Organisers, Learning Logs, Diaries and Journals

1. Organisers, Learning Logs, Diaries and Journals • Organisers: - an organised notebook • Learning logs: - an organised, detailed description of the language studied both in class and during self study, often carried out by filling in a table. (Holly 1984) • Diaries: - the content is left entirely up to the student, they can be more similar to a personal diary or more similar to a learning log or a mixture, the emphasis is on the students own experiences, feelings and reactions to their own learning and on the content being entirely spontaneous (cfr Hettich 1976:60) • Journals: a combination of diaries and logs

2. General comments • By keeping a record of what studied, reactions to tasks, thoughts and feelings, students are more attentive to what they and their fellow learners are doing and saying • They become more aware of the language learning process and of the language itself • Even if only limited writing practice, it is more than most students ever write, particularly non structured diaries and journals • Give guidelines and examples of the kinds of things they might write about • Logs, journals and diaries should never be graded, this would defeat the purpose of the exercise. To keep students motivated a general fail/pass/distinction could be given at the end of the school year. • Teachers can use the journals and diaries to assess students’ general progress and see which areas of language need revising – but not necessarily mark the work in red. • Self correction at the end of the year

3. Organisers • Use ring-binders with section cards • Help disorganised students to organise their studies making revision easier • Helps focus on different areas in different ways • Ensures students can keep track of what language areas have been covered

4. Learning Logs • Structured, easy to know what to do/say • Can be as detailed or general as teacher or student requires • Good revision tool • Unless ‘Comments’ section included just a repetition of teacher’s own programme. • Both pupils and teachers know how many ‘open’ activities they have done a month and what kind

5. Example of reading self study log entry: Reading

6. Learner diaries • Personal and therefore the students is addressed as a person and not a student. • Students free to write about what they want, as long as it has some connection with language learning. • Pictures and drawings are not to be discouraged as they are a part of what the student wants to say • Some students, in particular boys, can be put off by the idea of a diary – but many soon find that it can be useful. • Students have to put feelings into words which is not always easy in L1, let alone L2, but it does develop self-expression rather than structure-speak. • If teachers are to read diaries students might feel inhibited – must be reassured no-one else will read what they write

7. What can I write about? • Thoughts about activities tasks • Annoying mistakes • Annoying students • Difficulties • Achievements • Objectives/plans • Monitoring own performance • Views and opinions

8. Getting started • To help students start writing give them some opening gambits such as: This week I … I used English …. I enjoyed/hated…. In class I look forward to/dread… My biggest difficulty is… What I liked most this week… I used ………… forms/words that I learned this/last week I made somemistakes I don’t want to make again, these were:

9. Student Journals – 1 • Courses/lessons can be improved by being more responsive to student needs. • Learners’ awareness of their learning needs may increase, and both teachers and learners can improve their self evaluation skills. • Learners are empowered by participating in research, enhancing learning outcomes. • The practice of regular reflective writing can be a powerful language learning activity. • Journals can provide valuable data for reasearch into the language learning process. Adapted from Carroll 1994:19

10. Student Journals – 2Teacher involvement • Teachers can choose to take in journals: - at the end of the year - at the end of each quadrimester - once a month - on a voluntary basis • Teachers can correct language • Teachers can ignore language and comment on/respond to students observations • Teachers can do both

11. Student Journals – 3Teacher’s comments and responses • Makes students think more about what they say if they know it will be read • Students can choose to follow up T’s responses or not, if they do then interesting dialogues can develop not possible in a classroom • T must make clear what kind of responses will be given – comments on language or just on content, or both • T must not try in any way to shape or control what the students say, nor should they be judgmental • Comments can encourage students to develop ideas so that entries do not become repetitive

12. Revisiting the past • Get students to reread their own journals at the end of a few months to show they have made progress • After a few months get students to redo tasks (with the same texts) they found difficult – they should find them easier second time around

13. Who are they for? • Essentially for the student to encourage them to reflect on learning process and focus on their own strengths and weaknesses • Great tool for teachers to get feedback on activities/tasks and students’ anxiety levels • Create a more personal relationship between teacher and pupil