The effects of journal writing on EFL teachers' reflectivity

Reflective teaching has become the leading paradigm in ESL/EFL Teacher Education and Development Programs worldwide. There are different ways to promote reflective teaching, one of which is journal writing. This study sought to investigate the effects of journal writing on teachers' reflectivity considering teachers' expertise. In line with the aim of this small-scale study, a sample of 30 male and female EFL teachers including two groups of experienced and novice with the age ranging from 20 to 37 and having BA and MA degrees in either education or literature were required not only to fill out a reflective inventory twice: at the beginning and end of the process of data collection, but also to write 8 journals. Having applied two kinds of t-tests: independent and paired as well as a two-way RM ANOVA, the results showed that journal writing promoted teachers' reflective thinking/teaching and journals provided teachers with constructive thought changes in their classes, and expertise was not proved to play a significant role.