Blog Entry # 2

Baxter, Scott J. “Journals in the Language Classroom.” English Teaching Forum 4 Nov. 2009: 22-26. Print

I picked this article as it is useful for me to see a theory translated into practice. In the article the writer presents his ideas that were actually practiced in the classroom where he taught. He puts emphasis on writing journals in ESL writing proposing the idea of writing to learn.

Writing to learn is distinguished from writing to communicate as the former generates discovery thinking and develops ideas helping students brainstorm freely. In short, journal entries are designed to be personal and less formal so that learners feel comfortable engaging in the activity. Writing as process is not usually perceived by L2 students as part of learning to write. Freewriting is usually introduced in composition class. Students are encouraged to write down anything relating to the topics they are going to be assigned to.

Here the writer’s idea for his students is to write freely as the term implies. The writing does not have to address the lesson of the day. They are free to choose any topic ranging from scrap to haiku as they like. This allows students to venture without worrying about being their points taken away or fear of getting sneered by their peer. However, the instructor makes sure the topics are coherent throughout the course so that they will learn to gather their ideas and assemble them in order creating a piece in the end. I like this approach as it could be applicable to Asian students who are generally cautious about their performance among their own linguistic communities.

As freewriting is not usually graded in the class, the writer points out that the instructor should keep track of the students’ activity in their journals so that they take it seriously. When asked by the instructor, one of his students says he enjoys writing without worrying about making mistakes. Others say the activity has helped them stimulate ideas and reflect what they have done throughout the course. I find it very useful as telling students to write down anything without any grade will not draw much attention from students. In the article how to make students engaged in writing to learn becomes part of process. They may not have noticed during the course, but their achievement at the end makes them realize that what they have done in the class could be indeed useful in the long run.