HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

These slides can be viewed at: tinyurl.com/languagelearningreflection

You will learn how to:

• Structure a 300-word weekly journal entry

• Choose appropriate language and style

• Complete a balanced account of rich learning experiences

Learning outcomes

REQUIREMENTS

Write ten weekly reflective journal entries of 280 – 320 words each

Upload each entry to our Stream page by 12 midnight each Sunday (Chinese time)

Write a 500 word conclusion to the journal and upload this ….

PURPOSE OF

REFLECTION

Reflection is a process of looking back at interesting events, asking

yourself what they meant in terms of your personal development,

reaching conclusions and then forming SMART objectives for future

learning.

Writing a reflective journal is supposed to be a learning experience in

itself, as well as a way that you can provide evidence of what and

how you’ve learnt during your experience overseas.

WRITING A REFLECTIVE

JOURNAL ENTRY

TASK 1

The next three slides contain an example of a reflective journal entry written by a student who was learning Portuguese in Brazil.

Consider these questions as you read:

• What is the purpose of each paragraph?

• How is each paragraph structured?

• What expressions are used to achieve the purpose of each paragraph?

Paragraph 1

Another challenging experience this week gave me food for thought

about what I’m learning and how I’m using it. I was being shown an

apartment by a letting agent who kept using the expression ‘a gente’,

(‘people’): ‘The people offer this’; ‘You need to tell the people’ etc.

Who were these people? It made an already challenging encounter

quite stressful. Afterwards, my friend that in conversation, it’s really

common to use ‘people’ instead of ‘we’. So, all the time, the agent

was talking about her agency, not about someone else!

Paragraph 2

This experience made me wonder if I’ve been relying too much on

the Portuguese I’ve been learning in class. If such a basic point as

how to refer to ‘we’ is totally missing from the lessons – and even

from our grammar book – what else aren’t they telling us? It was like

when I first went to France after learning French for five years at

school. I could discuss Voltaire, but couldn’t even order a sandwich! I

also realised how anxiety can affect my ability to use the language.

That one problem completely threw me off my stride. How can I stop

that from happening again?

Paragraph 3

The solution, I feel, lies in a more critical awareness of the limitations

of the context in which I’m learning Portuguese. It’s a formal,

academic environment, so, of course, it’s going to miss out on a lot of

useful, everyday language. I’ve decided to spend at least one

afternoon a week going out with my friend on what I’m calling

‘Language adventures’ to pick up real Portuguese in markets, food

courts etc. I think this should also help toughen me up in a range of

authentic communicative settings. We’ll see!

FEEDBACK ON THE PURPOSE OF EACH PARAGRAPH

PARAGRAPH 1 DESCRIBES a particular experience of a

challenge related to language or cultural learning

PARAGRAPH 2 ANALYSES the experience, identifying specific

issues or questions

PARAGRAPH 3 CONCLUDES what has been learnt and SETS

SMART GOALS for ongoing learning

FEEDBACK ON THE STRUCTURE OF EACH PARAGRAPH

PARAGRAPH 1 is structured as a STORY – i.e in five parts:

situation; problem; response; outcome; comment.

PARAGRAPH 2 is structured around ISSUES – i.e. what broader

questions about language, learning or culture did the

experience make you think about?

PARAGRAPH 3 is structured around an INSIGHT you feel you’ve

gained, followed by a NEW INITIATIVE based on that insight.

FEEDBACK ON EXPRESSIONS USED

PARAGRAPH 1 uses typical ‘story’ expressions. Notice how the first

sentence links this story to previous journal entries. Short sentences

help make the story tight and concise. The ‘comment’ sentence at the

end is introduced by a conclusion phrase (‘So’).

PARAGRAPH 2 uses typical ‘analytical’ expressions. Notice the use of

‘made me wonder’ and ‘realised’ to show the process of reflection.

Rhetorical questions and conditionals (‘If …’) add detail to the analysis.

Again, short sentences!

PARAGRAPH 3 switches to present and present perfect tenses (‘I feel’;

‘I’ve decided’ to focus on present lessons from past experience.

SMART goals need specific terms (e.g. ‘once a week’) and use future

tenses (I’m going to ..; We’ll see). And, yes, still short sentences!

PUTTING TOGETHER A

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

TASK 2

You’ll write a new reflective journal entry each week.

Consider these questions:

• How can you decide which experience to focus on each week?

• How can you structure your 500 word conclusion section for the journal as a whole?

FEEDBACK ON CHOICE OF TOPICS

Consider:

Continuity: Look at the goals from previous entries – what progress have you made?

Range of experience: Aim to cover a variety of formal and informal language, cultural and personal learning experiences.

Uniqueness: Include at least some experiences which are out of the ordinary and / or especially meaningful for you personally.

FEEDBACK ON STRUCTURE OF CONCLUSION

Consider writing three or four paragraphs; for example:

Summary of experiences: Ideally, group the experiences into meaningful categories and explain how they came about and / or their impacts on you.

Summary of learning: Again, focus especially on what you learnt about yourself – as a person and as a learner –through the experience.

Summary of ongoing learning goals: Discuss how you will continue learning in future.

TASK 3

The next three slides show an example of a concluding reflective journal entry:

Consider:

• How the first sentences of each paragraph make the purpose and focus clear to the reader.

• How each sentence flows from / builds on the one before.

• How the paragraphs as a whole are structured (for instance, how the first paragraph summarises challenges and then successes).

Paragraph 1

Looking back over these six months in Brazil, it is clear that my underlying

challenge was really one of identity. The difficulties I encountered in the

various contexts (the estate agent; the nightclub; the market etc) really arose

from my sense of not really being a Portuguese speaker; as a result, my self-

confidence was fragile and I was easily knocked off my stride. Towards the

end, I realised, through one of the classroom discussions, that this is a

common problem and even has a name: imposter syndrome. One of the

consequences of this lack of confidence was my tendency to try to imitate

the strategies of other students (flashcards; YouTube videos; repetition).

These rarely worked. Ironically, it was my newspaper reading - something I’d

regarded as old-fashioned and inefficient – which seemed to have the

strongest long-term effect on my learning. The repetitive nature of the daily

news, it turned out, was ideal was language learning and it also gave me

plenty to talk about. As I mentioned in my last entry, it was almost

embarrassing how impressed people were with my detailed knowledge of

local crime, sport and corruption!

Paragraph 2

The greatest lesson I’ve learnt through this experience has been to base my

learning on my own individual limitations and strengths. Something as

complex and individual as language learning can never fit into a one-size-fits-

all model. Initially, I had been too dependent on progressing through the

programme and on imitating the strategies of my more successful

classmates. Ongoing reflection helped me to realise the limitations of both of

these practices and to experiment with a range of alternatives. Some of

these turned out to be too ambitious – the ‘language learning adventures’, for

instance, proved impractical and also beyond what you could call my ‘ZPD’.

However, I began to see myself more as a tortoise than a hare when it

comes to language learning. It was the more boring, every day and individual

practices, such as ploughing laboriously through the daily newspaper for a

couple of hours a day, which slowly built up the basis of lexical and cultural

knowledge which eventually allowed me to engage more successfully in

communication.

Paragraph 3

I realise that it is going to be difficult to maintain my existing competence in

Portuguese, never mind extend it; particularly as I’ll have a busy year ahead.

One strategy that has proved effective for me has been reading the news.

This is something I plan to continue – for maybe half an hour a day – by

subscribing to the online version of Veja, which I can read on my iPad on the

bus to Uni. I already listen to Spotify during the day, so I’ll have one or two

‘Brazilian days’ when I listen to MPB, Bossa Nova and Brazilian pop.

Although I’m not really into the bar scene, and really can’t dance, I’ll also aim

to go along to the Brazilian café in Ponsonby at least once a month, so that I

can practise my spoken Portuguese. I did consider arranging a language

exchange, but, honestly, I just can’t see myself going through with that. It just

seems too contrived. Instead, I plan to return to Brazil in two years’ time and

take a postgraduate course there. That way, I’ll be building up my

professional knowledge at the same time as developing my language skills.

FEEDBACK ON FIRST SENTENCES

… it is clear that my underlying challenge was really one of identity.

The greatest lesson I’ve learnt through this experience has been to base my

learning on my own individual strengths and limitations.

I realise that it is going to be difficult to maintain my existing competence in

Portuguese, never mind extend it;

The purpose of the first sentence is to announce the main point of the whole paragraph. For this reason, it is known as a ‘topic sentence’. Think big! Don’t launch straight into the nitty-gritty!

FEEDBACK ON SENTENCE FLOW

One of the consequences of this lack of confidence was my tendency to

try to imitate the strategies of other students (flashcards; YouTube videos;

repetition). These rarely worked.

The main way in which you can improve the flow (and coherence) of your writing is to start new sentences by referring back to the main topic of the one before. This is known as an ‘old before new’ or ‘plus one’ strategy. Notice how this works in the example sentences above.

The greatest lesson I’ve learnt through this

experience has been to base my learning on

my own individual limitations and

strengths. Initially, I had been too

dependent on ….. Ongoing reflection

helped me to realise ….. …. However, I

began to see myself ….. It was ….which

slowly built up … which eventually allowed

me …

FEEDBACK ON PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

TOPIC SENTENCE GIVES THE SHAPE

OF THE PARAGRAPH

THIS ONE STARTS WITH THE

LIMITATIONS / MISTAKES AND THEN

MOVES ONTO THE SUCCESS

IT ALSO EMPHASISES THE ROLE OF

REFLECTION IN LEARNING

You don’t necessarily need to follow the same structure as these

paragraphs, but try to ensure your paragraphs have a logical shape and

that the topic sentence gives the reader a good idea of what it is going

to be. Use phrases like ‘However’ to indicate a shift to a new part of the

paragraph – don’t just throw them in willy-nilly!

© 2017

This PowerPoint Presentation and the accompanying handouts are copyrighted by Centre for Teaching and Learning, Massey

University and may not be used, except for personal study, without written permission from the copyright owner. Please

note that examples are provided for illustration of writing principles only and no reliance should be placed on any of the

ideas referred to in the texts.

Martin McMorrow, Centre for Teaching and Learning

09 212 7117 ctlalb@massey.ac.nz