Native language journaling in the
foreign language classroom
Making Metacognition Habit
Erin Huebener, Spokane Community College
1
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Photo credit: Flickr user Eric
ments… why did I decide to make one of the most frequent and time consum
The Question:
If understanding Applied
Linguistics makes us better
language teachers, wouldn’t a
basic understanding make our
students better language
learners?
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The Idea:
Turn metacognition into habit
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The Goal:
Actively monitor and engage
in one’s own learning process
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The Assignment:
A weekly, three-part guided
journal
The Journal:
Part 1 - Online Study Log
Part 2 - Native Speaker Contact
Part 3 - Four Metacognition
Questions
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Preparing the Students: Day One
Applied Linguistics Unit
•Input, Output, and Attitude
•Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening strategies
•Study skills and experimentation
•Characteristics of successful language learners
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Preparing the Students: Day Two
Metacognition Unit
• Video: “Brief Intro to Metacognition”
• Dr. Josh Walker (University of Texas at Austin) YouTube
• Article: “The Role of Metacognition in Second Language Teaching and Learning”
• Neil J. Anderson (BYU) Center for Applied Linguistics
• Discussion:
• Study strategies
• What works (or doesn’t work) for you and why?
• Four questions from Anderson’s article to be used as the journal guide
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Turning you should use metacognition into
you will use metacognition
Integrate it with course assignments
Make it frequent
Make it high value (these journals were worth 15% of their final grade)
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Part 1: Online Study Log
Students were given the weekly assignment of spending one hour
exploring and utilizing online resources.
The assignment:
•Keep an accurate log detailing which resources were used, for
how long, and what concepts were practiced.
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Student Sample 1:
10 Minutes: Gender worksheet that I wrote the answers to
in my notebook after reviewing the rules about gender
agreement.
http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/spanish_quiz_
noun_gender_number
40 Minutes: I downloaded the app mindsnacks Spanish on
my iPod touch and found many vocabulary games to play
including ones that went over class vocab and gender
agreements. http://igamemom.com/2012/05/18/funspanish-learning-app-mindsnacks-spanish/
10 Minutes: Played this vocab game that taught me a lot of
food words. http://www.learningspanishspain.com/spanish-vocabulary-games.aspx
Student Sample 2:
I went to Hulu Latino and watched the first episode of East Los High,
thinking it would be in Spanish; I don’t think I’ll use that for learning,
though, since there was hardly any Spanish in it. The full episode
took almost an hour, but I went on to do more work since it seemed
more recreational than anything.
I started the interactive BBC tool, Mi Vida Loca, and spent 40
minutes on it. So far, it’s been engaging and helpful, and I’ve learned
several new vocabulary words and phrases. It’s very helpful to have
most of the speaking in Spanish, but English subtitles if I need them.
The interactive element is fantastic, too, and goes at just the right
pace for me.
Part 2: Native Speaker Contact
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Each week, students were required to correspond with two native
speakers via the language learning social network of their choice
(Busuu, WeSpeke, Happy Talk, etc.).
All started with written correspondence. As they were more
comfortable, they moved on to audio and/or video chats.
Native Speaker Contact, continued
The assignment:
Reflect on the following questions:
• Who did you speak with and where are they from?
• What did you talk about?
• Did you learn any new words or phrases?
• Did you learn anything cultural?
• Did you share anything about your own language and culture?
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Student Sample 1:
This week I had the pleasure of talking to a few native speakers on
Wespeke! Alejandro is from Montevideo, Uruguay. He was
asking me questions about my work and where I live. He thought I
lived in Palm Beach, Florida and I had to explain to him that I live
in Washington. He would make sure that I understand what I am
asking him. If I didn't he said other phrases in Spanish that I
would understand. He asked me “Qué trabajo realizas?” I sort of
understood what he was asking but then he sent me “Qué haces?
Vendes?” Then I understood he was asking what I do at my job. It
was really cool that Alejandro was interested in making sure I was
understanding!
I have not had another chance to speak with Ignacio, but I am sure
he will reply soon. Another friend Andrés is learning English and
he was telling me about the slang his teachers get angry at. I told
him the words he was using were offensive and bad here in
America. I got a little laugh out of that.
Student Sample 2:
I continued my conversation with Lili this week and she told
me she is studying business administration at a university in
Guatemala. We had our entire conversation in Spanish
because she knows such little English as of right now, but I
have offered her help with any phrases she wants to learn. I
also met Joel from the Dominican Republic who is fairly
good with English. He said it has been difficult to learn, but
he is determined to do it no matter what. I asked him what
he does for fun and he said he likes to go out to eat and visit
places near his town. He said he has never left the
Dominican Republic but would like to visit America one day.
We talked in mostly Spanish for about fifteen minutes about
the things we like to do in our countries and the places we
would like to visit. I look forward to speaking to both of
them more and learning about their cultures.
Part 3: Metacognition Reflection
The assignment:
Answer these four questions (from Anderson’s article):
1. What am I trying to accomplish?
2. What strategies am I using?
3. How well am I using the strategies?
• What’s working? What’s not? How could I adapt these
strategies to make them more effective for me?
4. What else could I do?
• What time of day am I studying? Do I notice a difference if I
study at different times or in different environments? What
can I do to help me focus better? Am I taking breaks?
• Reflect: If you think it’s relevant, I think it’s relevant.
Student Sample 1:
1. What am I trying to accomplish?
I want to understand questions by looking at the context and
grammar associations without having to ask them or look at notes.
2. What strategies am I using?
I am talking to people who know the language and quizzing myself.
They are really helping me keep the vocabulary at the tip of my
fingers.
3. How well am I using the strategies?
I am using then pretty well, I have gotten better at using them than I
was last week. The quizzes and speaking to these native speakers is
really helping me!
4. What else could I do?
If I keep talking with these natives and continue doing my homework
in quiet places, then I feel my Spanish will get a lot better, quicker
and smoother.
Student Sample 2:
1.What am I trying to accomplish?
This week I have been working on becoming more knowledgeable
about common verbs and interrogative words.
2.What strategies am I using?
Whenever my professor says an interrogative word or verb I write it
down and write the meaning next to it. By learning these core
words piece by piece I will be able to pick up more when someone
is speaking.
3.How well am I using the strategies?
I am able to pick up a lot more of the questions and instructions in
class, so I can tell that this is helping a lot.
4.What else could I do?
It’s all about repetition, so I need to make sure I am really drilling
these important words into my vocab.
Teacher Feedback
• Without sincere feedback, motivation dwindles.
• Some students need to be pushed to challenge themselves.
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Teacher Feedback Sample:
It sounds like you met a couple of nice people this week :) Isn't it funny... how we are
all so critical of ourselves? People always say things like, "I'm bad at Spanish," or "I'm
bad at English," and such is rarely the case. It's just us getting in the way of our own
potential! I hope you will give speaking a try with Juan. It's one of those things that
you can only master by doing it. I'm glad you are having spontaneous Spanish
moments!
How did it go?
As expected, some students saw it as a chore.
However, student evaluations revealed that most saw it as worthwhile, a
One student said she felt the journals gave her the “Honors Experience.”
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Recommendations:
The benefits of metacognition aren’t limited to foreign language consider how it may be applied in your area!
To effectively integrate it into a course, it must be high value.
Create a sample journal to be used as a guide.
Take a dose of our own medicine: keep reflecting upon and adapting
this assignment to make it better and better!
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