El uso de la escritura reflexiva en clases de inglés como lengua extranjera y su efecto en el proceso de aprendizaje y en el rendimiento académico de estudiantes universitarios.

Abstract

This is an instrumental case study based on the parameters of the qualitative model, which uses triangulation of data obtained from journals, learning logs, final reports, and observations. Moreover, with the aim of complementing qualitative data a statistical analysis of pre and posttests through the T-test, and the analysis of the group of study in comparison with the other groups of the same level through ANOVA were made. The study was held with 16 Ecuadorian university students from 19 to 25 years old. The objective of this study was to examine how reflexive writing through journals influence on the learning process and on the academic performance of university students of English as a foreign language. Students kept learning logs (daily) in which they reflected basically about two aspects: 1) what they learned in relation to English, and 2) what was not clear during the class. In addition, they kept a journal (weekly) in which students reflected about a questionnaire of four questions made by the researcher that dealt with their metalearning. At the end of the course, the students wrote a final report about what meant for them the use of these two types of diaries. Additionally, during the course the researcher kept a diary to make notes of the observations of the classes. With the data obtained from all these different sources, at the metalearning level was found that the student, through a reflective process of self-evaluation, becomes conscious and takes control of his/her learning process, being this process unique for each one of them, and consequently, important in the construction of his/her character.