Personal Growth and Development. Perhaps most important for the adult learner of all the benefits is the enhancement of personal growth and development. Journaling can help with such learning goals or expected outcomes as integrating life experiences with learning endeavors, allowing for a freedom of expression that may be inhibited in a group setting, stimulating mental development, enhancing breakthroughs in terms of new insights, and even planting seeds in terms of future study or research.
Intuition and Self-Expression. Another outcome, and one that is not always expected, is an enhanced ability at self-discovery. Learning to trust that inner voice and interpret new thoughts or even dreams can increase self-confidence not only in the classroom but in many other settings, too.
Problem Solving. Utilizing a journaling technique often helps in the solution of problems. Writing down and imagining your way through a problem via personal insights and reflections on life experiences can be very rewarding. Often an epiphany will emerge that might not have been possible with some other problem solving technique.
Stress Reduction and Health Benefits. There is considerable evidence that journaling can improve various aspects of personal health.
Reflection/Critical Thinking. This benefit has been discussed in various ways in prior descriptions of journaling procedures
Effective Use of Student Journal Writing
The concept of a "communications triangle" of reading, writing, and discussing implies the need for a methodology whereby the teacher could stimulate the natural interaction of language uses in students to further linguistic development.