VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ MINH THANH

USING JOURNALS AS A MEANS OF TEACHER’S REFLECTION-ON-
ACTION TO ENHANCE TEACHING QUALITY AT FACULTY OF
ENGLISH – HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

(Sử dụng hình thức ghi nhật kí để tự đánh giá sau bài dạy
của giáo viên nhằm nâng cao chất lượng giảng dạy
ở khoa tiếng Anh, trường Đại học Sư phạm Hà Nội)
M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10

HANOI – 2012
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ MINH THANH

USING JOURNALS AS A MEANS OF TEACHER’S REFLECTION-
ON-ACTION TO ENHANCE TEACHING QUALITY AT FACULTY OF
ENGLISH – HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
(Sử dụng hình thức ghi nhật kí để tự đánh giá sau bài dạy của giáo viên

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ MINH THANH

USING JOURNALS AS A MEANS OF TEACHER’S REFLECTION-
ON-ACTION TO ENHANCE TEACHING QUALITY AT FACULTY OF
ENGLISH – HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
(Sử dụng hình thức ghi nhật kí để tự đánh giá sau bài dạy của giáo viên
nhằm nâng cao chất lượng giảng dạy ở khoa tiếng Anh,
trường Đại học Sư phạm Hà Nội)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: Dr. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa HANOI – 2012

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv


3. Research procedure 20
3.1. Problem identification 20
3.2. Preliminary investigation 21
3.3. Hypothesis 22
3.2. Intervention 22

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. Data analysis approach 24
2. Results of questionnaire 24
2.1. Teachers’ understanding of reflective practice 24
2.2. Teachers’ use of reflective practice 25
2.3. Teachers’ use of journals 26
3. Results of analyzing reflective journals 27
3.1. Participant 1 27
3.2. Participant 2 28
3.3. Participant 3 29
3.4. Participant 4 30
viii

4. Results of interview 33
4.1. Effectiveness of journal writing 33
42. Difficulties in reflection process 35

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS
1. Findings 38
2. Implications. 39

PART III: CONCLUSION
1. Conclusion 42
2. Limitations and suggestions for further study 42

reflective and critical will help them effectively deal with complexities of
classrooms. Another reason is that there are growing demands on teachers, which
may cause them to feel isolated. Systematic reflection could help teachers take
2

control of their teaching and feel self-confident. In addition, reflective practice
helps teachers avoid routines and promotes responsibility for their actions.
As can be seen, the importance of reflection to professional development of
teaching is undeniable. However, although teachers are aware of the benefits and
importance of reflective practice, they do not apply it to their teaching practice. The
fact that several procedures take place simultaneously during a lesson makes it
difficult for teachers to be aware of their own teaching mistakes in classrooms and
why they happen. This is illustrated by Richard and Lockart (1996) when he quoted
the comments by a number of teachers after watching their own videotaped
teaching:
I had no idea I did so much talking and didn’t let students practice.
My pacing was terrible. I didn't give students enough time to practice one task
before going on to another.
I did a bad job on the group work exercises. The students didn't understand what
they were supposed to do.
I seemed to ignore half the students in the class.
Concerning the use of reflective practice, the research by Odeh, Kurt, and Atamtürk
showed that “there is a gap between theory and practice” and that the majority of
participating teachers practice reflection-in-action and ignore reflection-on-action –
a deeper level of reflection.
The case of EFL teachers at the Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of
Education (FOE – HNUE) is no exception. As a novice teacher, the researcher finds
that reflective practice is of great value to professional development; however, from
her own experience and observation as well as discussions with her colleagues, this
activity is not popular despite the teachers’ awareness of its benefits. Reflection is

employed in order to get data which are analyzed by qualitative method.
4

4. Significance of the study
This research provides an opportunity for the participants in the target context to
systematically reflect on their teaching, from which they can have their own
assessment of the effectiveness of journal writing as a means of reflection-on-action.
This will accordingly lead to their decision on whether to continue using journals in
their professional development process or not. In addition, the findings on teachers’
obstacles when using this means of reflection will hopefully help to improve the
effectiveness of this activity, which eventually aims at enhancing teachers’ self-
development and teaching quality.
5. Overview of the study
This paper is divided into the following main parts:
Part I: Introduction - presents the rationale, aims of study, research questions,
scope, method, significance, and organization of the study.
Part II: Development - this part is divided into 4 chapters as follows:
Chapter 1: Theoretical background – provides the theoretical framework of
reflective practice and journal writing.
Chapter 2: Methodology – describes the study population, the research design as
well as data gathering instruments.
Chapter 3: Results and discussion - analyses and discusses data
Chapter 4: Findings and implications - presents findings and implications.
Limitations and suggestions for further research are also provided.
Part III: Conclusion – gives summary of the research and limitations as well as
suggestions for further study.
5

 Purposeful
 Structured
 About linking theory and practice
 To do with learning
 About change and development – becoming a reflective teacher
(

Dewey, as cited in Odeh, Kurt, and Atamtürk, finally came to the conclusion that
reflection “emancipates us from merely impulsive and routine activity enables us to
direct our activities with foresight and to plan according to ends-in-view, or purposes
of which we are aware. It enables us to act in deliberate and intentional fashion to
know what we are about when we act” (p.2)
Larrivee and Cooper (2006, p.4) cited different definitions for this concept by several
authors, some of which are as follows. Reflective practice is:
 A process that helps teachers think about what happened, why it
happened, and what else could have been done to reach their goals
(Cruickshank & Applegate, 1981, p. 553).
 The use of higher-level thinking, such as critical inquiry and
metacognition, which allow one to move beyond a focus on isolated facts or
data to perceive a broader context for understanding behavior and events
(Hatton & Smith, 1995, p.40).
 A critical, questioning orientation and a deep commitment to the
discovery and analysis of information concerning the quality of a
professional’s designed action (Bright, 1996, p.165).
 An ongoing process of examining and refining practice, variously
focused on the personal, pedagogical, curricular, intellectual, societal, and/or
7

ethical contexts associated with professional work (Cole & Knowles,
2000,p.2).

3. generalization: integrate all of the information into a tempered conclusion
about or solution for the problem identified
Andrew Green (2011) cited Dewey’s ideas, stating that reflective process incorporates
five stages, including problem, suggestions, reasoning, hypothesis and testing.
As can be seen, there are some variations among scholars’ suggestions; however, they
have some consensus. Rogers (2001) (as cited in Rossouw, 2009) identified four
commonalities among the theoretical approaches he explored. The first step is to
identify problem and make a decision to find a solution. Second, additional information
related to the problem is collected. This may involve “hypothesis and reasoning,
acquiring, organising, and examining information, making assumptions and drawing
conclusions” (p.28). Next, a plan and a decision are formed as a result of data
collection step; a new understanding or theory may be created. Finally, actions are
taken based on the reflective process so that teachers could test the new findings in
practice and generate new understanding of the phenomenon.
1.3. Types of reflection
Regarding types of reflection, Farrell (2008) stated that there are two main forms,
namely weak form and strong form. The former is when teachers “informally evaluate
various aspects of their professional expertise” (Wallace, 1991, p.292 as cited in
Farrell, 2008). According to this author, this form of informal reflection may not
improve teaching and instead can give unpleasant feelings and frustration to teachers.
In contrast, the strong form means systematic and critical reflection.
9

Similarly, Schön (1983) made the distinction between reflection-in-action and
reflection-on-action (cited in Maat & Zakaria, 2010). According to him, reflection-in-
action occurs during the activity; teachers observe their thinking and actions and the
activity may be reshaped and adapted in progress. It is said that this type of reflection is
temporary and easily forgotten. Reflection-on-action, on the other hand, takes place
after an activity – a retrospective thinking about an experience. This form of reflection
is considered to be more systematic and thorough. Van Manen (1991), as cited in

in both their inner and outer worlds” and promotes their self-discipline (p. 21). These
two authors clarified their points by listing the following functions that journal writing
can serve (p.21):
 Looking more objectively at classroom behaviors
 Naming issues and posing questions
 Recording critical incidents
 Identifying cause and effect relationships
 Discovering habits of thought
 Working through internal conflict
 Seeing patterns of unsuccessful strategies overtime
 Tracing life themes
Sharing the same viewpoint, Richards and Lockhart (1996) claimed that journal writing
“helps trigger insights about teaching” and functions as a “discovery process” in which
“events and ideas are recorded for the purpose of later reflection” (p.7).
In comparison with other modes of reflection, journal writing have certain advantages,
one of the most important of which is that it “provides access to the hidden affective
variables that greatly influence the way teachers teach and students learn” (Brock, Yu
11

and Wong, 1992, cited in Wallace, 1998, p.63). These authors also presented the
following advantages of journals:
1. They provide an effective means of variables that are important to individual
teachers and learners.
2. They serve as a means of generating questions and hypotheses about
teaching and learning processes.
3. They enhance awareness about the way a teacher teaches and a student
learns.
4. They are an excellent tool for reflection.
5. They are simple to conduct.
6. They provide a first-hand account of teaching and learning experiences.

reactions would have been.
On the other hand, it is possible for teachers to reflect generally on their teaching
process without a particular focus. This option of reflection offers “a source of ideas or
issues for further investigation” (Wallace, 1998, p.59). From this reflection, recurrent
patterns will emerge, leading to awareness of common features or problems that need
dealing with.
2.4. Analysis of journals
Journal writing only takes effect when the entries are analyzed. This point is made by
Kathleen Bailey (1992, p. 224 cited in Wallace, 1998, p.63) that “simply writing diary
entries does not yield the maximum potential benefit of the process. In order to really
learn from the record, the diarist should reread the journal entries and try to find the
patterns therein.”
13

Regarding this analysis, Wallace (1998, p.59) proposed two ways of analyzing field-
notes which could also be applied for journal entries as follows:
 They can be scanned as a source of ideas or issues for further investigation.
Are there any recurrent concerns? Are there any common features or events?
Are there any ideas that could be followed through? Are there persistent
problems or themes that warrant more detailed observation and analysis?
 The data may already be selective and focused on a particular issue (e.g.
questioning techniques, student interaction). Have you got enough data to
think your way to a solution?
2.5. Prompts for journal entries
In order to make the full use of journal writing, Ross (1990) suggested that questioning
prompts should be given to “stimulate greater awareness of personal values and
implicit theories of teaching” (cited in Larrivee and Cooper, 2006, p.22). Smyth (1991,
cited in Larrivee and Cooper, 2006), therefore, proposed a series of four questions,
respectively moving from description to meaning to confrontation to reconstruction, to
be a powerful tool for prompting higher-order reflection. The questions are:

different in important ways?
Conclusions (general):
What can be concluded, in a general sense, from these experiences and the analyses
you have undertaken?
Conclusions (specific):
What can be concluded about your own specific, unique, personal situation or way of
working?
What are you going to do differently in this type of situation next time? What steps are
you going to take on the basis of what you have learned?

It can be seen that the set of guidelines by Gibbs (1988) is the most detailed and
comprehensive and it comprises those by other authors above. Therefore, this model is
going to be adopted in this research.
2.6. Guidelines for writing journals
15

Regarding the use of journals as a means of reflective practice, there are some
guidelines and options for effective exploitation.
First, in terms of the time for journal writing, it is possible to write journals
immediately after a teaching event or at the end of the day. For the former option, it is
more advisable because then the teaching details are fresh in mind while in the latter,
there may be more free time for reflection.
Second, it is advisable to be regular in journal writing habits, especially in early days of
journal writing.
Third, it is advised that when starting to write, teachers should not spend too much time
thinking about it; instead, they had better let the writing flow and try to capture the
experience and critical incidents.
Another advice is that the writing style for journals should be free, spontaneous and
informal since it is a personal activity. Furthermore, the use of illustration such as
diagrams, drawings or other visual aids is encouraged.

In this study, interviews and journals are employed as the instruments of data
collecting.
2.1. Questionnaire
Most of the items in the questionnaire (Appendix 1) are open-ended questions. The
questionnaire is divided into three main parts: the first part probes the participants’
general understanding of reflective practice; the second part investigates their current
use of reflective practice; and the last part asks about their use of journals as a means of
reflection.
17

The questions in the first and the last parts were designed based on the literature review
on reflective practice and journals as a means of reflection respectively. The second
part adopted questions on current reflective practice given by Wallace (1998, p.55).
Basing on the result of this questionnaire, the researcher had discussions with the
participants about relevant issues of the study to make sure that they understand the
aims of reflective practice, the procedure of reflection as well as the use of journals to
reflect on their teaching. In particular, the participants were also asked to choose the
focus of their reflection.
2.2. Interview
After ten weeks of reflection, a semi-structured interview (Appendix 2) was conducted
in order to investigate two issues, namely the teachers’ perception of the effectiveness
of reflective practice and their difficulties in doing this activity. The interview is semi-
structure in nature with some guided and follow-up questions. It not only gives the
interviewee “a degree of power and control over the course of the interview” but also
allows for great flexibility as well as rich information (Nguyen, 2008, p.51).
2.3. Journals
Another data collection instrument and also means of intervention is journals. In this
study, a guided journal format (Appendix 3) is designed for the participants to reflect
on their teaching. Since this was the first time the participants used journals for
reflective practice, a number of options for journal format were given to them to

beneficial since her colleagues gave her valuable feedback on her teaching so that she
could improve her practice. However, she recognized that it was impossible to have
regular observation activities.
19

As a result, a question was raised: In what way can I myself gain understanding of my
own teaching for professional improvement?
3.2. Preliminary investigation
In the next step, the researcher reviewed literature and had discussions with her
colleagues in order to answer the question above. It turned out that colleague visits to
her class sessions were a form of reflective practice. It was also found out that teachers
could self-reflect on their own teaching in different ways. This is also asserted by
Richards and Lockhart (1996, p.3) that “while comments of a supervisor or other
outside visitor can be a useful source of information about one's teaching, teachers
themselves are in the best position to examine their own teaching.”
The researcher realized that normally she herself practices reflection, but it is arbitrary
during or after her teaching; this may take place when she is on her way home or
discusses with her colleague. Accordingly, another question was raised: How can this
reflection be more systematic and effective?
Thus, the next investigation was on self-reflective practice which was presented in the
literature review. Finally, she decided to choose journal writing as a means of
reflection-on-action for her own teaching practice, which she found very beneficial.
The researcher had a chance to present her investigation in a research idea sharing
session at her faculty. Some of her colleagues were interested in participating in the
study. Therefore, this study was proposed to investigate the effectiveness of journal
writing as a means of reflection-on-action as well as teachers’ obstacles when using it.
Before journals were used by the teacher as a means of reflection, a questionnaire was
distributed in order to gain an overview of the participants’ knowledge as well as
current use of reflective practice.
3.3. Hypothesis