Integrating current reflective methodologies with learners’ psychological characteristics

Document Type : research article

Authors

1 Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Languages and History, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

2 faculty member

Abstract

In this study, the effect of dialogue journal writing (DJW), as an influential narrative-type activity was surveyed on the EFL academic achievements of some sixty-seven Iranian university students (male and female) with a low Emotional Intelligence (EI) index was explored. To this aim, Five EI scales including 'Problem solving' (PS), 'Emotional self-awareness' (ESA), 'Interpersonal relations' (IR), 'Assertiveness' (AS) and 'Reality Testing' (RT). The results for linear regression analyses indicated that among the five EI scales, problem solving (PS) index, though significantly predicting more success in final language tests, could have less predicted success among the target population (0.04<0.05). In the end, possible pedagogical implications of the study were discussed for utilizing reflective tools concerning the psychological characteristics of the learners for whom such reflective tools are suggested to be applied in EFL settings. This was aligned with communicative skills that target students with low EI in this research were concerned with.

Keywords

References

 
Abednia, A., Hovassapian, A., Teimournezhad, Sh. & Ghanbari, N. (2013). Reflective journal writing: Exploring in-service EFL teachers’ perceptions. System 41, 503-514.   
Akbari, R. & Hosseini, K.  (2008). Multiple Intelligences and Language Learning Strategies: Investigating Possible Relations. System 36, 141-155.
Bar-On, R. (1997). The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i): a test of emotional intelligence. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.
Burner, T. (2014). Formative assessment in language education. In C. Bjørke, M. Dypedahl, & G. A. Myklevold (Eds.), Foreign language didactics (pp. 234–247). Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk.
Cottrell, S (2003). Skills for success. The personal development planning handbook. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and Researching Motivation. Harlow: Longman.
Fahim, M. & Pishgnadam, R. (2007). On the role of emotional, psychometric and verbal intelligence in the academic achievement of university students majoring in English language. Asian EFL Journal 9, 240-253.
Fonagy, P., Target, M., Steele, H., & Steele, M. (1998). Reflective-Functioning manual: Version 5 for application to adult attachment interviews. Unpublished manual. London: University College
Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing. A guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic.
Goleman, D. (1995). Why it can matter more than IQ. Emotional intelligence. New York.
Hassanzadeh, R. & Shah Mohammadi, F. (2011). Emotional intelligence and its perspective power in Iranian  foreign language learners' language achievements. International Conference on Social Science and Humanity. ZPEDR vol.5.LACSIT press. Singapore.
Hein, S. (2007). Emotional intelligence. Retrieved from http//equi.org..eid.efs. Introduction.
Hemmati, F. & Soltanpour, F. (2012). A Comparison of the Effects of Reflective Learning Portfolios and Dialogue Journal Writing on Iranian EFL Learners’ Accuracy in Writing Performance, English Language Teaching 5 (11).
Hiemstra, R. (2001). Uses and benefits of journal writing. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. 90, 19 – 26. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Hubner, S., Nuckles,  M., & Renkl, A. (2010). Writing learning journals: Instructional support to overcome learning-strategy deficits. Learning and Instruction 20, 18-29.
Klenowski, V. (2010). Portfolio assessment. In P. Peterson, E. Baker, & B. McGaw (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (3rd ed., pp. 236–242). Oxford: Elsevier.
Lee, I., (2007). Preparing pre-service English teachers for reflective practice. ELT J. 61 (4), 321-329.
Little, D. (2005). The common European framework and the European language portfolio: Involving learners and their judgments in the assessment process. Language Testing, 22(3), 321–336
Mayer, J. D. & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional Intelligence? In P. Salovey and D. sluyter (Eds). Emotional development and emotional intelligence: educational implications 3-31. New York: Basic Books.
Moon, R. (2005). Guide for Busy Academics No. 4 Learning through reflection [online] Available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources.asp?process=full_ record &section=generic&id=69 accessed 17/07/06.
Nelson,B.,  &  Low,  G.  (2003).  Emotional  intelligence;  Achieving  academic  and  career excellence. Pearson education Inc.
Pavlenko, A. (1999). New approaches to concepts in bilingual memory. Bilingualism, Language and Cognition (2), 209 -30.
Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D. (1990).  "Emotional Intelligence", Imagination, Cognition, and Personality journal. 9, 185-211.
Peyton, J. K. (1987). ERIC Q & A: Dialogue Journal Writing with Limited-English Proficient (LEP) students. (In Peyton and Staton). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Peyton, J.K. (1991). Settling some basic issues. In J.K. Peyton & J. Staton (Eds.), Writing our lives: Reflections on dialogue journal writing with adults learning English (11-23). Englewood, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Reynolds, C. R., & Kamphaus, R. W. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of psychological and educational assessment of children: Personality, behavior, and context (Vol. 2). Guilford Press.
Santa-Maria, M. (1983). Growth through meditation and journal writing. New York: Paulist Press.
Staton, J. (1991). Introduction: Creating an attitude of dialogue in adult literacy instruction. In J.K. Peyton & J. Staton (Eds.), Writing our lives: Reflections on dialogue journal writing with adults learning English (xiii-xxvi). Englewood, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Stevens, J. P. (2002). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (4th ed, Chapter 12: Canonical correlation). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Tabachnik, B. G., & Fidell, E.G. ( 2001). Using Multivariate Statistics. New Jersey: Pearson:
Tomkins, A. (2009). “It was a great day when…” An exploratory case study of reflective learning through storytelling. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 8, 123-131.
Tunkey, H. (2002). 'Emotional intelligence in EFL, ELT curriculum', Unpublished Master Thesis: Ankara. Turkey.
Valencia, S. (1990). “A Portfolio Approach to Classroom Reading Assessment: The Whys, Whats and Hows.” The Reading Teacher, 338-340.
Van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspectives. Dordrecht: Kluwer, Academic.
Vanett, L., & Jurich, D. (1990). The missing link: Connecting journal writing to academic writing. Students and teachers writing together: Perspectives on journal writing, 49-62.
Weigle, S. C. (2007). Teaching writing teachers about assessment. Journal of Second, Language Writing 16, 194–209.
Journal of Foreign Language Research
Volume 7, Issue 1
November 2017
Pages 251-270

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics