Saturday 2:30 - 3:20
Rose, Olympic ParkTel
The Use of Student Journals in Evaluating An Action Research Project
Sivakumar Sivasubramaniam
Assumption University, Thailand
The paper will examine the role of students' English standards in the
evaluation of ethnographic data gathered in an action research project
implemented by the English Language Centre at Assumption University to
study the effectiveness of using a literature-based EFL curriculum.
By presenting a gleaning of entries of self-report from students' journals,
the paper will address concerns that regard the journals not only as an
introspective tool, but also as an indicator of student involvement in
a literature-based EFL curriculum. Indicators of student involvement
alert us to academic anxieties that impinge on the status of a research
project vis-a-vis the question of objectivity or covert subjectivity.
In such a case should the journal entries be looked upon as examples of
good and poor students or as a record of feelings, opinions, and sensitivity
-- or, both? Looking at the journal entries only as evidence of SLA
with a focus on patterns of acquisition might miss the merits of what the
students accomplished. But if we look at the entries from a literary
criticial point, what kind of process should we use to evaluate them?
The ensuing engagement might lead us into another scheme of research.
|
