engleski

Does English hurt? Learning diaries - another step towards better qualitative research in applied linguistics.

Language learners are not just language learners but real people with, among other things, learner histories. Their language learning (LL) sometimes becomes a journey into self-discovery, rich in positive emotions, but negative experiences are also a part of the picture. However, language learners have been mostly seen as abstract bundles of measurable variables. What lies behind the exterior is probably one of the most intriguing questions for teachers/researchers, and this can be revealed with learning diaries. This qualitative tool enables language learners to depict their own psychology, and provides insight into their metacognitive development. It is a category of personal narratives - compared to fictional ones - used in the field of bilingualism. They are 'stories' based on learner's knowledge and experiences, and belong to linguistic autobiographies. The above-mentioned method is rooted in the identity approach to language learning, which characterizes learner identity as multiple and changing, but it may be also related to critical ethnography, feminist poststructuralist theory, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology. The current chapter is based on the learning diaries kept by 5 students during the 2013/2014 summer semester. They were learning EFL as a compulsory subject. After showing reluctance to participate in speaking activities and admitting that they would rather have no English course, the teacher suggested keeping diaries, which they accepted as a good idea. It was hypothesised that this could help the language learners to make sense of their experience, and would help their teacher to clarify the complexity of how they viewed themselves in EFL. An analysis of their entries shows an intricate path towards the goal such as self-confident and competent use of English, indicating important linguistic, personality, and other factors. This small-scale study benefits language learners, teachers and researchers.

learning diaries ; narratives ; language learner ; identity construction

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