As an ESP teacher I’m expected to introduce basic pharmaceutical, medical and scientific (chemistry, physics, biology) vocabulary, to exercise practical skills to enable future pharmacists to communicate with English-speaking patients who might enter their pharmacies and to enable them to actively take part in professional discussions and make oral presentations. Writing is so rare in the classroom that my students don’t perceive writing skills as valuable. In fact, they don’t need to write in English, which is a very demotivating situation. That’s why I started to introduce tasks focusing on writing, such as designing crosswords and quizzes, writing tasks on grammar or vocabulary (gap-filling, for example), writing down a recipe for a healthy meal, writing an advert of a drug (e.g. based on a Polish leaflet), or writing a short summary of the article from a specialized periodical taken from the university library, and finally journal writing. The prime benefit of journal writing is to provide students with an opportunity to practise writing skills but also to express their own opinions on language learning, and to reflect on their own language learning (cf. Opałka, 2003).

I decided to set up journal writing in selected groups for one academic year. I chose three groups of students whose command of English was sufficient for the purpose of the project. Then I made up a list of potential topics to write about and thought of arguments encouraging my students to take up journal writing seriously. Obviously, my first aim was to provide the students with some writing practice, secondly I wanted to get to know my students better and gain an insight into the students’ feelings and attitudes towards various aspects of learning ESP. I also hoped to obtain feedback on the course which could give me a chance to reconsider the students’ needs and the content to be included in the course. Finally, I was aiming to give the students an opportunity for self-exploration and reflection on their own learning processes (learning strategies and styles) and their relationship with classmates.

By the end of each class the students were supposed to write down a few sentences on the topic given by the teacher or about the topic discussed during the class. Each of the three groups (group A: 9 students, group B: 9 students, group C: 9 students) reacted in a different way. Some students started to write eagerly and took it so seriously that they got nervous their entries were too short or had too many errors, etc. The others were puzzled by the new task, didn’t know what to write. Many just followed the teacher’s instructions and obediently did the task by writing what they thought would please the teacher. The quotations presented herein have been preserved in their original form (spelling, punctuation or grammar have not been altered).

Generally, it was easier for them to write when they had a specific topic. They seemed to find it difficult to reflect on the class and their language learning. Some were even disappointed that they were asked to write another entry again and again. They didn’t feel comfortable about writing in English. They also found it difficult to express their opinions in English because either they didn’t know how to say it in English or had nothing to say at all. However, the students were surprised I had answered each entry individually and every time. Consequently, receiving a personal feedback from the teacher seemed to motivate them to write their entries.

The first entry considered their experience with English in general and English classes at the university. They also wrote about their expectations of the course. The entries revealed that the students would prefer a balanced mixture of materials prepared by the teacher and offered by the book. Definitely they would like some general English incorporated into ‘Pharmacy English’ as they called it. They would like to have some interesting articles to read and talk about. Some felt they could do with some grammar practice. The others admitted they were to shy to speak in front of the class so they would prefer ‘doing’ to ‘speaking’.

Very few would like to have some listening comprehension activities. It seems it is another skill neglected by the students and virtually absent in the syllabus as a result of the lack of specialized recordings. That situation made me browse through different general English coursebooks for interesting recordings (e.g., an interview with a genetician or a talk by a person suffering from synesthesia).

One day we talked about learning vocabulary and we had a listening task where different language learners were talking how they organized their vocabulary learning (Headway intermediate). Then my students reflected on how they learned new words and what strategies they employed. Most of them write down new words on a piece of paper and try to recycle them in a variety of ways. Class discussion made a few students rethink the way they learn new vocabulary. However, many just learn them by heart before a test (this is one of the reasons why I quit typical tests - e.g., fill in a gap or translate a word or a phrase).

Once I asked the students about different forms of assessment, what they liked or didn’t like about it and how they would like to be assessed. They appreciated introduced by the teacher forms of assessment requiring them to complete a task on their own.

One of the classes was devoted to discussing the features of a good language learner. Then the students were asked to describe themselves as language learners. Generally, they complain they were lazy or didn’t have enough time. Although they declared their willingness to learn English they, at the same time, produced many excuses preventing them from working on their English.

I was interested in what my students were going to do after completing the course. Would they continue to learn English on their own and in what ways? In most cases, they would rather attend an English course than do something on their own.

Finally I asked them about journal writing, whether they would like to carry it on next semester or not. Basically, they didn’t want to hurt me but they said ‘no’. However, there were some enthusiasts.

All in all, it was a new experience both for the students and for the teacher. Having read all the entries I would generalize that the more personal entry the more difficulties with writing appeared and vice verse the more general topic the fewer errors. In other words, they can write correct sentences when the topic is easy for them (i.e., previously discussed) and doesn’t required advanced skills and vocabulary, however, with more personal thoughts to write about they seem to lack efficient skills but they do communicate their ideas. The project was carried out for such a short period of time that it’s difficult to notice spectacular improvements in writing skills, however, some slight changes in the organization of their writing could be observed.

As far as being autonomous is concerned some students showed highly developed responsibility for their own learning. They are aware of their knowledge of English, their needs, and their learning situation. They are able to set some goals and strive to achieve them independently from the teacher. Some do take advantage of learning English outside the classroom.

One year ago I was given great collection of about 50 issues of “National Geographic” (English edition) and not long ago finished to read it. I’m also atending English classes not on my studies … A2

The project was supposed to last one academic year but was ceased after the first semester when it was obvious for the teacher that the majority of the students wrote their entries automatically without much reflection. They could simply be too tired and exploited by other subjects. Their entries were well written and varied when the topic had been introduced previously. Then they would successfully summarize the discussion and express their opinions. Otherwise their entries were superficial and stereotypical. Probably the problem lies in the topic itself. I found it the most difficult to come up with an attracting issue to write about. It could also be directly connected with their abilities to write in English, group A being the best and group C the weakest. As a result, the students of group A were great enthusiast of journal writing. In group B, I think, they didn’t enjoy it enough to continue the practice. And group C enjoyed journal the least and didn’t want to write entries any longer.

Despite some difficulties and drawbacks, in general, writing journals proved beneficial for all the involved and definitely the activity was a welcome breaker from routine classes.

Opałka, 2003, Reflective learning in the autonomous classroom, IATEFL PL TDAL SIG Newsletter 9, http://www.iatefl.org.pl/tdal/n9reflective.htm