Exploring motivational and reflective dimensions of dialogue journal writing: learner beliefs about academic and general L2 writing

ABSTRACT
In higher education English as a foreign language classrooms, writing
is often underemphasised outside specialised courses for language
majors, leaving students with limited opportunities to practice. This
study investigates dialogue journal writing—an interactive written
exchange between two interlocutors—as a means of addressing this
pedagogical need. Forty-nine first-year undergraduates at a technical
university in Taiwan engaged in both general and academic dialogue
journals over two semesters. Learners’ reflections were analysed using
a combined concept-driven and data-driven coding framework, which
identified seven main themes (knowledge, learning, self-efficacy, goal
orientation, interest, outcome attribution, and teacher) and 14 subthemes.
While most themes aligned with previous research, new subthemes
(e.g. teacher commitment) also emerged. Participants reported
benefits from both journal types, though teacher involvement required
careful management. These findings demonstrate the potential of dialogue
journals to enhance second language writing development while
highlighting the need to balance teacher support with opportunities
for peer interaction.
中文摘要
在高校英语作为外语的课堂中, 写作教学在非语言专业课程中常被
忽视, 学生缺乏充分的练习机会。本研究探讨对话日志写作——即
师生或同伴之间以书面形式进行互动交流的一种写作活动——是
否能够回应这一教学需求。研究对象为台湾一所科技大学的49名
大学一年级学生, 他们在两学期内分别参与了通用话题和学术话题
的对话日志写作活动。研究者采用概念驱动与数据驱动相结合的编码框架, 对学习者的反思文本进行了质性内容分析, 共识别出七个主题(知识、学习、自我效能、目标导向、兴趣、结果归因、教师)及14
个子主题。研究发现, 大多数主题与既有文献一致, 同时也浮现出新
的子主题(如教师投入)。大多数学习者对两类对话日志写作均持积
极信念, 认为其有助于提升写作能力。与此同时, 结果也警示教师参
与需审慎对待, 因此在未来的教学应用中, 有必要探索如何在教师
支持与同伴互动之间寻求平衡。本研究为对话日志在二语写作教学
中的应用提供了实证支持, 表明其在通用话题和学术话题写作中均
具有潜力。