Writing
Ourselves for Others: Graduate Students and Professors Writing to Each Other
Journal writing has a long history
in language classrooms and has attracted increasing interest in a range of
educational settings over the past decade (e.g. Peyton,
J. 1990 & Staton, 1988). According to Fulwiler, Haviland, and
Whitehill, journal writing has been used to “help students explore their
thoughts and feelings in a low risk format and to promote more active modes of
learning” (cited in Capossela, 1992, p. 248).
In writing instruction, one specific
area of concern is dialogue journal writing in which learners and teachers make
on-going comments. Dialogue journals are
referred to as written conversations in which students and teachers communicate
on a regular basis. Students write as much as they choose, and the teacher
writes back, responding to questions, introducing new topics, or asking
questions (Vanett & Jurich, 1990). Dialogue
journal writing is the use of journal for the purpose of carrying out a genuine
writing conversation between students and teachers (Staton, 1987). In dialogue journals, students can write about topics that
are important to them. They can tell stories, ask questions, or just converse
with the teacher or writing partner. Both Perham (1992) and Perl (1994)
believe that these response journals have the power to build a community of
learners through the process of critical co-reading and co-writing. McLaughlin
(1993) believes that although the benefits of using dialogue journals have been
described in various ways in literature, there is a need of more clear research
to determine the specific skills and writing behavior that can be facilitated
during dialogue journal writing.
Research
Questions:
In
an attempt to determine the specific skills and writing behavior that can be
facilitated during dialogue journal writing, I proposed the following study in
which I would like to find answers to the following questions: how do teachers
and students in today’s classroom feel about dialogue journal writing? Do they
see dialogue journals as a worthwhile and meaningful addition to their
classrooms, or simply unnecessary task? Through this study, it was my intention
to identify teachers’ and learners’ views of the implementation of journal
writing within the classroom and whether they perceive it as beneficial to
teacher instruction and students’ learning. It is expected that this study will
be able to determine the specific skills and writing behavior that can be
facilitated through the process of writing dialogue. The results of this study
may serve to raise students’ awareness of the benefits of dialogue journals,
which, in turn, may help teachers in their decision whether or not to include
dialogue journals in their classrooms.
Research
Methodology:
This study includes questionnaires and
interviews as data collection tools. The study consists of the analysis of
questionnaire responses provided by two graduate-level course instructors who
have implemented dialogue journals within their class instruction. Another
questionnaire was given to ten students who
have used dialogue journals before. Along with the questionnaires,
semi-structured interviews with one instructor and three learners have been
conducted.
This research has received the approval
of the ethics committee at the
Data
Analysis:
The data in this study is analyzed in a
manner that is common to qualitative research, that is, by inductive analysis.
Findings
and Discussion:
The major findings related to journal
writing in this study include issues around the following themes: (1) the
benefits of dialogue journals (cognitive, affective, social, and pedagogical)
for both teacher instruction and student learning (2) limitations in using
dialogue journals. The following two sections will discuss the benefits and
limitations of dialogue journals.
Benefits
of Dialogue Journals:
One of the often-mentioned benefits of
dialogue journal writing is the increased communication between students and
teachers. Since most teachers do not have time to converse at length with
individual students each day, regular written interaction increases
student-teacher contact time considerably. In general, both teacher
participants and student participants in the study expressed many advantages of
using dialogue journals.
1) Learners’ perspectives on Dialogue
Journal:
The overwhelming majority of the
students in the study expressed their feeling that the dialogue journal
provides them with the opportunity to express themselves openly and in private,
without being embarrassed about the nature of their concerns. Students
suggested that through dialogue journals teachers can help learners to make
connections between academic and personal issues. Dialogue journals also
provide students with a way to become connected to their writing, to be
involved in the writing process, and, as one of the students’ participants expressed,
dialogue journals help him to “discover [himself] by thinking on paper.”
2) Teachers’ perspectives on Dialogue Journal:
Similarly,
the two teacher participants, Black and Smith, have found that the dialogue
journal interaction has a positive influence on their relationship with
particular students. Some students, who tend to say very little in class, write
creatively in their dialogue journals. Without the journal, the teacher would
know little or nothing about them. In addition, Black believes that due to the
nature of dialogue journals in allowing students to ask questions and write in
different topics related to their interests, dialogue journals can provide
input for planning future lessons. Discovering students’ interests can assist
teachers to adjust curriculum to meet the students’ needs and concerns. This is
evident in Smith’s comments when he says, “I am a better teacher because I
read, understand and appreciate my students’ frustrations, joys, problems, and
success that they express in their journals.”
Limitations of Dialogue
Journals:
Although responses to the use of
journals by both teachers and students have been mostly positive and
enthusiastic, there are some limitations as well.
Lack of
motivation. The lack of motivation among students is one of the
potential drawbacks in the use of dialogue journals. This is an important
consideration especially when the journal is imposed by the teachers.
Therefore, students may not be motivated to write if the teacher dictates to
them the topic, the length and the deadline for submission of the dialogue
journals. Students are more motivated if they have more control over the
dialogue journal writing.
Appropriation.
The presence of the authority figure may influence how writers perceive and
write the journal. As similar problem is the assessment issue.
Time.
Incorporating dialogue journals into a teachers daily schedule does take time,
but that time is also useful for planning the next day’s lesson, based in part
on the information the dialogue journals provide. The times these dialogue
journals take heavily depend on the way both teachers and students structure
them. If they structure them as to be done in class time, surely they will take
a considerable time from the teacher. However, if these dialogue journals are
assigned to be done in other time than the class time, they will be more
effective and less time consuming activities.
Conclusion:
All in all, the implications of the study illustrate that dialogue journals seem to be powerful tools for both students’ learning and teacher’s instruction. However, this small-scale study has its own limitations. This study was conducted over one semester period and the participants were all graduate, native speakers of English.
Given the complexity and multifaceted nature of the writing process, teachers and student are confronted with decisions related to appropriate and effective instructional practice. Dialogue journal writing provides a valuable learning experience for students and teachers alike especially if they consider the limitations of implementing these dialogue journals. Through journal writing teachers have a window into student interests and needs, and students not only gain meta-cognitive, affective, social and pedagogical benefits but also have an audience and environment for their writing that is nurturing and non-threatening.
References
Capossela, T. (1992) Constructed knowing: promoting cognitive growth in freshman writers through journal-writing. Journal of Teaching Writing 11 (2): 247-261.
Kerka, S. (2002) Journal writing as an adult learning tool.
Practice application Brief No. 22.Retrieved
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/27/c4/02.pdf
McLaughlin, J. (1993) Entering the worlds of children:
Using dialogue journals in teacher education. Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English.
Perham, A. J. (1992). Collaborative
journals. Presented at the National Council of Teachers of English
conference.
Perl, S. (1994) Composing texts, composing lives. Harvard Educational Review 64 (4): 427-449.
Stton, J. (1987) Dialogue journals. ERIC Clearinghouse on
Staton, J. (1988) Writing & counseling: Using a dialogue
journal. Language Arts 57: 514-418.
Vanett, L. and Jurich, D. (1990) The missing link: Connecting
journal writing to academic writing. In J. Peyton (Ed.), Students and
teachers writing together: Perspective on journal writing. (pp. 23-33).
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages,