According to teachers who have worked
with dialogue journals, there are multiple
student benefits to using them in the English
language class. Some of these benefits are the
increased motivation to write, greater fluency
in writing, increased confidence as writers,
and the ability to use writing as a means
to communicate and express complex ideas.
Students report decreased dependence on
the dictionary and a move away from mental
translation to thinking in English. Developing
a daily habit of writing and finding writing
as “easy as speaking” means that learners are
becoming more comfortable with the act of
writing. Other advantages are that students
develop critical literacy skills, gain autonomy
and empowerment as learners, and build com
-
munities of learning within the classroom.
Furthermore, dialogue journals form a bridge
for English language learners from personal
writing to formal academic essays.
Teachers can also benefit from dialogue
journal writing because it allows them to con
-
nect with individual students in large classes
and learn more about what their learners
think and need. Reading student writings
is a way to reinvigorate a jaded teacher and
bring more life and meaning to the classroom
routine.
I encourage teachers to try dialogue jour
-
nals in their classrooms, if they have not done
so already. It must be emphasized that this
tool can be implemented in a myriad of ways
with greater or less teacher effort and involve
-
ment. As teachers experiment to find the way
that best suits them and their classes, they
might just find dialogue journals becoming a
high point of their teaching week and begin
to look forward to reading students’ entries
with enjoyment.
The main objective of using dialogue
journals in the English language classroom is
to give students more time and opportunities
for writing so they can experience the plea
-
sure of communication through the written
word and at the same time become better
writers in English. Rather than drudgery or
torture, writing will become something to
look forward to, and learners will open their
notebooks with the same eager anticipation
that my mother-in-law and I feel upon open
-
ing our letters to each other