Guidelines for Your Learning Journal Posts and Reflection Papers

To be a successful self-directed learner, you need to be able to reflect upon your own learning.  In SDLC 105 you are assigned to reflect upon readings about language, language learning, and culture in a blog.  This blog is your learning journal, and the assigned topics are designed to help you become a reflective learner.  In SDLC 110 – 113, you are asked to reflect regularly on your language learning activities.  These reflections should be informed by the work you are doing / have done in 105 but should be much more specific about how you are learning your target language.

Each post should include:

• the task(s) you are working on;
• a statement of what you hoped to accomplish;
• the strategies (activities and resources) you used to work on your task(s);
• an evaluation of the effectiveness of your strategies;
• how you will build on what you have learned about the language;
• how you will build on what you have learned about your strategies.

Other aspects of language learning to reflect upon when it’s appropriate:

• your emotions about language learning (pride, frustration, enthusiasm, etc.);
• connections between the language you are learning and the culture of where it is spoken;
• experimenting with new learning strategies for listening, speaking, reading, and writing;
• a successful experience in your learning;
• a not-so-successful experience;
• revisions in your task lists and/or short-term and long-term goals.