aware of and questions the assumptions and values he or she brings to teaching;
is attentive to the institutional and cultural context in which he or she teaches;
takes part in curriculum development and is involved in school change efforts;
takes responsibility for his or her own professional development.’
Lier (1996) discusses the status of reflection as an integral part of professional practice and shows the various types of research modalities as a diagram in figure 2.
Figure 2. Educational Research
Korthagen (1993) states that in reflective teaching teachers use their beliefs about teaching and learning to critically analyze the educational situation and take more responsibility for their own actions in class. Farrell (2001) believes that in order to develop reflective teaching, teachers should have opportunities to use reflection to understand the relationship between their own thoughts and actions. Since reflection is regarded as one of the important elements in teacher education, many educators agree that some form of reflection should be practiced among teachers because reflective teaching, as an inquiry- oriented habit, helps the teachers to become adaptive and to engage in self monitoring (Farrell, 2001).
The forms of reflective teaching practice mentioned in literature are action learning, action research, clinical supervision, mind mapping, peer observation, journal keeping and teaching portfolios.
Action Learning
Action learning can be defined as a process in which a group of people come together more or less regularly to help each other to learn from their experience.
Action learning is described by Mcgill and Beatty (1992) as a continuous process of learning and reflection, supported by colleagues, with an intention of achieving. Through action learning individuals learn from each other by working on real problems and reflecting on their own experiences. Action research is defined by Leo van Lier (1996) as a type of research that is done by teachers, either on their own or in collaboration with academics or other teachers.
Action Research
Action research is a process by which change and understanding can be pursued at the one time. It is usually described as cyclic, with action and critical reflection taking place in turn. The reflection is used to review the previous action and plan the next one. It is commonly done by a group of people, though sometimes individuals use it to improve their practice. It has been used often in the field of education for this purpose. It is not unusual for there to be someone from outside the team who acts as a facilitator.
Action research involves the collection and analysis of data related to some aspects of professional practice (Wallace, 1998). Action research sets out to produce a theory of practice. Action research involves inquiring into one's own practice through a cyclical process which involves planning, acting, observing and reflecting (Kemmis and McTaggart, 1988). Action research, like action learning, is designed to produce improvement to practice and it is based on a cyclical and collaborative reflection-on action process. Burns (2000) sets out the stages of action research:
- Identification of a general idea (how to apply reflective writing as a teaching and learning strategy.)
- A literature review on the area of research (reflective learning journals)
- Implementation of the action plan and interpretation and evaluation of the outcomes.
Clinical Supervision
In clinical supervision a supervisor observes a practitioner at work and provides a feedback and discussion session with the person observed in order to review and improve the existing practice and develop the abilities and skills of the practitioner.
Journal Keeping
Journal keeping involves making reflections explicit through writing and thereby making them available to inform action. A journal can also include collecting artefacts such as pasted articles and drawings. The recent trend of requiring students to use journals (Ballantyne and Packer, 1995) means that journals are being used for teaching tools as well as for reflection on teaching.
Journals are used both as an occasional tool for reflection and on a regular basis.
Those used on a regular base sometimes serve as one of the methods for data collection within review and development projects and programs (e.g. Bell, 1996 and McDrury, 1996).
“Keeping a journal is a learning process in which you are the learner and the one who teaches.” (Holly, 1989)
Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is a process by which the connected ideas surrounding a particular concept or problem are drawn in a map fashion so as to enable the practitioner to reflect on them and to clarify and/or reshape them and move onwards (Buzan, 1983). This has been used as a device for helping students and lecturers reflect on their learning and teaching, respectively.
Peer Observation
Peer observation occurs when colleagues undertake to observe each other teach and follow up with constructive discussion about what was observed. A colleague comes into the trainer’s class to collect information about the lesson. It is a simple observation task or note taking. A colleague focuses on which students contribute most in the lesson, what different patterns of interaction occur or how the trainer deals with errors.
Teaching Portfolios
Teaching portfolios are a collection of evidence of development in teaching expertise. They can contain an unlimited variety of materials including lists of courses taught, improvements in teaching, personal teaching philosophy, evidence of successes, evidence of engaging in professional development in teaching.
Dewey substituted the word "inquiry" for "reflective thinking" in his work, Logic:
The Theory of Inquiry (1938). Inquiry, according to Dewey (1933) is the "active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion which it tends." Inquiry in this perspective refers to the activity engaged in to generate knowledge in the light of new experience and implies something more active than thinking.
According to John Dewey, three attitudes are necessary to become reflective teachers and these are open-mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness. Eby, Tann, and Pollard's model of systematic reflective teaching, as an outcome of Dewey's work, consists of four important characteristics (Pollard and Tann 1993; Eby, 1992):
(a) reflective teaching is an active concern with aims, consequences, means and technical efficiency,
(b) reflective teaching combines inquiry and implementation skills with attitudes of open- mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness,
(c) reflective teaching is applied in an ongoing process in which teachers continually monitor, evaluate, and revise their own experience, and
(d) reflective teaching is based on teacher judgment, informed partly by self-reflection and partly by insights from educational disciplines.
Figure 3: Pollard’s Cycle, 2002
Reflective Learning
Reflection has long been believed as being useful in the learning process. Reflection illuminates what has been experienced and provides a basis for future action (Raelin, 2001).
The reflective learner can be seen as someone who explores their experiences of learning to better understand how they learn with a view ultimately to improve their further learning.
Reflective learners are likely to be more self-aware and self-critical; honest about themselves, and open to criticism and feedback, objective in weighing up evidence, open to and prepared to try different approaches, curious to discover other approaches, motivated to improve, and more able to carry through independent learning.
Students assess their learning and suggest reasons to explain their assessment ranking. For example, after each lecture students complete a quick assessment and reflect
REFLECT
PLAN
MAKE PROVISION
ACT ANALYSE DATA
EVALUATE DATA
COLLECT DATA
on their performance. They can do this in each practical test through the semester, to identify areas of weakness and suggesting strategies to overcome them. Strategies likely to improve and encourage reflection include:
Self-assessment / Peer-assessment
Learning logs
Critical incident diaries
Fieldwork diaries/logs
Personal development planners
Reflective commentaries
Action research
Reflective diaries as tools for reflection provide opportunity for expression of personal thoughts which require the writers to think back on their own learning activities.
Diary allows students to examine and express their learning in a personal way. Reflective learners think about new information first before acting on it. They think through problems first on their own. A reflective learner learns best when time is allocated for thinking about and digesting new information. Britton, Burgess, Martin, McLeod, and Rosen (1975) suggest when people write about new information they learn and understand the information better. It is helpful to stop and periodically review new work, write summaries and think of possible questions about new information.
Reflective practice is referred to as experiential learning. "Tell me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand" (Confucius circa 450 BC). Experiential Learning Theory "provides a holistic model of the learning process and a multilinear model of adult development" (Kolb, Baker, Jensen, 2002). In other words, this is an inclusive model of adult learning that intends to explain the complexities of and
differences between adult learners within a single framework. The focus of this theory is experience, which serves as the main force in learning, as knowledge is constructed through the transformative reflection on one's experience (Kolb, Baker, Jensen, 2002). In experiential learning students learn by doing things themselves. They become the creators not just the receivers of knowledge. Information is presented in a non-linear way and users develop more flexible thinking skills and choose what to explore.
According to Schön (1983), there are two types of reflection: reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. Reflection-in-action involves the analysis, interpretation, decision- making, and action that learners display as they undertake a learning experience and reflection-on-action refers to a learner’s attempt to mentally reconstruct the learning situation for the purpose of further analyzing, thinking about, and appreciating the learning experience. Reflection in action refers to man's unstable, implicit knowledge that drives his actions, the processes that are unwritten, non-logical and ever-present in effective practice.
Reflection in action binds up research and practice, and knowing and doing.
Griffiths and Tam (1992) arranged various categories of reflections into two levels:
1. Reflection-in-action: likely to be personal and private.
a. Act-react (rapid reaction)
b. Reaction-monitor-react/ rework-plan-act (repair)
2. Reflection-on-action: likely to be interpersonal and collegial.
a. Act-observe-analyze and evaluate-plan-act (review)
b. Act-observe systematically-analyze rigorously-evaluate-plan-act (research) c. Act-observe systematically-analyze rigorously-evaluate-retheorise-plan-act (retheorising and reformulating)
Boud, Keogh, and Walker (1985) define reflection as ‘intellectual and affective activities in which individuals engage to explore their experiences in order to lead to new understandings and appreciations’. This idea of reflection is similar to Kolb’s model of experiential learning. David Kolb describes a four-phase learning cycle (see figure 4).
Kolb’s Cycle of Learning can be viewed in terms of reflection-in-action in that the understanding of new concepts occurs through experimentation and creativity during an exercise or experience, and also as reflection-on-action in that the learner revises an experience and reconsiders the information learnt.
Reflection is the process of observing, watching, and generally trying to make sense out of one’s concrete experiences therefore learning is both an active and a reflective process. The purpose of reflection is to promote abstract conceptualization and theory making. When the literature on reflection is reviewed, it is found that most of the work sees reflection as part of a learning cycle.
Figure 4: Kolb’s Learning Cycle.
ACTIVE
EXPERIMENTATION
MORE CRITICAL REFLECTION
ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALIZATION
CRITICAL REFLECTION EXPERIENCE
The learning model outlined by the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) contains two distinct modes of experience related to each other: concrete experience (apprehension) and abstract conceptualization (comprehension). Concrete experience involves readings, examples, observations and problems. Abstract conceptualisation involves learning from experience and coming to conclusions. In addition, there are also two distinct modes of transforming the experience so that learning is achieved: reflective observation (intension) and active experimentation (extension) (Kolb, Baker, and Jensen 2002). Reflective observation involves reflecting on the experience and it relates to logs, journals, brainstorming and questions. Examples for the active experimentation phase, which is trying out what is learned, are laboratory and field work, case study, simulations and projects. When these four modes of experience and transforming are analysed together, they form a four-stage learning cycle that learners go through during the experiential learning process. The process begins with a real experience, which then leads the learners to monitor and reflect on their experience. After the period of reflective monitoring, the learners put their thoughts together to create abstract concepts about what occurred, which will serve as guides for future actions. With these guides in place, the learners actively test what they have constructed leading to new experiences and the learning cycle restarts (Kolb, Baker, Jensen 2002). Reflection or thinking about what, how and why you did form a fundamental part of learning. Reflection assists learning as it is a way for critical analysis, problem solving, synthesis of opposing ideas, evaluation, identifying patterns and creating meaning.
According to Kolb (1984), learning is a cyclical process of discovery and testing and the learner cycles through the four stages of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Concrete experience is learning by intuition with an involvement in personal experiences and an emphasis on feeling over thinking. Abstract conceptualization is learning by thinking using logic and a systematic
approach to problem-solving. Reflective observation is learning by perception focusing on understanding the meaning of ideas and situations by careful observation. Active experimentation is learning by action with an emphasis on practical applications and getting things done. Experiential learning consists of a four-stage cycle combining all of these orientations (Kohonen et al., 2001). Learners display a preference for selected parts of the learning cycle. Kolb believes that the most effective learners are those who can feel comfortable to undertaking any stage of the learning cycle. Educators should attempt to help their students improve the skills, approaches, and skills that will let them to carry out all parts of the learning cycle.
Gibb’s (1988) reflective cycle (see figure 5) is less complicated and gives a clear description of the situation, analysis of feelings, evaluation of the experience, analysis to make sense of the experience, conclusion where other options are considered and reflection upon experience to examine what you would do if the situation arose again.
Figure 5: Gibb’s Reflective Cycle
Experiential learning is a cyclical process that experiences for acquisition of knowledge which involves setting goals, thinking, planning, experimentation, reflection,
observation, and review. By engaging in these activities, learners create meaning in a way unique to themselves, integrating the cognitive, emotional, and physical aspects of learning.
In particular, reflection is the process of observing, watching and trying to make sense out of one’s concrete experiences. The purpose is to promote abstract conceptualization and theory making. The communicative use of language or experiential learning, which is an authentic process, is needed for achievement in language learning. The rules of a language can be learnt by experiencing otherwise it develops into memorising and the memorised information can be lost.
Reflective learning is the process of self-observation and self-evaluation. By identifying and exploring own practices, learners get to changes and improvements in their learning. Reflective learning is a means of educational development. The aim of a learner- centred approach is to make learners take control of their learning. Each context and learner needs its own methodology. In learner-centred approach, the learner is centralized, and the needs of the learner have priority in the learning process. Reflection is a kind of mental activity which happens under the operation of motivational forces (Wildman, Magliaro and McLaughlin 1992). Involving learners in the process increases motivation and therefore the success. The cognitive and metacognitive strategies which are learner-centred strategies are used for this purpose of increasing motivation and success.
Metacognitive Knowledge
Questions surrounding an individual’s ability to reflect are at the centre of the historical roots of the concept of metacognition (Brown, 1987). Metacognitive knowledge is considered as an awareness of one's own knowledge on many different levels.
Metacognition has been defined as "having knowledge (cognition) and having understanding, control over, and appropriate use of that knowledge" (Tei and Stewart, 1985). Thus, it involves both the conscious awareness and the conscious control of one's learning. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies play an important role in language learning. Meta means after or behind and cognition means the act or process of knowing or perception. Metacognition, therefore, is the understanding of what is behind, what supports or informs readers’ knowledge and perception. According to Ian Tudor, metacognitive strategies relate to the way in which a learner plans, monitors and evaluates his learning.
‘Metacognition encompasses thinking about one’s own learning processes as well as the ability to act on that information (Wray and Medwell, 1994). Metacognitive strategies are general learning skills and grow out a learner’s awareness of his learning goals and his understanding of language learning.
In the simplest terms metacognition means understanding the processes of knowing or how readers know and perceive. Metacognition is defined by Clive Dimmock (2000) as the situation where students are able to organise and structure their thoughts, as well as develop successful learning strategies, as aids to gaining and understanding”. The cognitive strategy gives learners the ability to use their previous knowledge to deal with a new problem. Metacognition is being aware of the way for the solution. The basic metacognitive strategies according to Dirkes (1985) are: Connecting new information to former knowledge, selecting thinking strategies deliberately and planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes. Stern (1992) sets out planning, monitoring and evaluation as metacognitive strategies and states that the learner plans his learning, sets objectives, assesses progress as the learning proceeds and evaluates achievement in relation to previously set goals. These are typical techniques included under the management and planning strategy.
As an area of inquiry, metacognition is divided into three components:
Metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive judgements and monitoring, and control and self- regulation of cognition (Pintrich, 1996). Metacognitive knowledge is the awareness of one's knowledge and cognitive strategies. Cognitive techniques contributing to the development of the language system are identified by Wenden and Rubin (1987) as classification\verification, guessing\inductive inferencing, deductive reasoning, practice, memorization and monitoring. Through reflection, one becomes aware of his own knowledge or cognitive strategies; and cannot monitor or regulate his own cognitive strategies, if he is not aware of what those strategies are. Metacognition is the knowledge and awareness one has of their own thinking processes and strategies and the ability to evaluate and regulate one’s own thinking processes (Wilson, 2000).
Baird (1999) also describes three components of metacognition: Metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive awareness and metacognitive control. Metacognitive knowledge is the knowledge of the nature of effective learning techniques and personal learning characteristics. Metacognitive awareness is the awareness of the task of progress and metacognitive control consists of motivation and decisions about approach, improvement and results.
Metacognition and reflection are concerned with the process of monitoring, regulating and controlling and individuals thinking about their thinking. It is useful to consider reflection as the verb of the process of thinking about thinking whereas metacognition is the adjective used to describe the awareness of thinking (Daniels, 2002).
The objective of teachers is to teach students to ‘know how to know’ or, in other words, meta-cognition which can be defined as ‘thinking about thinking’. Metacognition is the
‘awareness of what you know about how you know (Borkowsky et al.1990) and the
objective of reflective approach is metacognition which is teaching students to develop self reflection in their learning process.
Metacognitive strategy is the learner’s planning, managing and assessing the individual process of learning. When instructors introduce strategies that promote metacognition, students have an opportunity to reflect on their own thought processes so they can become skilful at monitoring, assessing, and improving their own thinking. In
“Educating the Reflective Practitioner”, the educational theorist Donald A. Schon (1987) sees the role of the teacher as a reflective practitioner.
Schon (1987) divides metacognition into two brands of reflection: reflection-in- action and reflection-on-action. Reflection-in-action refers to the immediately recursive thought a person puts toward the action at hand, and reflection-on-action is post-activity reflection on the activity. Different sources studied involved the theory of learning and reflection. John Cowan (1998) combined Schon’s (1987) ideas about reflection and Kolb’s (1984) work on the learning cycles and created the Cowan diagram (see figure 6).
Cowan diagram (1998) defines the three reflection stages to improve the learning process; before (for), during (in) and after (on). In before (for) stage a decision is made about what the learning process will be to meet the personal or team needs. During (in) stage is for considering how the process and learning goals are being achieved and what action needs to be taken. In after (on) stage whether the goals have been met or not and what could have been done better are studied.
Reflection on the reading, writing, and learning processes might well be the students' key to understanding their writing processes and to growing as successful writers.
Therefore, activities that facilitate the students' metacognitive action are useful. Students need to be able to explain and evaluate how they did it, so they can transfer the skills to
future situations and other settings. The concept map of Jan Wahl (2004) (see figure 6) explains the relationship between metacognitive and cognitive strategies.
Figure 6: Cowan diagram (1998)
Reflective teaching expands understanding of the teaching-learning process, expands one’s repertoire of strategic options as a language teacher and enhances the quality of learning opportunities one is able to provide in language classrooms.
Figure 7: Concept map of Metacognitive Strategies
Elaine Blakey and Sheila Spence (1990) list a number of strategies for developing metacognitive behaviours:
1. Identifying "what you know" and "what you don't know"
At the beginning of a research activity students need to make conscious decisions about their knowledge. Initially students write "What I already know about..." and "What I want to learn about...." As students research the topic, they will verify, clarify and expand, or replace with more accurate information, each of their initial statements.
2. Talking about thinking
Talking about thinking is important because students need a thinking vocabulary.
During planning and problem-solving situations, teachers should think aloud so that students can follow demonstrated thinking processes. Modelling and discussion develop the vocabulary students need for thinking and talking about their own thinking. Labelling thinking processes when students use them is also important for student recognition of thinking skills. Paired problem-solving is another useful strategy. One student talks through a problem, describing his thinking processes. His partner listens and asks questions to help clarify thinking. Similarly, in reciprocal teaching (Palinscar, Ogle, Jones, Carr, and Ransom, 1986), small groups of students take turns playing teacher, asking questions, and clarifying and summarizing the material being studied.
3. Keeping a thinking journal
Another means of developing metacognition is through the use of a journal or learning log. This is a diary in which students reflect upon their thinking, make note of their awareness of ambiguities and inconsistencies, and comment on how they have dealt with difficulties. This journal is a diary of process.
4. Planning and self-regulation
Students must assume increasing responsibility for planning and regulating their learning. It is difficult for learners to become self-directed when learning is planned and monitored by someone else. Students can be taught to make plans for learning activities including estimating time requirements, organizing materials, and scheduling procedures necessary to complete an activity. The resource centre’s flexibility and access to a variety of materials allows the student to do just this. Criteria for evaluation must be developed with students so they learn to think and ask questions of themselves as they proceed through a learning activity.
5. Debriefing the thinking process
Closure activities focus student discussion on thinking processes to develop awareness of strategies that can be applied to other learning situations. A three step method is useful. First, the teacher guides students to review the activity, gathering data on thinking processes and feelings. Then, the group classifies related ideas, identifying thinking strategies used. Finally, they evaluate their success, discarding inappropriate strategies, identifying those valuable for future use, and seeking promising alternative approaches.
6. Self-Evaluation
Guided self-evaluation experiences can be introduced through individual conferences and checklists focusing on thinking processes. Gradually self-evaluation will be
applied more independently. As students recognize that learning activities in different disciplines are similar, they will begin to transfer learning strategies to new situations.
Wenden (1987) argues that teachers can help students develop and revise metacognitive knowledge by giving them opportunities to reflect upon their metacognitive knowledge. The metacognitive knowledge of learning helps learners to improve their ways of planning and organising their learning tasks and processes. While cognitive strategies are used to deal directly with incoming information, metacognitive strategies are used to regulate the various strategies of language learning and use. Schon (1983) divides metacognition into two kinds of reflection: reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action.
Reflection-on-action is defined as the basis of much of the literature in relation to reflective teaching and reflective teacher education, and is similar to Dewey’s concept of reflection. It is a post-activity reflection on the activity. Reflection-on-action, according to Schon (1983), projects teachers as being aware of the decisions they are taking and the changes they are making in the light of feedback as they work critically. They collect data on their practice and recreate a practical truth in words and pictures that can be evaluated within a limited time. Reflection-in-action is understood through phrases like ‘learning something while doing it’. It refers to the immediately recursive thought a person puts toward the action at hand.
Writing in a journal encourages metacognition, and the learning of those with a metacognitive view of their functioning is generally better (Flavell, 1979). Metacognitive strategies are highly suited to reflective writing practice because they lend themselves to thinking about the learning process, monitoring language production and evaluating progress. At the same time, such free writing practice enables learners to be independent, providing the necessary space for them to discover and share a wide range of learning techniques with a supportive reader and helping them develop not only cognitive, but also
metacognitive strategies so that they can move towards greater independence and take greater control of their learning themselves. By using dialogue journals learners are able to become skilful language users because ‘they are not only learning to write but are in fact writing to learn’ (Oxbrow, 2000).
Writing
As one of the communicative activities, writing has a crucial role in educational social and professional life. According to William Grabe and Robert B. Kaplan (1998), writing is an internally motivated activity but the tasks that teachers necessarily assign are contrary to this description. People write to transmit an idea or thought in social life but this is different in educational life. In educational life writing is the result of a teacher’s assigning. The writing tasks in language learning are mainly decided by the teacher and learners are not self-motivated to transmit an idea or thought. Writing is one way of providing variety in classroom procedures. In language education, in order to prevent the process of writing from merely being an assignment, by using diaries or journals, the aim of the process is integrated into the writing process. The most important factor in writing exercises is that students are personally involved in order to make the learning experience of lasting value.
As Doff (1988) writes, the main importance of writing at elementary level is helping students to learn. Writing is helpful to the development of writing skills. Writing new words and structures helps students to remember them. Writing is slower than speaking therefore written practice helps to focus students’ attention on what they are learning (Doff, 1988).
Writing allows students to reflect and improve. According to Scrivener (1998) ‘writing involves a different kind of mental process. There is more time to think, to reflect, to
prepare, to rehearse, to make mistakes and find alternative and better solutions.’ Writing and thinking cannot be separated. Writing is a complex process that encourages thinking and learning because it motivates communication and makes thought available for reflection. Through writing, ideas can be re-evaluated to change or add a component.
Thinking is central to learning. Learners, who are able to make their thought processes concrete through writing, improve their learning competences.
According to Kurtus (2003), one of the best ways to get started writing and improving writing skills is writing down own thoughts, experiences and observations in a daily journal. Yinger (1985) discusses many different types of journal exercises and concludes ‘writing is a powerful tool for learning’. A student diary is an effective writing media. As a complex process, writing can be achieved by integrating the rules that language with proficiency and motivation to result in production. Writing must have a clearly perceived and explicitly formulated purpose (Harris, 1993).
Keeping Diary
The terms reflective diaries, learning journals and logs are often used interchangeably to express similar document types. These documents are recorded over a period of time through an experience and are used by students to look back over their recent learning and order their thoughts in order to identify strengths, weaknesses, new levels of understanding learnt and review attitudes. They are also used increasingly to record learning in situations like fieldwork and work placements.
Diary, journal and log writing are reflective processes that make learners active when writing. The use of learning diaries is a structured approach to encourage reflection.
Student diary is a daily reflection to involve students in the process of comprehending and producing language. According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1983) a diary is a
‘daily record of events or transactions, a journal; specifically, a daily record of matters affecting the writer personally’. The New Oxford Dictionary (1998) defines a journal as ‘a daily record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary’. Alternative approaches and exercises that may be used in journals are summarised in Moon (1999) (see Table 1).
With regard to self-assessment, journals can be used to help learners systematically collect data on their learning (Oscarson 1989). Students write about their learning goals, reflections on their learning or their learning development.
Table 1: Exercises for use in journals
Writing from different perspectives:
Asking the student to write about their experience of an exercise/event in the third person may help promote a different viewpoint of their approach to the problem.
Unsent letter: Writing the experience in the form of an honest open letter to someone. The letter is then kept in the journal.
Reflection on a book or reading assignment:
Using the journal to keep a running commentary on reading and writing tasks - a good way of encouraging a student's feelings about a piece of literature.
A critical friend: Assigning partners over a set period of time for the purpose of comparing and criticising experiences and approaches.
Describing the process of solving problems:
This may be particularly useful in the sciences or subjects that have a structured sequence of stages in the process of problem-solving.
Focussing on past experience Drawing parallels with different experiences may provide a new outlook and promote a more imaginative approach.
that has relevance for current learning:
Lists: Writing lists can generate lots of ideas 'What am I good at?', 'Things I could change to encourage me to read more'. Lists could be generated by peer-discussions during a tutorial.
Stepping stones: Starting with a topic/experience in mind, the writer lists in chronological order, their memories of this 'event'. By promoting memory recall, this often brings out unexpected experiences and can be interesting if a whole group of individuals, each working on this topic, share ideas.
A diary contains the writer’s thoughts and activities, usually not projected to be shared with others. Journal writing has been used for different purposes. Journals are used to reflect on the teaching and learning process. To develop reflective teaching, teachers need to collect data about their teaching. Keeping a journal is accordingly used as a means to enable the teachers to raise consciousness of their teaching, which is regarded as the first stage of reflective teaching.
Learning diaries, which are also referred to as reflective journals, learning journals, diaries, record books, portfolios, verbatim, sociological diaries, dossiers, logs, and think books (Fulwiler, 1987; Popp, 1997), provide students with a structured way to reflect on and think about their learning.
The three terms diary, journal and log are used interchangeably in similar meanings and in this study the term diary will be used as a reflective record of a learning experience.
Hiemstra (2001) defines a learning journal as a hand written entry in a notebook or on a pad of paper as a means for recording thoughts, reflections, feelings, personal opinions, and even hopes or fears during an educational experience (Hiemstra, 2001). Progoff (1975) even
suggests having simulated conversations with the inner self or real conversations with others, including obtaining feedback, as a means of furthering any value received from the process. Instructors have mainly used the writing journal to encourage a comfortable writing environment outside the class in which students write reflectively for themselves.
To facilitate the development of the process of reflection and reflective learning during training, many professional education programmes engage students in writing reflective journals as one of the learning activities (Conner-Greene, 2000; Patton, Wood and Agarenzo, 1997; Woodward, 1998). Learning diaries are used by students to comment on how they feel their learning is progressing. Entries in a learning diary are meant to explore a student’s beliefs and feelings about his/her learning. In particular, the act of writing leads the student to revisiting the learning experience. Hopefully this re-visitation will lead the student to a deeper understanding of his/her primary conceptions of the topic.
Writing is suggested as the best means to observe and collect evidence to help in the reflection process (Bartlett 1989). There is no one right approach to writing learning diaries.
Students provide their personal reaction to the content and usefulness of the learning topic upon which they are writing.
A practical technique to encourage the practice of reflection is the use of logs or journals. As a reflective method, the journal can promote growth, help reconcile the personal with the professional self, and document the writer's growth, development and transformation (Diamond, 1991). The benefits of using a learning diary are impressive.
Fulwiler (1987), Lohman and Schwalbe (1996), and Veitch (1999) have written about these benefits which are the better understanding of the subject material, greater cognitive and affective development and improved skills on thinking and understanding. Moon’s (1999) findings supported the belief that every time a learner chooses to write or is asked to write a
learning journal, a different purpose for the process is given. In a review of a study on journal writing Moon (1999) found eighteen purposes for journal writing:
To record experience
To facilitate learning from experience
To support understanding and the representation of the understanding To develop critical thinking or the development of a questioning attitude To encourage metacognition
To increase ability in reflection and thinking To enhance problem solving skills
As a means of assessment in formal education
For reasons of personal development and self empowerment
For therapeutic purposes or as a means of supporting behaviour change To enhance creativity
To improve writing
To improve or give voice as a means of self expression
To foster communication, reflective and creative interaction in a group To support planning and progress in research or a project
As a means of communication between a learner and another
Vocabulary
Psychologists, linguists, and language teachers have been interested in vocabulary learning strategies for a long time (Levenston, 1979). One way to see the overall task of vocabulary learning is through the distinction between knowing a word and using a word. In other words, the purpose of vocabulary learning should include both remembering words
and the ability to use them automatically in a wide range of language contexts when the need arises (McCarthy, 1984). Vocabulary learning strategies should include strategies for knowing and using a word. According to Allen (1983), in order to make basic English words necessary for communication, students should be engaged in activities that require those English words for the exchange of information or the expression of personal feelings.
Self-Assessment
Self-assessment is a key issue in self-directed learning as it enables learners to set goals and to observe and evaluate their own learning. Self-assessment is the monitoring of one’s own learning which encourages meaningful reflection. It requires the use of both reflective and metacognitive skills and thus students become more aware of themselves as learners. Regular self-assessment promotes the development of reflective and metacognitive skills. Reflective diaries improve student assessment performance (Conner-Greene, 2000).
Building in self-assessment ‘is a key to progress’ (White and Baird 1984).
A learning diary is a daily record of a learning experience in which the student is self-assessed. Writing learning diaries to reflect on learning and to promote metacognition is a form of self-assessment. It is a tool to involve students in their learning and is used by learners to evaluate and monitor their own level of understanding. ‘Self-assessment is what the students see from their own perspectives’ (Oscarson 1989). By self-assessing, students get information about their own learning and develop metacognitive awareness of knowledge and thought. Enabling students to self-monitor their learning practice is regarded
as a way to help students develop knowledge through conscious control over that knowledge or to develop metacognitive awareness of knowledge and thought (Vygotsky 1962 cited in Wray 1994).
Many educators believe that self-assessment is a tool to involve students in their learning. Oscarson (1989) believes that self-assessment can promote learning because it gives learners training in evaluation which is important for autonomous learning. Gardner and Miller (1999) suggest the use of self-assessment because it enables the learners to reflect on their progress. Reflection enhances responsibility and enables learners to take more control of their learning. Being asked questions on what and how they have learnt encourages evaluative approaches in the learners and develops goal-orientation because the learners are conscious of variability of language learning purposes and they are manage their own learning situation.
Reflection and self-assessment are related since self-assessment is a useful tool to help students reflect on their practice and understand that learning is a process, not just an event that happens and finishes (Schon 1983, Gould and Taylor 1996). Journal writing, classroom observation and group discussion are the recommended methods to enhance reflection (Ho and Richards 1993, Richards and Lockhart 1996, McDonough 1994).
CHAPTER 3
Methodology
Research Design
This research was designed to investigate and determine the effects of keeping a diary as a means of improving learners’ writing, vocabulary and reflective skills. The aim of the study was to find out the effects of keeping diary on learners’ writing, vocabulary and reflective skills. The groups of the study underwent the same education through the study as they were in the same class. The participants of the research were chosen by random selection. The research has a quasi-experimental two-group pretest-posttest design using an untreated control group.
Procedures
At the beginning of the study, when introducing diary keeping to the students, the researcher started with the oral questions ‘What is a diary?’, ‘Do you keep a diary?’ in order to attract interests and draw the attention of the students to diary.
Students were asked to keep diaries for the benefit of improving their language skills. 18 students in the class volunteered to participate in the experiment and 14 students did not. At this level, the idea that volunteer students could be more successful was eliminated after analysing the results of the pre-test applied to both groups. Furthermore, the English language level of the experimental group revealed to be below the control group.
For the purpose of the diary keeping process, the experimental group was asked 7 questions to answer after every school day. The class had at least one English course every school day so they wrote about the lesson daily. They were assigned to answer the given questions after every school day through the diary keeping process. The questions were about the English language lesson. First week, the questions asked to the students to write about were as follows:
1. What did you learn today? Explain.
2. What was the most and the least enjoyable parts of the lesson?
3. Was it easy or difficult?
4. Did you get answer to your question? What was the teacher’s answer?
5. Were you an active participant? Why?
6. What should you do to practice today’s topic?
7. Who was the most successful student in the lesson today? Why?
Questions were designed to help students reflect on what they had learned and observed during the lesson. The reflective diary is a self-reflection in which the students are required to focus on their thoughts about the lesson.
In this type of study, answering the same questions continuously leads to a repetition in answers which is not an expected outcome of the study therefore some changes were made in diary questions through the study. Keeping the same questions through the study might have had a negative influence on participants’ interest, concentration and enthusiasm in diary keeping. The questions were changed according to the new topics introduced to the students in lessons. In three weeks time, question 7 was modified to motivate the students to use the simple past tense that they had already learned. The question was altered to:
7. What did and didn’t you do after school yesterday?
Students reflected on every language lesson and wrote in their diaries about the day.
The diaries were collected from the students on Fridays to be checked and given back on Mondays. The researcher principally responded to the entries with positive feedback in order to encourage and motivate the students to write more. In addition to answering the questions, the students need to feel safe to write about other related events or what they have in their minds as well. In order to give them the opportunity to broaden the limits of their writing area, the questions were changed to more open ended questions through the diary keeping process, keeping in mind that writing is a productive skill and it is not a limited activity of answering only the given questions. Students were verbally encouraged to write as much as they could. The questions were as follows:
What does your father do every day?
What does your mother do every day?
Write about your most enjoyable day.
What will you do when you go home?
What will you do on your summer holiday?
Who is your favourite teacher? Describe.
Who is your best friend? Describe.
What will you do if you become a teacher?
Both of the experimental and the control groups were under the same educational programme and the diary keeping process was carried out for a semester by the experimental group. At the end of the semester the study group was asked to write a letter again and progress test 2 was also applied. In order to figure out the difference in vocabulary knowledge of the learners, the number of the words except for names, subject pronouns and prepositions were counted up in Letters 1 and 2 (see Appendix F). The progress tests conducted before and after the diary writing process, included 40 questions on lexical and grammatical knowledge. In the progress tests the number of the correct answers was the mark of the student in that test.
The writing performance of each student was analysed separately before and after the diary keeping process. In order to do this, a question on writing a letter and a multiple choice progress test were given to all the students before and after the process. From the pre-experimental analysis of the language levels and the performance of all participating students, the researcher did not expect a remarkable gap between the experimental and control group. The results evidently proved that the language levels and performance of the experimental and the control groups were in close proximity.
The letter writing tests of the students were marked according to a ‘Writing Criteria Marking Scheme’. The scheme contained four criteria. These were relevance and adequacy of content, lexical range, grammar and organisation, all ranging from 0 to 5 (see Appendix A). These writing tests were marked by two English language teachers; the researcher and Ilkay Baykara from Cumhuriyet High School (see appendix C) and the averages of the two marks were taken in order to be used for the research (see appendix D).
