ELT Journal Advance Access originally published online on April 13, 2007
ELT Journal 2007 61(4):321-329; doi:10.1093/elt/ccm022
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.
Preparing pre-service English teachers for reflective practice
Icy Lee is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include ESL writing and ESL teacher education. Her published works have appeared in a number of international journals including Journal of Second Language Writing, System and Teacher Education Quarterly
Email: icylee{at}hkucc.hku.hk
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Abstract |
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This article explores how dialogue journals and response journals can be used to encourage reflection among pre-service teachers. Thirty-one pre-service English teachers from two Hong Kong universities participated in the study. One group wrote dialogue journals and the other group wrote response journals throughout two semesters on two separate ELT methodology courses, both taught by the author. Data was gathered from their journal entries and post-study interviews. The findings show that dialogue and response journals provided opportunities for pre-service teachers to engage in reflective thinking, and all of them found the experience of journal writing beneficial. The article concludes with a number of recommendations on how teacher educators can use journals effectively as a tool for promoting reflection in pre-service teacher preparation.