A dialogue journal is an ongoing written interaction between two people to exchange experiences, ideas, knowledge or reflections. It is used most often in education as a means of sustained written interaction between students and teachers at all education levels. It can be used to promote second language learning (English and other languages) and learning in all areas.
Dialogue journals are used in many schools as a form of communication between teachers and students to improve the life that they share in the classroom by exchanging ideas and shared topics of interest, promoting writing in a non-evaluative context, and promoting student engagement with learning. They are also used between teachers and teacher trainers to provide professional development opportunities and improve teaching.
Dialogue journal interaction occurs in various ways e.g notebooks, letters, email exchanges, Internet-based interactions, and audio journalsDialogue journal. The important feature is that two people are communicating with each other, about topics and issues of interest to both, and the interaction continues over time.
Dialogue journals are a teacher-developed practice, first researched in the 1980s in an ethnographic study of a sixth grade American classroom with native English speakers, supported by a grant to the Center for Applied Linguistics from the National Institute of Education (NIE), Teaching & Learning Division. Applications to other educational settings developed quickly as a way to enhance writing development and the teacher-student relationship across linguistic and cultural barriers, with increasing use in second language instruction, deaf education, and adult literacy education. Since the 1980s, dialogue journal practice has expanded to many countries around the world.
The Further Reading section at the end of this article includes resources with guidelines on specific ways to use dialogue journal writing in various contexts.
History of dialogue journal use and research
The use of dialogue journals as a classroom practice was first documented in the early 1980s, with an in-depth study of its use in a sixth grade classroom in Los Angeles.citation needed The teacher, Leslee Reed, wrote daily throughout the school year with each of her students in a dialogue journal (a small notebook) to promote personalized, ongoing, supportive communication.
The first study of Mrs. Reed's classroom of all native English speakers (1979–1980) was followed by a second study (1981–1982) of the same teacher teaching a 6th grade class of students from other countries, all learning English as a second language (ESL), again for an entire year.
The practice spread to deaf education in 1982, with the invitation from William Stokoe at the Gallaudet University Linguistics Research Laboratory to Jana Staton to conduct research and work with teachers at all levels on the Gallaudet University campus.
With the publication of research on the sixth grade ESL students, use of dialogue journals with ESL students and research on the practice and outcomes began growing through the 1980s and 1990s. The practice is now used in educational settings and classrooms at all age levels, from kindergarten through university courses, in adult education programs, and in teacher education programs, to promote open communication, connections among teachers and learners, knowledge sharing, and reading and writing development.
Key concepts and key features
Research on dialogue journal use at all age levels—with native speakers of the language of the writing, first and second language learners, deaf students, and teachers—has identified key features of dialogue journal communication that set it apart from most writing in educational settings: authentic communication, collaborative learning and knowledge building, critical thinking, personal voice, critical pedagogy, reciprocal discourse, zone of proximal development, literacy as an interactive process, relationship building, and counseling.
A dialogue journal allows students and a teacher use Communication. Authentic communication (including questioning, complaining, complimenting, apologizing, and requesting) to communicate honestly and openly and "get things done". This distinguishes it from most student writing assignments, which are restricted to monologic description, explanation, or narrative. This aspect of everyday language use is known in philosophy as speech acts (John Searle) and in linguistics as pragmatics. (J.L. Austin) Dialogue journal conversation, unlike academic writing, opens up opportunities to use almost the full range of these natural functions of language.