THE LEARNER DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL
学習者ディベロップメント研究部会誌
ISSN: 2433-5401
https://ldjournal.ld-sig.org

The Learner Development Journal Issue 6:
Learner Development Beyond The Classroom
Author: Ann Flanagan
Title: Building a Critical Reflective Practice With High School Language Learners
Date of publication online: 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.LDJ6-2
Author contact: <ann(at)fkc(dot)ritsumei(dot)ac(dot)jp>
Published by the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Learner Development Special Interest Group, Tokyo
https://ld-sig.org/
Copyright 2022 each respective author
This article can be cited as:
Flanagan, A. (2022). Building a critical reflective practice with high school language
learners. The Learner Development Journal, 6, 13–32. https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.
LDJ6-2This article is part of a collection of practitioner research on the theme of “Learner
Development Beyond the Classroom” for Issue 6 of the Learner Development Journal (LDJ6),
edited by Isra Wongsarnpigoon, Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa, Phillip A. Bennett, and André
Parsons. Published once a year, each issue of the Learner Development Journal follows a
Community of ractices approach over a period of approximately 18 months in which
contributors work together, under the guidance of the editors, to share, respond to, anddevelop their research and writing.
Articles are published in the Learner Development Journal under a Creative Commons Attribution
License (CC BY), of which CC BY 4.0 is the most recent version. Under this agreement, authors
grant users the right to unrestricted dissemination and re-use of the work. They ask only thatproper attribution is given to the work.

PAPER
Building a Critical Reflective Practice With
High School Language Learners
Ann Flanagan, Ritsumeikan Junior and Senior High School, Japan<ann(at)fkc(dot)ritsumei(dot)ac(dot)jp>
It is rare for language learners, especially young learners, to have the awareness to reflect on their language
learning process. This study examines the use of critical reflective writing journals in high school. It follows
the journey of two female high school students through three stages of critical reflection: reflection-inaction, reflection-on-action, and reflection-for-action. Students were encouraged to practice consistentreflection outside the classroom, writing twice or three times a week. This case study is aimed at exploring
critical reflection, learning beyond the classroom, and motivation. The students applied critical thinking
skills to analyze and modify their own learning. Journaling facilitated a greater sense of self-awareness instudents, which enabled them to identify their own strengths and improve areas of weakness in language
learning. In their view, journals were a valuable resource for studying English. Results support the adoptionof critical reflection practices encouraging students to become more involved in their language learning. In
becoming more responsible for their learning, students begin to make conscious choices about what they
are interested in exploring further while monitoring and evaluating their progress�

言語学習者、特に若い学習者にとって、自分の言語学習過程を振り返る意識を持つことは稀である。
本研究は、高等学校における批
判的省察文ジャーナルの使用について検討する。
4人の女子高校生が、行動に関する考察、行動のための考察、行動中の考察という3つの段階を経て、批判的な考察を行う過程を追ったものである。
生徒たちは、教室外で、週に2、3回書くという一貫したリフレクション
スタイルを実践するよう促された。
この研究の目的は、批判的省察、教室を超えた学習、
モチベーシを探ることである。
生徒たちは、批判的思考スキルを応用して、自分たちの学習を分析し、修正した。
ジャーナルは、生徒の自己認識力を高め、その結果言語学習における自身の強みを認識し、弱点となる分野を改善することを可能にした。
参加者は、ジャーナルが英語学習にとって貴重なリソースとなったという見解を示した。
この結果は、生徒が批判的な省察の実践を採用することが、自身の言語学習により深く関与することを可能にするという仮説を支持するものである。
その過程で、学生は自分の学習にもっと責任を持つようになり、自分の進歩を監視し評価しながら、さらに探究心が刺激されることを意識的に選択するようになるのです。

Keywords
critical reflection, learning beyond the classroom, motivation, journal writing
批判的省察、教室を超えた学習、
モチベーション、ジャーナルライティング

I have been a secondary education teacher for more than 20 years, and one questionthat I ask my students at the beginning of the year is about their goals for the class. Nineout of 10 times, their response is to be fluent in English. This is a lofty goal for students toachieve in less than a year, considering their busy high school life. Fluency, to my students,
means not only speaking and writing quickly but also being able to navigate the target
language to understand, be understood, and express themselves in both oral and written
contexts. However, it is difficult to meet each student’s learning needs when proficiency
levels differ in each class. So, instead of giving students a list of ways to improve theirEnglish proficiency, I began to think of ways for students to take responsibility for theirlearning�Empowering students, especially teenagers, to take responsibility for their learning is
not an easy task. First, you have to convince them that it is a meaningful activity worth
their time trying. Then, you have to be consistently there for them throughout thejourney, which is not always possible for high school teachers, especially considering theirworkload. I have found that having students set realistic goals is a great way to encourage

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Building a Critical Reflective Practice With High School Language Learners

them to take responsibility for their learning. By setting and achieving goals, students gain
self-confidence and become more willing to keep trying.
I have always practiced critical reflection in my teaching. It is a skill I have developed
over time, and it has helped me be a better teacher, facilitator, and mentor. My journey
as a critical reflective practitioner began with reading books by John Dewey and Parker
Palmer. It continued to deepen through my MA in TESOL at the School for International
Training (SIT, Brattleboro, Vermont). It is there that I learned about the Kolb experiential
learning cycle (Kolb, 1984). I explored what I taught, why I taught the way I did, and how
I could be a better teacher for my students. The late Dr. Steve Cornwell was my advisor
during my teaching practicum, and he worked with me to hone these skills. The Kolb
experiential learning cycle was a powerful tool for me to use to learn about my role as ateacher, discover what and how I teach, learn how I interact with my students and how
they interact with each other, and create better interactive material for my classes. I
believe that having a facilitator is also important because a facilitator can ask questions
to help unlock the answers within the individuals that they work with. In my personal
experience, Dr. Cornwell helped me to summarize my thoughts better by being moreconcise. He also challenged me to go deeper in reflection on various aspects of myteaching. Through reflection, we can see past our sometimes-narrow ways of thinking
that can limit us and lead to exploring new learning methods that may, in turn, facilitatechange (Fook, 2011).
In my own work as a teacher, I wanted to know whether what I did in my own reflective
practice would help students in their journeys to become more proficient in English.
In this paper, I examine whether critical reflection can strengthen students’ motivation
to learn English by helping them analyze, reconsider, and question what and how theylearn. In addition, I explore the challenges I faced when conducting this research. Finally,
I offer some solutions for how I would improve the critical reflection activity in the future.
I hope other educators who are interested in using critical reflection as a supplement
to classroom instruction and who want their students to take more ownership of theirlanguage learning will benefit from the narratives presented in this paper.

Key Themes in This Exploration: Critical Reflection, Learning Beyond theClassroom, and Motivation

In reflective learning, students are encouraged to develop critical thinking skills andbecome aware of their own learning processes. Reflective learning for students involves
reflecting on what they have learned, analyzing their experiences, and finding alternative
ways to improve�
As a problem-solving tool, reflection helps teachers and students understand theirstrengths and weaknesses after an experience. As Dewey (1933) pointed out, “Welearn from reflection on experience, not from experience itself” (pp. 78–79). Looking
reflectively back on past experiences, learners can construct new meanings based on
their acquired knowledge. As a teacher, I believe that learners actively involved in theirown learning have the capacity to create their own learning approaches if they are given
decision-making opportunities. Creating an environment in which learners develop soundreflective practices around such learning opportunities can build confidence and a senseof responsibility for their learning actions.
In this respect, two types of reflection that I find personally meaningful are Schön’s(1983) reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. The first stage of critical reflection is14

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Ann Flanagan

reflection-in-action. Students who reflect in action are able to reshape situations andactivities they are working on as they unfold, in other words, “thinking on their feet.”
By doing so, students reflect on what they are doing in the moment, leading to a newunderstanding of the experience and a change in the situation� Let us consider a student
who has set aside 30 minutes to study vocabulary. Their task includes listening to theaudio recording and writing the word and example sentences. However, during the study
period, they receive text messages from their friends. At this time, the student has todecide whether to fully engage with the text messages or disregard them� They also needto recognize whether a distraction interferes with their learning or if their approach isproving successful. Making such decisions is a key part of reflection-in-action.
The second type of reflection, reflection-on-action, means to reflect on an experience,
situation, or phenomenon after it has occurred. Students reflect on the situation by
exploring why they acted the way they did, and whether or not they could have acted
differently. The student looks at their overall improvement, or lack of success or progress,
on a specific learning task or goal. After the previously mentioned student studies
vocabulary for 30 minutes, from 9:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., they reflect on their experience.
The student decides that this time is not beneficial to study because they were falling
asleep and could not concentrate on the task, so they decide to shift the vocabulary study
time to the following morning�
In the critical reflection process, the next stage is where individuals begin to looktowards future actions. Farrell (2013) identifies this third stage in the reflection process as
reflection-for-action. This is the most difficult for students because they have to anticipate
what will occur in the next task and consider how to improve further or change theircurrent language learning before the task takes place. Examples of students’ reflectionfor-action will be included later in the discussion.
Developing the practice of critical reflection by doing journal writing can be a rewarding
and transforming experience for those who embark on the journey. So, to support
students’ reflective practices, I drew on these three types of reflection (reflection-in-action,reflection-on-action, and reflection-for-action) to guide students in their journal writing(see Figure 1).
Students moved from one stage to the next to look at their tasks from a different
perspective. By moving through each stage in this order, students could go deeper
into their reflection and decide further actions, which Mezirow (1990) refers to astransformative learning�The students’ language learning is not limited to the classroom, as it can occur
anywhere and at any time. By engaging in learning beyond the classroom, learners
can address some of the limitations of classroom-based learning, such as insufficientauthentic input and output (Nunan & Richards, 2015). The internet, technology, and media
make it easier to use English effectively and authentically in real-life interactions andvirtual social networks (Richards, 2015), and, as Nunan (1991) has pointed out, learners’
application of emerging skills outside the classroom is crucial to developing their second
language� Because high school students spend so much time using their devices to engage
with technology, from games to social networking sites, it can be a source of engagementthat students like. By reflecting on these activities, learners will be able to determine
which activities work best for improving their proficiency. Additionally, they can adapt
different activities based on their reflection to support their goals.

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Building a Critical Reflective Practice With High School Language Learners

Figure 1. Journal Format
The final key theme that I started from is motivation. Motivation helps learners endure
the ups and downs of learning something challenging. Without sufficient motivation,
learners cannot achieve their long-term goals. For this project, I find Dörnyei’s (2001)
conceptualization of motivation at three levels—the language level, the learner level, andthe learning situation level—useful for looking at and understanding learners’ changing
motivation. First, the language level focuses on the student’s learning goals and theusefulness of proficiency in the target language. In contrast, the learner level focuses on
confidence, competence, and self-efficacy (Dörnyei, 1994). Within this level, one might
consider whether students are curious and energized by their learning. Are they selfdetermined in their learning? In separating the levels, Dörnyei believed that each had its
own effect. When initiating this study, within the specific learning situation of this highschool’s English classes, I wanted my participants to have total autonomy in designing
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their own learning plans to improve their English language proficiency while sustaining
their motivation�

Research Focus

As I wanted to explore the critical reflection practice that I use in my daily life to see if
it would impact my students’ language study outside the classroom, I decided on thefollowing questions to guide my research:
1. How does building a critical reflection practice with high school students affect theirlanguage proficiency and motivation to learn a language?
2� Do students experience any learning transformations during the critical reflection
process?
I see this research as a case study, which is a common framework for conducting
qualitative research with learners as it lets practitioner-researchers explore “theparticularity and complexity of a single case, coming to understand its activity within
important circumstances” (Stake, 1995, p. xi). The aim of this case study was to develop a
deeper, detailed understanding about the role of critical reflection in students’ language
learning outside the classroom�Participants, Timeline, and Research Procedure

For this research, I focused on the written journals of two female Japanese high school
students. The two participants, Mika and Aoi (both pseudonyms of their choosing), hadbeen students of mine for 3 years at the start of this research. They had mixed levelsof English ability, ranging from Grade Pre-1 (CEFR B2) to Grade 2 (CEFR B1) on the EIKEN
Test. EIKEN is a test of practical English proficiency taken mainly by junior and seniorhigh school students in Japan. Before participating, students were informed of therequirements of the research project and volunteered to participate by signing a consent
form. They were also told that they could withdraw at any time. Parental consent andschool consent were also granted to participate�Introducing Aoi

Aoi had been learning English since she was 7 years old. She started to study English
in primary school. Students at her primary school learned English as a tool forcommunication. She had English classes twice a week in the first and second years,
increasing to three times a week until the end of 6th grade. She did not attend a private
English conversation school to support her language learning outside her daily education
at primary school. She participated in a study abroad program in Australia for 2 months
when she was 11. Her English proficiency level at the time of this study was at EIKEN Pre-1,
and her TOEFL ITP score was 530. She wanted to concentrate on speaking, vocabulary,
writing, EIKEN, and the TOEFL IBT. She listened to music and watched American TV
shows with Japanese and English subtitles to study English. Occasionally, she practiced
shadowing with CNN English Express or TED Talks.
If Aoi was not interested in something, she saw no point in studying it. In her responseto the survey question, “What strategies are you using to learn English now?”, she wrote
in English: I listen to music or watch TV, I don’t do it for the entertainment value, but I want tomemorize how words are used and expressions that singers and actors use when using English.

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Building a Critical Reflective Practice With High School Language Learners

Specifically, she hoped to achieve Level 1 on the EIKEN Test, score 6.0 on IELTS, and be
more proficient in English so that she could participate in school-related events in English.

Introducing Mika

Mika had been learning English since she was 12 years old. She passed the third EIKEN
level and scored 368 on the TOEFL ITP. She wanted to focus on reading, speaking, andpassing Level 2 of the EIKEN test. Mika enjoyed playing online games in English. Using
game language to learn English was one of her favorite things. To study these specificEnglish phrases, she kept a vocabulary notebook. On the left side of the paper, she wrote
English sentences; on the right, she wrote Japanese sentences. However, she realized that
this method was not working for her.
Mika had trouble distinguishing certain English phonemes. On her SMART Goal
Worksheet (Appendix A), she wrote: Being able to hear sounds is important when speaking
and listening. I want to hear what the teacher has to say clearly. Her worksheet also conveyed
this: If I could hear all the words in a conversation, I would be able to understand and follow
it and not feel intimidated by participating in conversations. This shows that she wasdeveloping a level of awareness of her transformational journey in critical reflection.
Table 1. Research Timeline
Time period
March 2021•

Phase 1
April 2021–May
2021

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Phase 2June 2021–July
2021

•
•
•
•
•

Phase 3
August 2021–
December
2021
Phase 4January 2022

18

•
•
•
•

Steps taken
Invitations to participate were sent out to students in the 12th Grade
Global Learning Course and Super Science Global Course
Five students independently volunteered
Parental consent and school permission were granted
Needs analysis questionnaire was administered
SMART goal worksheet was completed
Three aspects of critical reflection were explained (reflection-in-action,reflection-on-action, and reflection-for-action)
Students began journaling at least twice a week (reflection journals
collected every other week)
I provided feedback on their journals to support this type of criticalreflection
Students continued journaling at least twice a week
Peer Groups were introduced to support this type of critical reflection
Reflection journals were collected every other week
I offered feedback in the form of reflective questioning to support themin going deeper into their reflective practice
In July, Padlet was introduced to offer another way to interact in Peer
Groups
I met with students individually to see if they wanted to change their
SMART Goals
Students continued journaling twice a week
Students moved their journaling online due to my being overseas
I met with students individually to get their feedback about criticalreflection

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Ann Flanagan

The project lasted from April 2021 until mid-January 2022, and Table 1 outlines thesteps I took for my research from March 2021 until January 2022 as the project developed
over those 9 months. In Phase 1, I conducted a needs analysis to gather backgroundinformation about my students. I also explained how to fill out the SMART goal worksheet
and do critical reflection journaling, so they could start writing in their journals. To
support their reflection practice, I reviewed their journals and provided feedback. They
continued their critical reflection practice in Phase 2 with the addition of peer groups. To
help students dive deeper into their practices, questions were provided for each phaseof critical reflection. In Phases 3 and 4, students explored different language activities toreach their goals. Through critical reflection, they were able to determine what worked
and what did not. The benefits of critical reflection and the power it has on learning
beyond the classroom became evident to them.
In April 2021, students answered a basic Google Form Questionnaire (Appendix B) about
themselves. The questionnaire was used to gather information about (a) the length oftime they had been studying English, (b) their English proficiency levels (EIKEN and TOEFLITP), (c) the language skills they wished to focus on during the project, (d) the strategies
they use now to study English, (e) the strategies that are not working for them, and (f) theirpersonal goals for this project.
Next, in early May 2021, I met with the students on Zoom to go over what they needed
to do with the SMART Goals Framework. Because we use Google Classroom for our
regular classes, I created a new class, Ann’s Research Group, where I uploaded a SMART
Goal worksheet, an interactive PowerPoint slideshow, and a goal-setting worksheet for
students to complete at home. The students used this framework to help them create
achievable goals. “SMART” is an acronym (O’Neill et al., 2006) for “Specific” (What precisely
is being pursued?), “Measurable” (Has the goal been accomplished?), “Achievable” (Can thegoal be achieved?), “Relevant” (Does this seem worthwhile?), and “Time-Bound” (Can thegoal be completed in a reasonable timeframe?). This framework was used to give students
an organizational structure to work with and a sense of direction to reach their goals.
Students could write their SMART Goals framework in English or Japanese (See Figures
2 and 3 for an example). To make the framework, I used a template found on Southern
Oregon University’s website (OfficeArrow.com, 2008), so that the students would need tothink deeply about their goals and try to identify possible obstacles they might encounterand actions they could take to avoid them.

Introducing the Critical Reflection Journal

In mid-May, I met with the students to show them the format for writing in their reflection
journal. Each student was given a notebook for their journal. Students wrote the date,
independent learning task, time started, and time finished. Then, they had to write areflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, and reflection-for-action� They could choose howoften to reflect, but it had to be at least two times a week, so students could develop
their reflective practice. I collected the journals every other week. In the beginning,
students wrote in their notebooks, but some wanted more flexibility in being able to write
journal entries online. They felt this would give them more freedom to reflect anywhere
and anytime. I accepted either. Students wrote between 14 to 17 journal entries from
Phase 1 to Phase 2. In Phase 3, students were busy with various activities at school andapplications for universities, so there was a slight decrease in journal entries.

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Building a Critical Reflective Practice With High School Language Learners

Figure 2. Aoi’s SMART Goal Worksheet

Figure 3. Mika’s SMART Goal Worksheet
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Ann Flanagan

Throughout the collection periods, I provided feedback. In the beginning, I gave moreguidance about how to write in the journal, especially when they asked questions directly
to me in their journal or in person. Some questions were administrative: Can I give mynotebook to you on Monday instead of Friday? Others were technical questions: Can I type
my journal instead of handwriting it? or Can I slow the audio speed down? However, somequestions were about reflecting: How can I improve my reflecting skills? and How do I ask
myself questions? We also met periodically at lunchtime or online using Zoom for check-ins.
After the summer vacation, I began to write comments such as Can you tell me more? orWhat did you learn? to help them go deeper into their reflections.

Peer Learning and Feedback

It was also important for students to give feedback to each other. Encouraging peerinteraction not only fosters critical reflection and communicative skills but also builds
community (Boud et al., 1999) so that students can use their personal learning experiences
to help each other. In July, I asked students to interact collaboratively with each other on
Padlet, a platform where students can post documents, videos, comments, and audio
to a digital wall. By talking to each other or writing comments on Padlet about problems
they were encountering, students were able to suggest new strategies for each other totry. Some suggestions were to try dictation, read shorter passages, write summaries, andwatch movies (see Figure 4). We often use this platform for our classes and online student
conferences at my high school�

Figure 4. Padlet Interaction
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Building a Critical Reflective Practice With High School Language Learners

Insights from Aoi’s and Mika’s Critical Reflection Journeys

The primary methods of data collection I used were journal entries from the students’handwritten journal notebooks (Phases 1 and 2), which later shifted online in Phase
3. I organized the qualitative data into two categories, oral and written, and appliedinterpretational analysis to the data� This involved a systematic procedure of coding andclassifying the data to explore constructs, themes, and patterns as they emerged (Gallet al., 2005). Here I highlighted consistent themes in the journal, for example, places of
distraction, frustration, and change. In addition, I underlined words of emotion suchas “happy” and “disappointed.” By doing this, I could identify the commonalities anduniqueness of Aoi and Mika’s critical reflection journeys. From here, I present a summaryinterpretation of both students’ critical reflections on their English learning journeys. I
follow this with a reflection on my own learnings and realizations.

Aoi’s Journey

Aoi wrote 17 journal entries from June until the end of September. In her SMART Goal
Worksheet, she expressed a desire to pass Level 1 on the EIKEN Proficiency Exam by
March 2022. Getting a high score on this test is necessary to attend an overseas university.
She felt that the benefits of achieving this goal would be to improve her English skills
and expand her career options after graduating from university. Some of the obstacles
she felt would prevent her from achieving the goal were insufficient time to study orlack of opportunities for output like speaking and writing. When we met in May to goover her SMART Goal Worksheet, she wanted to focus on learning vocabulary, as seenin the Specific Action Steps (see Figure 2). Additionally, according to the needs analysis
questionnaire that was given to students in April, one of her personal goals for thisresearch project was to improve her vocabulary skills.
High school students often study vocabulary by writing the English word and its
Japanese meaning next to it. In June, Aoi started to study vocabulary by using Quizlet (adigital flashcard application). She wanted to review some study cards she had previously
used in her English class. However, when she began studying vocabulary at 9:00 p.m., she
noticed that she became sleepy: While reviewing the vocabulary, I felt drowsy sometimes.
I drank a glass of cold water to shake off the sleepiness. Here she noticed that she had aproblem, and she quickly changed her behavior to continue. As she reflected on theaction: After reviewing the vocabulary, I noticed that I forgot the majority of the words eventhough I have spent a lot of time memorizing, she concluded: I was surprised that how I forgot
the learning of vocabularies even though I could memorize them once. I think it’s better not toleave a long time between reviews. From that point on, she began to study fewer words but
did so more frequently during the week.
A week later, Aoi decided to watch a 20-minute TED Talk video in English. As she waswatching it, she noticed that she could not catch some of the words the presenter wassaying, so she turned on the English subtitles. She continued: Next time I watch a TED talkvideo in English, I should list up the words that I can’t understand and write a summary andopinion. Aoi began to notice that there are different ways to learn vocabulary. She did nothave to use Quizlet only.
In July, Aoi began to write more about her mood: I was not in the mood for studying witha pencil, so I watched Netflix to learn English. Because she had the choice of watching the
program Terrace House with English subtitles, she was able to reflect: I enjoyed watching it,
so I can continue this learning. I was able to see English translations of Japanese people’s daily
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conversations, so I was able to learn English expressions that are easy to use. This shows that
Aoi was gaining a new insight into her learning style. She seemed to be departing from her
SMART goals and choosing resources that do not help her with exam-related vocabulary(see Figure 2). She also spent more time watching Terrace House than she did studying
vocabulary.
Towards the end of July, Aoi’s focus shifted from EIKEN to getting a high score on IELTS,
which was required to enter a competitive program at the university of her choice� In her
journal, she wrote: I’ve been so busy working on my uni application. From today, studying
English is a top priority for me. My goal: HIGH SCORE ON IELTS! Her journal entries reflecteda shift in her learning strategies, too. Figure 5 shows how her tasks became more creativeand seemed to suit her learning style more� This also shows that she is experimenting
with different ways to learn new words. Aoi wrote: I think this method is nice. I enjoyed doing
it. The important thing is to continue.
From September, Aoi once again changed her focus from learning vocabulary to
preparing for the IELTS writing section. Her tasks shifted to reading and memorizing
example answers from the IELTS practice tests. As she reflected on the action: Write what I
remember and highlight the parts I forgot. Must write again and again, she began to develop
a new learning strategy. She further reflected: I hope this exercise will help me with my
IELTS test! But it takes time to memorize. She practiced this strategy for about a month until
she was able to achieve the required score to enter the university program. She added
a time limit to simulate the actual time she would have for the IELTS writing section. She
reflected: I think I did a good job. But next time, I will set a time limit like a test.
Towards the end of September, Aoi took the IELTS test and attained a 7.0 in thelistening section and 6.0 on the other sections. She received an overall score of 6.5 andwas accepted into the university program of her choice. In her journal she wrote: The XXX
program requires students to get an overall 6.5 so I can apply with this result! YAY!
After she gained acceptance into the program, she continued to use Quizlet, but she
also used other tools that interested her such as Netflix, TED Talks, and podcasts tochallenge herself to learn new vocabulary. She remarked: I am happy that my band scoresof listening and reading increased. But I should have practiced speaking more. She further
elaborated: I tried to do my best, but my speaking test ended terribly. . . . I should have beencalmer. I couldn’t say what I wanted to say. I have a week to prepare for the next IELTS, so I will
work harder.
Overall, Aoi mentioned in a written note I received in January that she was happy withher progress and that this style of journal writing really made her focus when she wasstudying. It was challenging, but she could see her overall progress. She enjoyed thefreedom of doing what she liked to do to learn English. She wanted to continue doing thistype of journal writing at university.
Aoi achieved many things during her critical reflective journey. First, she began torealize that watching TED Talk videos and Netflix series motivated her more to learn
English because she was able to listen to natural English. In addition, she began to try
different learning strategies for her vocabulary study, such as drawing pictures andwriting new expressions from English subtitles. Through critical reflection, she was able
to recognize and change her habits when she became distracted during studying such as
being interrupted by friends on SNS or being tired or hungry. She also learned how to getback on track with studying for tests after being distracted by Terrace House� This style ofreflection-on-action helped her transform the way she studied and learned English.
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Building a Critical Reflective Practice With High School Language Learners

Figure 5. Aoi’s New Way of Studying Vocabulary

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Mika’s Journey

Mika also completed 17 journal entries. When filling out her SMART goals worksheet, she
indicated a desire to focus on improving her listening skills. She had difficulty picking up
words when listening to two people speaking in a video, and she felt that it was important
to improve her listening skills in order to have better conversations with foreigners.
This goal was significant to her because she wanted to get involved in politics and she
felt that being able to use English could make diplomatic relations smoother. Some
specific benefits of achieving this goal were to be able to follow conversations betterand to understand news broadcasts in English. Mika wrote that she was afraid of having
conversations in English because at times she misunderstood what was being said.
Mika preferred to do shorter listening tasks lasting no more than 10 minutes. She
mentioned in her journal: I become nervous when I have long conversations� I thought that
it was very important for her to know about her own learning style. She felt that her first
listening task of transcribing a short conversation from Genshin Impact (an open-ended roleplaying game) was too difficult, so she decided to focus on listening materials for children.
Mika began to watch Disney films. She felt that listening to the spoken language waseasier to follow: I thought the words were easy for kids. And very easy to hear. I think Disney isgood teaching material. She reflected: I did a good job today. If this is the case, I can continue.
If it is too long, I’ll lose motivation. But I want it to be a little longer. Here is another exampleof transformation through reflection-on-action. In the next journal entry, Mika mentionedthat she tried to listen to a longer conversation: Today I heard a short conversation from
Tangled. I felt like I could do this. Mika began to gain more confidence as she challenged
herself to increase the amount of time she spent listening to conversations and songs
from Disney films.
Mika also noticed that when she was unable to understand all the words, she wanted togive up: I heard it many times, but thought it was necessary to give up if I couldn’t hear it. Even
though songs can be more difficult to understand than dialogue, she felt: The use of idioms
was easy to remember.
As the song “Speechless” from Aladdin was slow, Mika found it easier to understand.
She felt more confident after listening to it: Today, I heard short music from Aladdin. Thissong is very slow and easy to hear. I thought how to use rhymes was amazing. It is difficult, but
I learned the beauty of English. Until the end of July, Mika continued listening to music in
English. She associated the length of the song with her motivation: The longest song is hard.
The length that does not lose motivation is just right.
After the summer vacation, Mika decided to change from listening to Disney songs
to pop artists such as Adele and Taylor Swift. For these, she slowed the speed to 0.5x
because she felt that she would be able to follow them better. However, she realized that
this did not work because she was used to listening to the song at regular speed: I realizedthat it is important to listen at the speed of a native speaker.
By the end of September, Mika had gained more confidence in her listening skills.
She gained 20 points on her TOEFL ITP score. Mika also felt that critical reflection wasinteresting because it gave her the tools to recognize that she wanted to try more listening
strategies to improve her proficiency. When she began keeping her critical reflection
journal, her choices for resources and tasks sometimes did not match up with herlearning goals� Her main goal was: To hear small words in conversations to follow them better
which would make it easier to solve problems on tests. I’ll be able to hear the news. In a private
conversation with me, Mika said: I never had thought about how to improve my listening
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skills before doing this critical reflection journal. She was not sure if she would continue thisjournal activity in the future, because English was not going to be a priority. After hearing
this, I began to wonder how I could encourage students to use this type of reflection inany part of their lives, not just their learning.
Through critical reflection, Mika became more confident in using conversational English.
In the early stages, she was frustrated that she could not catch what was being said inconversations used in online role-playing games, so she decided to listen to songs thatwere easy for her to understand. By recognizing the causes and effects of the tasks she
chose and the emotions she felt during the activities, transformative learning took place.

My Learnings and Realizations

Building a critical reflective practice with language learners can be a successful tool forstudents to use outside the classroom. Using the SMART Goal Worksheet (see Figures 2
and 3) helped students to think about potential obstacles such as receiving text messages
from friends or falling asleep during studying that could prevent them from reaching theirgoals. The worksheet also asked students to think of potential solutions to the obstacles
they had written. One such solution was for Aoi to put her phone in her bag, so her
friends did not interrupt her studying�The key point for students to build a critical reflective practice is receiving guidancefrom the teacher at specific points along the journey. Some students struggle or lose sightof their goals because they feel frustrated that they are not making progress, as in Mika’scase. Aoi, on the other hand, was able to take risks and challenge herself. She asked morequestions: Ann sensei, what do you think about the way I took to improve my writing skills? Do
you have any suggestions? Aoi seemed like she was ready to act on her curiosity by asking
questions, and she was not afraid to seek help when needed. It is important for teachers
to encourage and scaffold this kind of behavior because it could effectively provide
feedback to learners so they can plan the next steps toward attaining their goals andfurthering their learning�
If I could do this research project again, I think I would encourage more feedback
between me and each student as well as between the students themselves. By asking
questions, Aoi was able to go deeper into her reflection compared to Mika. I felt Mika
would have benefited more if we had done more peer reflection. She might have learned
different ways to improve her listening and vocabulary skills from Aoi.
The process of learning another language can be a very emotional experience, as
anyone who has tried it can attest. A key realization that emerged from this exploration
was the level of emotions generated during the reflective cycle. Language learning canbe positively or negatively affected by these different types of emotions. Throughout
their journeys, Aoi and Mika experienced both ups and downs. Some words and phrases
that they used to express their emotions included: “It was easy,” “excited,” “fun to learn
new things,” “YAY!” whereas other entries voiced: “frustration,” “disorganized,” “difficult
to understand,” “want to give up.” It is important to note that students were becoming
motivated to learn as a result of experiencing this range of emotions� Aoi conveyed: I wasvery motivated to study! I could write a nice essay. Mika voiced: I did a good job today. If thisis the case, I can continue. As they continued to examine their activities deeply and makeadjustments to reach their end goals, their learning beyond the classroom was becomingtransformative�

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Challenges and Improvements

I faced several challenges during this exploratory project. I would like to go over somesuggestions for improvement should readers like to try critical reflection practices with
their students. First, it would have been better, in the beginning, to have brainstormed
different strategies for learning the four skills. Brainstorming might have given thestudents more activities to try to meet their goals. Students were able to come up with
their own ideas individually, but it took a long time. Second, providing guiding questions(Appendix C) at the beginning of the study would have helped the students to reflect moredeeply on the strategies they were using and how they could improve their approachto learning. If teachers notice that their students’ depth of reflection is limited, guiding
questions or prompts may help their students to reflect more deeply on their task.
Third, I would provide more bilingual assistance to support students with lower levels ofEnglish proficiency. Three possibilities that come to mind are: (a) bilingual worksheets,(b) individually meeting with the students more regularly, and (c) students writing theirjournal entries in their L1 until they gained more confidence in using their L2. Mika might
have benefited more from this activity if journaling in her L1 had been an option. She
would have been able to dive more deeply into her reflection and perhaps find a stronger
connection with what she was trying to achieve. Another possible change would be to use
a model journal from this project, with permission from the writer, as an example to show
future students how to develop critical reflection practices about their learning.

Conclusion

Learners can examine the strategies that they utilize to study English when they engage
in critical reflective practices. Through reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, andreflection-for-action, students were able to evaluate their current approaches to learning.
Mezirow (1990) defines critical reflection as an activity that students engage in to analyze
the relevance and appropriateness of their assumptions and beliefs. It enables students
to look at how they are doing things by questioning the usefulness of the tasks andthinking ahead for the next step of action to ensure that learning is taking place. Throughtheir journal entries, it was evident that transformative learning was taking place for Aoi
and Mika.
The practice of critical reflection has always been a part of what I do as a teacher. I
found it insightful and encouraging to be able to use this type of practice with my students
and see how their language learning could also be transformed, as was my teaching
too. Encouraging language learners to develop critical reflective practices beyond theclassroom fosters greater self-awareness by challenging them to question their learning
beliefs, draw conclusions about their learning, and finally decide on actions that willtransform their learning experiences�

Author Bio

Ann Flanagan has been teaching at Ritsumeikan Junior and Senior High School forthe past 24 years. She has an MA in TESOL from the School for International Training(SIT, Brattleboro, Vermont, USA). Her research interests include learner development,
extensive reading, international education, teacher training, and curriculum development.

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Review ProcessThis paper was open-reviewed by Hugh Nicoll and Stacey Vye of the Learner Development
Journal Review Network and by the Journal Steering Group. (Contributors have the option ofopen or blind review.)

References

Boud, D., Cohen, R., & Sampson, J. (1999). Peer learning and assessment. Assessment &Evaluation in Higher Education, 24(4), 413–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293990240405
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the reflective thinking to the educative
process. Heath & Co.
Dörnyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom. The
Modern Language Journal, 78(3), 273–284. https://doi.org/10.2307/330107
Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge University
Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511667343
Farrell, T. S. (2013). Reflecting on ESL teacher expertise: A case study. System, 41(4),1070–1082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.10.014
Fook, J. (2011). Developing critical reflection as a research method. In J. Higgs, A. Titchen,
D. Horsfall, & D. Bridges (Eds.), Creative spaces for qualitative researching (pp. 55–64).
Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-761-5_6
Gall, J. P., Gall, M. D., & Borg, W. R. (2005). Applying educational research: A practical guide�
Pearson Education.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development�
Prentice-Hall.
Mezirow, J. (1990). Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: A guide to transformative andemancipatory learning� Jossey-Bass�Nunan, D. (1991). Language teaching methodology: A textbook for teachers. Prentice-Hall.
Nunan, D., & Richards, J. C. (2015). Language learning beyond the classroom� Routledge�
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315883472
OfficeArrow.com. (2008). SMART goal worksheet [Online worksheet]. https://inside�sou�edu/
assets/socsci/Advising__Student_Success/Goal_Setting/ica.SMARTGoalWorksheet.pdf
O’Neill, J., Conzemius, A., Commodore, C., & Pulsfus, C. (2006). The power of smart goals:
Using goals to improve student learning. Solution Tree Press.
Richards, J. C. (2015). The changing face of language learning: Learning beyond theclassroom� RELC Journal, 46(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688214561621
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage.

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Appendix A

SMART Goal Worksheet

Today’s Date: ___________ Target Date: __________ Start Date: _________________
Date Achieved: _______________
Goal: ________________________________________________________________________
Verify that your goal is SMART
Specific: What exactly will you accomplish?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Measurable: How will you know when you have reached this goal?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Achievable: Is achieving this goal realistic with effort and commitment? Have you got the resources to achieve this goal? If not, how will you get them?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Relevant: Why is this goal significant to your life?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Timely: When will you achieve this goal?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This goal is important because:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The benefits of achieving this goal will be:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Take Action!
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Potential Obstacles________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Potential Solutions________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Who are the people you will ask to help you?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Specific Action Steps: What steps need to be taken to get you to your goal?
What?
Expected Completion Date____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Completed________________________________

Note. Adapted from https://inside.sou.edu/assets/socsci/Advising__Student_Success/Goal_
Setting/ica.SMARTGoalWorksheet.pdf

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Appendix B
Questionnaire on Personal Goals for Research Project1) Choose your name2) Age3) At what age did you start learning English? (何歳から英語を学び始めましたか。)

4) Are you taking or not taking English lessons outside of school now?（今学校以外で英語のレッスンを受けていますか。
）

5) If you answered, “yes” to question #4. How many days a week do you study English

and for how long? For example: once a week for 3 hours.（質問4で「はい」と答えた方へ。週に何日、どのくらいの時間、英語を勉強していますか？ 例：週に1回、3時間。
）

6) EIKEN LEVEL (英検級）

7) TOEFL ITP SCORE (TOEFL ITPスコア)

8) What skill or skills do you want to focus on this year?（今年重点的に取り組みたい英語スキル
は何ですか。
）a� Listening
b. Readingc� Speakingd� Vocabularye� Writingf� TOEFL ITPg� EIKENh� TOEFL CBT/iBTi� Other9) If you have a specific area that you would like to work on, write it below. (Ex: Debate orConversation)（具体的に取り組んでみたい分野があれば、下に書いてください。例：ディベートまたは

英語会話）10) What strategies are you using to learn English now? (Ex. Listening to music.)（今はどんな戦略で英語を学んでいますか。例：音楽を聞く。
）

11) What strategies did you use to learn English, but did not work? (Ex. Listen to music.)（英語を学ぶためにどのような戦略をとったが、うまくいかなかったのか。
例：音楽を聞く。
)

12) What goal(s) would you like to achieve this year?（今年はどんな目標を達成したいですか。
）
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Appendix C

New Reflection Questions

Before the task
• What would I like to learn today?
• How can I break this task down into manageable parts, so I don’t get distracted?
• How long am I going to work on my goal today? Why?
• What are my goals for today?
• What’s my energy level? How am I feeling about doing today’s goal?
During the task
• What have I learned so far?
• What else do I need to do to finish today’s goal?
• Which parts of today’s goal are easy for me? difficult for me?
• Does my work reflect my effort thus far?
After the task
• What new information have I learned from today’s goal?
• What surprised me about what I learned?
• Where were the roadblocks?
• How did I move through the roadblocks or challenges?
• Does my work reflect my effort thus far?
• Am I proud of my work?
Future• If given the opportunity, one thing I would change about this task is . . . . . .
• How does what I did today compare with previous tasks?
• Have I achieved the goal I set for myself for today’s task? How do I know it?
• Are the goals I set before this task still reasonable? Do I need to adjust them?
• How close am I to achieving my overall original goal?
• In what ways have you gotten better?
• What resources did you use to achieve today’s goal? Which ones were particularly
helpful? Which ones would you use again?

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