Conversations of the Mind: The Impact of Journal Writing on Enhancing EFL Medical Students’ Reflections, Attitudes, and Sense of Self

Journal writing is a means of self expression, and has been used in many disciplines such as psychology, sociology, education and even mathematics and remains a valuable teaching/learning tool in many classrooms, because it not only teaches the students to write, it also encourages them to share their experiences and ideas. In this study a class comprising of 65 medical students were instructed to keep journals to see the level of change in the style, reflections, attitudes and sense of self. The students were instructed to reflect on being a medical student, their clinical experiences and anything that captures their attention. The students were given freedom and choice in choosing the topics and were ensured of confidentiality of their journals. The analysis of the journal contents were reported in 6 themes. The six main themes included of pedagogical, reflections on past experiences, change of attitude, sense of self, personal experiences, and worries about future career. The results indicated a change in all of the aspects of writing. The findings suggest that the process of reflection may be actively facilitated through journals.