Understanding how Reflective Journal Writing Stimulates Reflective Reasoning: A Literature Review

Reflective journal writing is a pedagogical tool commonly used to help English as a foreign language (EFL) students develop and refine their reflective reasoning. Previous research has provided strong evidence in support of the effectiveness of this tool in promoting this mode of reasoning, but much of how it does so remains unclear. These studies do not explain how reflective journal writing enhances reflective reasoning as the focus was on the end-product, that is, on the cause-and-effect relationship. Therefore, more research is required to understand this developmental process and make it clear and explicit. The aim of this paper is to describe and discuss how reflective journal writing makes students engage in reflective reasoning and develop this skill. To achieve this purpose, a narrative review of the literature was undertaken. The analysis of the literature showed that the developmental process of reflective thinking through reflective journal writing occurs by activating and catalyzing reflective reasoning and making this thinking process visible to both educators and students, which is essential for its evaluation and improvement as well. This paper contributes to the understanding of how reflective journal writing stimulates reflective reasoning to inform didactic practices and optimize the outcomes.