Learning Diaries in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom: a Tool for Accessing Learners' Perceptions of Lessons and Developing Learner Autonomy and Reflection

PORTO, MELINA

Foreign Language Annals

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Inc.

Lugar: Alexandia; Año: 2007 vol. 40 p. 672 - 696

0015-718X

Revista indexada en (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1944-9720):Academic OneFile (GALE Cengage)Current Contents: Social & Behavioral Sciences (Thomson Reuters)Education Full Text (HW Wilson)Education Index/Abstracts (EBSCO Publishing)Educator?s Reference Complete (GALE Cengage)ERA: Educational Research Abstracts Online (T&F)ERIC: Educational Resources Information Center (CSC)IBR & IBZ: International Bibliographies of Periodical Literature (KG Saur)InfoTrac (GALE Cengage)MLA International Bibliography (MLA)OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition (HW Wilson)OmniFile Full Text Select (HW Wilson)ProQuest Central (ProQuest)ProQuest Central: Professional Edition (ProQuest)ProQuest Education Journals (ProQuest)ProQuest Research Library (ProQuest)SCOPUS (Elsevier)Social Sciences Citation Index (Thomson Reuters)The aim of this study was to learn from students' frame of reference howthey experience foreign language classes. Data include learning diaries written during 2005 for more than 35 weeks (March to November). Subjects were 95 Argentine, Caucasian, mostly female, middle-class, Spanish-speaking college students between 19 and 21 years of age who were enrolled in English Language II at the National University of La Plata in Argentina. The results of this study stress 1) the value of systematic learner introspection over time as a vehicle for reflection and autonomy in foreign and second language learning contexts; 2) uncovering learners? thoughts and beliefs in an effort to understand how these affect their engagement with language activities; and 3) using this information to make instructional decisions and monitor their adequacy and effectiveness.