Strategy Building through Keeping English Learning Journals

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the effect of English learning journal on strategy building. Learning strategies
are proved and claimed by many researchers that it has a close association with good language learners. However,
there is little research on building learning strategies through keeping a weekly journal. The participants, in the study,
were 33 EFL Taiwan college students, taking English for Socializing as an optional course for one semester. During
the semester, they were required to keep a weekly learning journal related to their English learning (in-class and after
class) and to send it to the instructor-researcher via the Moodle. The Moodle, in the study, serves as the function of
diaries, providing an instant and convenient way of sending and saving information. The study’s instrument,
Oxford’s Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL), is applied to examine whether or not there is any
significant difference of the learners’ strategy use before and after the study. For the purpose of finding out whether
or not there are significant differences in the numbers of employing language learning strategies, a series of
quantitative tests are carried out. Besides the quantitative results of SILL, a semi-structured post-interview is also
administered to unfold more about the English learning journal and strategy use from the perspectives of the learners.
The findings of the study could shed light on language learning, especially on strategy building.