The reflective L2 writing teacher

Abstract

This article reports on the use of journals by prospective ESOL teachers who were asked, as one of the requirements of a writing methods course in a MATESOL program, to conduct student–teacher conferences in writing. Writing journal entries about conferencing, and providing feedback on student writing, required the prospective teachers in this study to confront themselves with what they already know; to evaluate themselves as writers, teachers, and learners; and to reflect on the practice of teaching writing in English to speakers of other languages. By describing how teachers adjusted their expectations about improving student writing, and how they discovered themselves as writers, this article presents a case for making individual conferencing and subsequent reflection through journal writing an integral part of L2 writing teacher education. This paper also discusses lessons learned by the methods course instructor after requiring that this practical training be part of the teacher preparation course.