Fostering Writing and Critical Thinking through Dialogue Journal

Much like the regular physical exercise, having a regular writing workout is necessary for learners of English language. Dialogue journals provide the perfect means for this. Dialogue journal in an English classroom is an informal written conversation between the students and the teacher; in fact it can motivate a learner to write more in English. The language in a dialogue journal is closer to speech than to academic writing, so it promotes authentic, informal and lively conversation between the writers. As our learners need frequent opportunities to practice speaking English freely without fear of being corrected, in order to achieve oral fluency; similarly they need the chance to write freely without inhibition to promote fluency in writing. Often it is in the act of writing a response that actual learning takes place and this is how critical thinking develops. In fact, dialogue journal is the place where students explore their thinking before classroom discussion. It enables speaking and writing, referencing each other. The main objective of using dialogue journals in the English language classroom is to give students more time and opportunities for writing so that they can experience the pleasure of communication through the written word and at the same time become better writers and thinkers in English. With this background, the aim of this paper is to discuss the role of dialogue journals in developing the skills of writing and critical thinking of English language learners.