2019 [Critical Reading – Nina Sofiana, M.Pd.

CRITICAL READING
Module

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Introduction
This course equips students with various ways of reading, studying and criticizing
popular articles and scientific journals with topics that are related to 1) English
education which includes method-pedagogic, assessment and evaluation, and
learning management, 2) English language skills, and 3) linguistics and other fields
that are in accordance with English learning.

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What Are Literature Circles? (TlCRC 2004)

In literature circles,small groups of students gather together to discuss a piece of literature in

depth. The discussion is guided by students' response to what they have read. You may hear talk
about events and c,haracters in the book,the author's craft,or personal experiences related to the
story. Literature circles provide a way for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as
they read, discuss, and respond to books. Specifically,each student is given a unique role in the
discussion process. Collaboration is atthe heart of this approach.Students reshape and add onto
their understanding as they construct meaning with other readers. Finally literature circles guide
students to deeper understanding of what they read through structured discussion and extended
written and artistic response.

The literature circle technique has been demonstrated to be an effective way to enhance reading
comprehension with students from first grade through college, including those of varying
abilities and those with identified disabilities.

How to do Literatu re circle? (Fayne and Weiss, 2007)

1. Participants are divided into groups of six, seven or more.
2. A common reading is assigned.
3. After reading the selection, participants are given roles and respond to the piece according to
their assigned roles.
4. If groups are assigned different selections, a group member may present key or essential
understandings to their peers.

Roles:
Each person draws a card to determine his or her role in the discussion circle, or the teacher may
assign roles. Multiple people can play the same role.
Discussion Director begins the discussion by asking probing questions. For example, the
director might ask, "How did you feel while you were reading this
article?" or "What do you think the most important parts were?" Laina
Jones tells her students to remember that a discussion director should
ask "open-ended" rather than simple "yes/no questions”.
Illuminator finds the passage (or passages) that illuminate or spot light an important
point and reads the passage out loud to the group, explaining why that
particular passage was chosen.
Vocabulary Enhancer Introduces new words, unfamiliar words, or key words found in the text
and defines them for the group.
Illustrator Draws a picture, creates a graph or chart, produces a Venn diagram, or,
in some other visual way, represents concepts or ideas in a pictorial
manner.

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Connector Brings meaning to the selection by connecting it to other books, media,

or personal experiences.
Reporter Takes notes on the proceedings and reports to the larger group.
Facilitator Times each person's presentation (if a discrete amount of time is
allotted) and keeps the group on task.

Advantages of Using Literature Circles (Fayne & Weiss, 2007):

 All students have an important role in the discussion.
 Small groups allow everyone to be heard.
 Difficult points are presented from many perspectives.
 Studentsof differing abilities can be in one group and benefit from one another.
 Roles can be rotated to allow students to experience different perspectives.
 Books/long articles can be broken into manageable pieces.
 Different learning strengths and styles are tapped.
 Comprehension and vocabulary are significantly enhanced.
 Students take responsibility for their own learning.

More … (Curtis, 2015)

 In literature circles, every student can participate in conversation.They are often less
intimidated than they might be in a class discussion. The students are also actively
constructing their own meanings of a text, rather than waiting for a teacher to "give" them an
official meaning.
 By practicing the analytic strategies of each group role, students become cannier, more
resourceful readers.
 The different roles in a literature circle show students that historical texts may embrace
multiple perspectives, depending on who is telling the story of history. As the students bring
these perspectives to the entire group, everyone benefits and learns from one another.
 As students try out various roles and learn ways to talk about a text, they begin to internalize
these habits and perspectives; eventually, they can discuss literature productively while
guiding the conversation themselves.

Assessment of Literature Circles (Curtis 2015)

As the students discuss the reading selection in the literature circle,the teacher listens, takes
notes, and monitors the students' abilities to contribute to the discussion through their assigned
roles. After all the literature circles have completed their discussion, the students can present
their insights and questions to the rest of the class. The teacher can also lead the class in an
assessment of the literature circles by asking the following questions:
 Based on our literature circles, what are the most important ideas you learned about your
reading selection today?
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 How well did each member of your literature cirde contribute in his or her assigned role?
 What went well in your literature circle?
 What would you do to improve our literature circles?

References
Fayne, H & Weiss, A. (2007). Literature Circles. Available at http://ohiorc.org/orc_
documents/orc/AdLIT/prodevelopment/documents/lfl 0207/lfl_nfayne_literaturecircle_4.pdf

Curtis, CP. (2015). Historical and Cultural Context. Available at

http://www.learner.org/workshops/tml/workshop5/teaching3.html

The Literature Circles Resource Centers. (2004). Overview of Literature Cirdes. Available at
http://www.litcircles.org/Overview/overview.html

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CRITICAL THINKING AND CRITICAL READING

(Taken and adapted from learning Centre,The University of Sydney and UNSW, Australia)
Available at http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/learning_centre/help/analysing/analysing.shtml and
https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing-critical-review

Outline of Lecture
 What is critical thinking?
 Demonstrating critical thinking
 Strategies for critical reading and writing

1. Defining Critical Thinking

Critical thinking has been defined in many different ways. Very broad definitions include
'thinking which has a purpose' or 'reflective judgement'. However,these definitions are often too
general to be useful to students.

Let's begin by reflecting on some approaches that critical thinkers may or may not take to
problems and issues.

Exercise 1
Read through the following statements and tick those that you think may came from critical
thinkers.

"I hate talk shows where people just state their opinions but never give any reasons at all"
"No matter how complex a problem, you can bet there will be a simple solution”
"Just because information is in a textbook, doesn't necessarily mean it can be trusted"
"My views are probably shaped by the sociala nd economic groups I belong to”
"I hate it when teachers discuss problems instead of just giving the informat on”
"Selling an idea is like selling cars, you say whatever works"
“1 like to think about whether someone's views reflects the experience of all groups of people"
"I question the authority of evidence before I accept it"

A useful definition of the type of critical thinking you need to develop at university level is
The kind of thinking which seeks to explore questions about existing knowledge for issues which
are not clearly defined and for which there are no clear-cut answers.

In order to display critical thinking, students need to develop skills in

 interpreting: understanding the significance of data and to clarify its meaning
 analysing: breaking information down and recombining itin different ways

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 reasoning: creating an argument through logical steps

 evaluating: judging the worth,credibility or strength of accounts.

Why’s critical thinkingimportant at university?

In general, students who develop critical thinking skills ore more able to
 achieve better marks
 become less dependent on teachers and textbooks
 create knowledge
 evaluate,challenge and change the structures in society

2. Displaying critical thinking in reading and writing

READING
Three important purposes of reading critically are
 to provide evidence to back up or challenge a point of view
 to evaluate the validity and importance of a text/ position
 to develop reflect ve thought and a tolerance for ambiguity

Strategies for reading critically

Ask Questions about For Example
your purpose why?
The context of the text why written?
where?
when?
who?
how relevant?
The structure of the text Do the parts fit together logically?
Is there a clear argument?
the arguments are they fair?
do they leave out perspectives of certain groups?
the evidence used Is evidence given to support the point of view?
Is the evidence from an authority in this field?
Is the evidence evaluated from different perspectives?
the language used Is the language coloured to present some things as more positive than
others?
Are claims attributed cleal1y to specific sources?

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WRITING
Written assignments may call for Critical thinking either explicitly or implicitly.

Implicit types of critical writing

At undergraduate level, critical writing typically refers to the genre of the persuasive essay in
which a logical argument [to a stated position/ issue] is developed and presented. The cognitive
process of critical thinking brings to light and questions 'accepted' views and assumptions and
can offer alternative perspectives.

What is meant by critical?

At university, to be critical does not mean to criticise in a negative manner. Rather it requires
you to question the information and opinions in a text and present your evaluation or judgement
of the text. To do this well, you should attempt to understand the topic from different
perspectives (i.e. read related texts) and in relation to the theories, approaches and frameworks in
your course.

What is meant by evaluation or judgement?

Here you decide the strengths and weaknesses of a text. This is usually based on specific criteria.
Evaluating requires an understanding of not just the content of the text, but also an understanding
of a text's purpose, the intended audience and why it is structured the way it is.

What is meant by analysis?

Analysing requires separating the content and concepts of a text into their main components and
then understanding how these interrelate, connect and possibly influence each other.

Critical thinking is a process that challenges an individualto use reflective, reasonable, rational
thinking to gather, interpret and evaluate information in order to derive a judgment.

General Strategies for critical writing

 Read critically (e.g.check validity of references used in source text)
 Be fair. Take into account accepted standards of judgement used in the particular discipline or
field. Comment (if possible from both a positive and negative perspective) on the section
 Draw on other sources to back up your comments. Use evidence taken from sources which are
considered authoritative in the field
 Consider viewpoints from a range of perspectives (e.g. male and female,different
socioeconomic and ethnic groups)
 Come to a conclusion on the overall worth/ validity etc of the original text
 Use inclusive language (e g. non-gender specific,non-absolute terms such as 'often' and 'could'
rather than 'always' and 'is')

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Examples of assignment questions with more or less critical responses

Question Less critical response  More critical responses
More balanced More negative
"The film 'Dead Yes. The teacher Keating While Keating is No. There is little
Poets' Society' represents an agent of instrumental in evidence that the
demonstrates how freedom for assisting students to students achieved any
the individual can the repressed creative challenge the reel freedom or
break free from and spirit or the boys. repressive structures power. Keating, their
overcome the Through his influence around them, the 'radical' teacher set up
artificial they examine and reject strategies raise expectations and,
constraints or the repressive and he gives them do not ultimately left them
schooling" Do meaningless structures always help them to without effective
you agree? around them and learn to overcome those strategies for coping
express themselves In constraints. with or challenging
new and creative ways school life.

Question Less critical response  More critical responses

More balanced More negative
What, if any, Reconciliation Reconciliation has had Reconciliation will bring no
benefits, has has had a number benefits, however there lasting benefit until the
Reconciliation of benefits e.g. is still a great deal of structures which exclude
brought to legal (Mabo); work to be done to indigenous voices from
Aboriginal social; cultural; change conditions and power have been
communities? political. attitudes. reexamined and reformed
(Dodson M. 1994)

GUIDANCE FOR WRITING ARTICLE REVIEWS

First of all,an artide review is a writing giving your opinion on certain thing. It could be a
product, a service, a movie, a book or even an article. Writing an article could be a little bit
challenging for some people, but does not have to be hard.

Purpose of a Critical Review

The critical review is a writing task that asks you to summarise and evaluate a text. The
critical review can be of a book, a chapter, or a journal article. Writing the critical review usually
requires you to read the selected textin detailand to also read other related texts so that you can
present a fair and reasonable evaluation of the selected text.

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Structure of a Critical Review

Critical reviews, both short (one page) and long (four pages), usually have a similar structure.
Headings are usually optional for longer reviews and can be helpful far the reader.

Introduction
The length of an introduction is usually one paragraph for a joumal article review and two or
three paragraphs for a longer book review. Include a few opening sentences that announce the
author(s) and the title, and briefly explain the topic of the text. Present the aim of the text and
summarise the main finding or key argument. Conclude the introduction with a brief statement of
your evaluation of the text. This can be a positive or negative evaluation or, as is usually the
case, a mixed response.

Summary
Present a summary of the key points along with a limited number of examples.You can also
briefly explain the author's purpose/intentions throughout the text and you may briefly describe
how the text is organised. The summary should only make up about a third of the critical review.

Critique
The critique should be a balanced discussion and evaluation of the strengths,weakness and
notable features of the text. Remember to base your discussion on specific criteria. Good reviews
also include other sources to support your evaluation (remember to reference).
You can choose how to sequence your critique. Here are some examples to get you started:
• Most important to least important conclusions you make about the text.
• If your critique is more positive than negative, then present the negative points first and
the positive last.
• If your critique is more negative than positive, then present the positive points first and
the negative last.
• If there are both strengths and weakness for each criterion you use, you need to decide
overall what your judgementis. For example, you may want to comment on a key idea in
the text and have both positive and negative comments. You could begin by stating what
is good about the idea and then concede and explain how it is limited in some way. While
this example shows a mixed evaluation, overall you are probably being more negative
than positive.
• In long reviews,you can address each criteria you choose in a paragraph,including both
negative and positive points. For very short critical reviews (one page or less) where your
comments will be briefer, include a paragraph of postiive aspects and another of negative.
• You can also include recommendations for how the text can be improved in terms of
ideas, research approach; theories or frameworks used can also be included in the critique
section.

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Conclusion
This is usually a very short paragraph.

• Restate your overall opinion of the text.

• Briefly present recommendations.
• If necessary some further qualification or explanat on of your judgement can be
included.This can help your critique sound fair and reasonable.

References
If you have used other sources in you review you should also include a list of references at the
end of the review.

Summarising and paraphrasing for the critical review

Summarising and paraphrasing are essential skills for academic writing and in particular, the
critical review. To summarise means to reduce a text to its main points and its most important
ideas. The length of your summary for a critical review should only be about one quarter to one
third of the whole critical review. The best way to summariseis to:
1. Scan the text. Look for information that can be deduced from the introduction, conclusion
and the title and headings. What do these tell you about the main points of the article?
2. Locate the topic sentences and highlight the main points as you read.
3. Reread the text and make separate notes of the main points. Examples and evidence do not
need to be included at this stage. Usually they are used selectively in your critique.

Paraphrasing means putting it into your own words. Paraphrasing offers an alternative to using
direct quotations in your summary (and the critique) and can be an efficient way to integrate your
summary notes. The best way to paraphraseis to:
1. Review your summary notes
2. Rewrite them in your own words and in complete sentences
3. Use reporting verbs and phrases (eg;The author describes..., Smith argues that ..).
4. If you include unique or specialist phrases from the text, use quotation marks.

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Some General Criteria for Evaluating Texts

The following list of criteria and focus questions may be useful for reading the text and for
preparing the critical review. The template for making an article review is given in the last part
of this handout.
Criteria Possible focus questions
Significance and contribution to the field • What is the author's aim?
• To what extent has this aim been achieved?
• What does this text add to the body of
knowledge? (This could be in terms of
theory, data and/or practical application)
• What relationship does it bear to other
works in the field?
• What is missing/ not stated?
• Is this a problem?
Methodology or approach • What approach was used for the research?
• {e.g. quantitative or qualitative, analysis/
review of theory or current practice,
comparative, case study, personal reflection
etc...)
• How objective/ biased is the approach?
• Are the results valid and reliable?
• What analytical framework is used to
discuss the results?
Argument and use of evidence • Is there a clear problem, statement or
hypothesis?
• What claims are made?
• Is the argument consistent?
• What kinds of evidence does the text rely
on? What is the nature of each piece of
supporting evidence? For example,is it
based on empirical research,ethical
consideration, common knowledge,
anecdote?
• How valid and reliableis the evidence?
• How effectiveis the evidencein supporting
the argument?
• What conclusions are drawn?
• Are these conclusions justified?
Writing style and text structure • Was it difficult to read and understand? If

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so, why? If not, why not?

• Does the writing style suit the intended
audience? (e.g. expert/ non-expert,
academic/ non- academic)
• Did the structure of sentences and
paragraphs and the overall organization
guide you and help you follow the author's
intent?
• What is the organising principle of the
text? Could it be better organised?

In the following pages, you will find two sample article reviews with annotated comments.

They are authentic examples of student writing. Therefore you should not view this as a model-
while it contains many attributes of a successful article review, it is not a perfect piece of
writing. The comments on the right hand-side draw your attention to both strengths and
weaknesses in the review, but are not comprehensive and as such you should not assume that
sections of the article review which do not have comments are without problems. Please not that
the language in this sarticle review is not without grammatical errors.

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Template for Joumal Article Review

Article Title :
Author(s) :
Author's Brief background: expertise and affiliation
Journal name:
Date:
Pages :
Volume :
Issue :
URL (if any) :
Keywords: These should be keywords that define the major topics of the article.
i.e., if someone were searchinga database of these articles, then they would search these
keywords much as you searched library databases. Examples: gender equity, cooperative
learning, spatial sense,etc. Keywords are usually found in the article abstract.
Reviewers: The names of the people in your group writing this article review
REVIEW
Introduction: The topic/ problem being investigated and the thesis statement/ the
aim of the writing.
Analysis and Synthesis: Here is where you actually "review" the article. What are the most
important conclusions of the article or the most important aspects from your perspective? How,
specifically, does this inform your group and your project? What did you learn from the article?
Are there points in the article with which you agree or disagree? Why? Pull it all together-what
conclusions or implications do you feel are the most important? Again, don't feel that you need
to write a long document. A few well-crafted paragraphs that are succinct and directly to the
point with sound arguments supporting your position are all that are needed  Refer to review
points in page 12-13 of this module
Conclusion :What new insights/ discoveries have I made in relation to my belief and values?
How will I make use of this new knowledge in future?

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Week 3

Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech August 28

1963

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the
greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our
nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose

symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the
Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree
came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro
slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering
injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long
night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still
sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the
chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a
lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material
prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the
corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So
we have come here today to dramatize an shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's Capital to cash a check. When the
architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory
note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white
men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note

insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this
sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a
check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse

to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of
opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check- a check
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that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of
justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce
urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or
to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time
to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path
of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of
racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make
justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.
This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass
until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen
sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the
Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude
awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither
rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship
rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of
our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the
warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of
gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us
not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of
bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high
plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to
degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the
majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community
must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white
brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to
realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come
to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We
cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead.
We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of
civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?"

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We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the

unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of
travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels
of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a

smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our chlidren are stripped of their

selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only."

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and

a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls
down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials
and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells.
Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left
you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of
police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering.
Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go

back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos
of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will
be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of

today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in
the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all
men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit
down together at the table of brotherhood.

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I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state
sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content
of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists,
with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition
and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and
black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls
as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exhalted, every hill and
mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the
crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with.
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a
stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling
discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to

struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom
together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with
new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I
sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every
mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let

freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom
ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the
heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

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Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom
ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let
freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from
Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every
mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it
ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every
city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black
men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be
able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free
at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Available at http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1951-/martin-luther-kings-i-
have-a-dream-speech-august-28-1963.php

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
Vol. 4 No. 1; January 2013

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Critical Discourse Analysis of Martin Luther King’s Speech

in Socio-Political Perspective
Muhammad Aslam Sipra
Assistant Professor, Department of GRC (English), JCC, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80283, Jeddah 21589 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
E-mail: [email protected]

Athar Rashid
Assistant Professor, Faculty of English Language, Literature & Applied Linguistics, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan
E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.4n.1p.27 Received: 01/12/2012

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.4n.1p.27 Accepted: 04/01/2013

Abstract
The article presents the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of the first part of King Martin Luther’s speech “When I
Have a Dream” in socio-political context. The study investigates how it lies on the basis of application of Fairclough
version of CDA in the first part of the text. Moreover, it explicates the terms like social, cultural and political
inequalities in the light of text and framework.
Keywords: CDA, Socio-political Perspective, 3D Model, Racial Discrimination, Hegemony, Dominance, Social
inequalities
1. Introduction
The term discourse has several definitions. In the study of language, discourse often refers to the speech patterns and
usage of language, dialects, and acceptable statements, within a community. It is a subject of study of peoples who live
in secluded areas and share similar speech conventions. Analysis is a process of evaluating the things by breaking them
down into pieces. Discourse Analysis simply refers to the linguistic analysis of connected writing and speech. The
major focus in Discourse Analysis is the use of language in social context. This article presents a Critical Discourse
Analysis of the famous speech by Martin Luther king, Jr. “I Have a Dream” by applying Fairclough 3D Model.
CDA specifically considers how language works within institutional and political discourses as well as specific
discourses in order to uncover overt or more often, covert inequalities in social relationships. Language use in speech
and writing is seen as a social practice, which ‘implies a dialectical relationship between a particular discursive event
and the situation(s), institution(s), and social structure(s) which frame it’ (Fairclough and Wodak, 1997: 258). Thus, in
this two-way relationship, discourse is considered to be socially constitutive as well as socially shaped.
Since discourses are so influential, they can help to produce and reproduce unequal power relations between different
ethnicities, social classes, genders, ages, and professional groups. CDA of the selected speech highlights the
relationship between language and power. It points out how Martin Luther in front of Washington DC challenges
Americans. The persuasive nature of the speech is disclosed through CDA. Martin Luther motivates the audience
through language of getting freedom and makes them ready against the racial discrimination
2. Research Questions:
1. How does the use of textual/stylistic strategies reflect the view of the Afro-American community in
speech?
2. To what extent the ideology of King Martin Luther is reflected through the linguistic choices in the
speech?
3. How do the stylistic features represent the broader socio-cultural and political relationship between the
white and the black community in America?
These questions are researchable as the focus is on the analysis of the language used in the speech. Researcher analyzed
the linguistic choices which are used by the speaker in order to find out the motifs. Language is considered to be the
main tool through which one can exert power and show retaliation to the powers exercised in the society by the
dominant groups. This project focuses on how speaker tried to raise voice against the hegemonic attitude of white
against the black with the help of language and how he tried to promote his ideology and motifs in the mind of the
socio-politically oppressed blacks. Researcher analyzes the stylistic devices like metaphors used by the speaker in order
to represent the perspective of the black. Power relation between the black and the white are analyzed at wider socio-
economic and political perspective that how white exert power on the black by analyzing the speech through CDA.
ALLS 4(1):27-33, 2013 28
3. Literature Review
In this section of the project, researcher has cited 20 references related to the main topic and different variables involved
in the research questions. Researcher has tried to knit a strong kind of theoretical basis in this portion to make further
grounds clear. Works of different theorists in the broad interdisciplinary field CDA have been elaborated vividly.
Vandijk (1998a) is of the view that CDA is particularly concerned with the analysis of any discourse whether written or
spoken from the perspective of discursive practices in a society like hegemony, domination, inequality of basic rights
and racial discrimination. Its focus is to examine the exertion of these practices with reference to socio-economic and
political perspective.
Fairclough (1993) says that CDA is a kind of analysis of discourse which brings forth odd relationships among different
social and ethnic groups. He focuses text and sequential events and then relates them with broader socio-cultural
perspective of the discourse of people which reveals uneven and ideology shaped power relations. He explores how
power is exercised in a society through hegemonic attitude and ideological text of the elite.
Fairclough (1992) explains three stages for the analysis of a discourse. In first stage CDA analyses the personal
experience and knowledge of the speaker by keeping in view his beliefs. Secondly, how social relations affect the
discourse and thirdly, speaker realizes about the reality and identity. He is of view that linguistic choices in a discourse
like lexical selection and syntactic patterns also reveal the social background and identity of a speaker. He argues that it
is the language which shapes discourse and different socio-political views which leads towards the exertion of power
relations. Fairclough (1992) is of the view that people belonging to a specific social setup have different relational and
expressive norms which is revealed through their speeches. This shows that there is strong tie between the social and
linguistic variables. The prime purpose of CDA is to analyze the text in the light of social theory of language
functioning of ideological and political processes.
According to Brown and Yule (1985) language is not only used for the description of things rather it is also used for
doing things as well. CDA analyses the use of the language in a real context and how language reveals their cultural,
social and ethnic backgrounds. They are of the view that choice of lexical and syntactic features of a language represent
the broad socio-cultural background of the speakers. Critical discourse analysis focuses on how their language reflects
discursive practices in the binary relations.
Halliday’s (1978) view regarding this concept is same that language is considered to be a social act because people
communicate in a social setup. Language and society are dependent on each other rather directly linked in terms
communication. It is the language (text) which shapes and constructs our identities. Same is the case in our context.
People who are fluent in English are considered socially and culturally dominant because they speak the language of
socially and politically dominant people. In this case, linguistic variable seems to become the identity of that particular
class.
According to Fairclough (1995b), linguistic analysis of discourse practice in socio-cultural background is known inter
textual analysis. Here the linguistic analysis is the analysis of the text at lexical, syntactic, grammatical and vocabulary
level. Cohesion, coherence and organization of the text are also included in this analysis. This analysis focuses on the
text by keeping in view all discourse practices.
Fairclough (1992) defines intertextuality as the characteristic of any text in which the text carries the chunks of other
texts which become a part of that text. The chunk taken from other text become a complete part of the original one
whether it refutes the idea given in the original text or accepts. He divides intertextuality into two types which are
‘manifest intertextuality’ and ‘constitutive intertextuality’. The first type refers to the use of quotations in the texts in
order to validate and authenticate the argument. Certain quotes are included in the inverted comas while writing any
essay or speech. This type of inclusion of other text is considered as manifest intertextuality. The other is related to
discourse structures which lead to novel text production. Fairclough says that this kind of text can be analyzed by doing
its linguistic analysis.
Fairclough (1989) described his approach in the perspective of analysis of text as ‘critical language study’. His main
focus was to unfold the discrimination of social relations and discursive practices which exploits the rights of masses
with the help of language used in society. He is the view that language is used as a tool for exercising power and
hegemony. Text is the dress of thoughts through which people exert dominance.
Wodak and Fairclough (1995a, 1996) are of the view that language as a practice of creating hegemony, power and
dominance is being used in a society. It seems to be a complete reflection of social practices like a mirror. The types of
language used among the members of society reveal the social relations like communication of a director of a company
with a clerk or peon would clearly draw line and the linguistic choice of director would reveal his/her hegemonic
attitude. Historical perspective of discourse plays vital role in getting the meanings of the text. Every text carries certain
historical perspectives and contexts which clarify the meanings in that particular context.
Gee (1990) and Sampson (1980) put an argument that CDA systematically interprets discourses with the help of various
approaches by keeping in view socio-political and economic contexts. Here, social semiotics plays significant role in
the interpretation of discourse because the analysis would be done on the basis of social factors in that specific context.
Fowler (1996) says the perspective of CDA is to produce the knowledge of exploitation and knowing, conscious rising
of the people regarding any discourse in socio-cultural context. He is of the view that analyst should focus the
ALLS 4(1):27-33, 2013 29
representation critical orientation instead of criticism of discourses. Critique from CDA perspective would represent the
social, economical and political backgrounds of discourses.
Corson (1995) says that critical discourse analysis applies certain techniques like textual and stylistic features to find
out the social relations, identities from the linguistic perspective. Discourses whether they reveal the social issues like
dominance, hegemony are reflected through text or it is the discourses related to educational systems like schools,
official documents are dealt by the analysis of the text.
According to Blommaert(2005) and Jorgensen(2002) critical discourse analysis is considered to be wider and broader
which analyses the relation of language within a society and its impact on the discourses. They are of the view that
linguistic and social variables in CDA research are closely knitted to each other because whenever we approach any text
or discourse, we approach it from linguistic perspective and emphasize how choice of language in a particular discourse
pertaining the socio-political context tries to analyze the discursive practices.
Chilton (1996) and Lakoff (1995) argue that metaphors play a significant role in Critical discourse analysis. They are of
the view that metaphors in a discourse represent an ideology which leads to reality in that particular context according
to an individual’s perception. King Martin Luther used some metaphors in his language which reflect his ideology in
that socio-political background.
Van Dijk (1991, 1993), media and politics are closely related as media propagates the thought and ideologies of elite.
He describes media discourse as an advocate of elite's policy, hegemony and exploitation. It always favours the
ideologies of the dominating class and state. Language used by them unfolds the discriminatory attitude of high towards
the low.
Ruth Wodak(2001) and Meyer (2001) interpret the term ‘Critical’ in CDA as the analysis and understanding of the
language embedded in social, political and economic perspective. CDA tries to develop connections between the
powers exerted through language with a wider socio-political context. The focus seems to be on text primitively
because it reflects the ideological and identity basis which are constructed and produced through the social relations.
They are of the view that CDA not only traces out the power relations in social practices but it also provides
opportunities to challenge and criticize it.
Carroll (2004) is of the view that Critical discourse provides us several dimensions for the analysis of a text or speech as
it functions as a theoretical framework (theory) and method (how to use data for the analysis). Critical discourse
analysis brings forth both the aspects which sociological and post-modern perspective for the analysis of discourse.
Sociological feature is related to functional aspect of language in the constructions and explanation of social relations. It
focuses on the use of linguistic features in discourse and how power and hegemony influence the social relations. CDA
analyses the abuse of power and hegemonic attitude by focusing through the lens of language. The later analyses the
context and dimensions of discourse.
4. Research Methodology
Speech of King Martin Luther is analysed by applying Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It Analyses whether lexical
representation, syntactic organization and coherent speech in a particular socio-cultural context having an ideology
influences the cognition of audience. Researcher’s contribution is the analysis of the textual/stylistic strategies and
interpretation of relational, expressive and representative values in the speech with special focus on wider socio-
political and economic perspectives.
This research adds to the previous knowledge by focusing and analyzing the speech on the basis of linguistic choices,
discursive practices and socio-cultural perspective. It also analyzes as to how certain linguistic structures help the
speaker to propagate his/her ideologies effectively and makes others accept heartily.
The data is collected from the historical speech of King Martin Luther delivered on August 28, 1963. The title of this
spell bounding speech was ‘When I Have Dreams’ which reflects the aspirations and demands of all blacks residing in
that part of the world. Researcher delimited only first part of the speech which consists of 31 sentences. Fairclough’s
model has been applied in order to this part of speech. A quarter of million people, gathered in Washington DC from all
racial backgrounds to support the American blacks for the equality of rights.
Researcher selected the 3D model and framework proposed by Norman Fairclough(1992). He has introduced three
aspects in his model for the critical analysis of any discourse or text. This model consists of text, socio-cultural practices
and discursive practices in a society. Text is analyzable as socio-economic and political factors influence the discursive
practices in the society. Fairclough (1989) described the objective of this approach as a contribution to the general rising
of consciousness of exploitative social relations, through focusing upon language.
Researcher has taken Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as theoretical framework of this project. CDA analyses the
discourses critically and reveals the social practices like dominance, hegemony, exploitation victimization of the
oppressed ones. CDA is an interdisciplinary field which brings social sciences and linguistics at the same platform. Its
topics of discussion are linked with ethnicity, hegemonic attitude of high towards low, gender discrimination,
dominance, ideology, discursive practices and gender. The parameter of analysis is only language and reveals how
discourse manifests discursive practices in a social setup. The topic of this article clearly represents the issues which
CDA deals on the primary basis. The topic carries variables like social, cultural, political inequality and ideology which
are the core issues discussed by CDA. This theoretical framework provides a complete base and standing for the
analysis of above-mentioned variables in the speech of King Martin Luther.
 ALLS 4(1):27-33, 2013 30
Ethical considerations are dealt very carefully while conducting this research. As this research is
purely qualitative in its nature, there is no interaction with human subjects. There are no
interviews in this research which could lead towards ethical issues.
Researcher has taken CDA as method for this project. The nature of the research is purely qualitative as the speech is
analyzed on the basis of Fairclough’s 3D Model. CDA has also been taken as methodology at broader spectrum for the
analysis. First part of the speech ‘I Have a Dream’ has been analyzed on the theoretical base which is CDA. It has been
used as tool to investigate the hegemonic attitude and discursive practices of the white against the black.
5. Discussion and Analysis
Researcher has collected data from the speech of Martin Luther King ‘When I Have Dream’. First 31 lines containing
648 words have been analyzed and interpreted by applying Fairclough’s 3D model which talks about expressive,
relational and ideational values. It critically analyses the whole text on the basis of three aspects in a broader macro and
micro level; which are related to the analysis of linguistic choices (text), discourse practices in the back scene of that
particular text and socio- cultural practices keeping in view particularly social, economic and political factors.
Researcher has applied CDA as a theoretical framework of this research as it focuses the text which reveals social
inequality, racial discrimination or other discursive practices by looking at the text from socio-cultural perspective. It is
critical and explanatory in its nature. This approach of Fairclough systematically throws light on all aspects like at first
it gives the description of linguistic features used in that particular text. Secondly, it tries to interpret the relation of that
particular text with the interaction and thirdly it explains the link of interaction with the broader socio-political
variables.
Text Analysis
Text is one of the main pillars and central to the analysis on Fairclough model. Analysis of text is strongly linked with
the analysis of language used by people in real setting. This approach in the beginning was named as ‘Critical Language
Study’ as the special focus was to raise consciousness of socially exploitative relation with special focus on language.
Text analysis involves the analysis of lexical choices, cohesion, coherence and different stylistic features which focuses
on the particular theme and broader socio-political perspective of the speaker. This leads to the analysis above syntactic
level.
This analysis can be divided into two sections. In the first section, there is analysis within the clauses or sentences that
highlights the Theme, Rheme, Given and New Information. In the second section, there is analysis of relationship of the
sentences or clauses with each other by focusing on the four types of thematic progression. Informative Structure is
developed through a series of Theme, Rheme, Given and New Information. This creates an organization in the
sentences of the speech. They lend cohesion and coherence to the speech. We make sentences grammatically and
thematically correct by following the informative and thematic structure. This cohesion heightens the impact of the
message and feelings by the speakers. This gives a power to the speaker to have a deep impact on the audience. It
creates a logical sequence within the sentences. The sequence of given and new information also help in making the
speech effective. They serve as a bridge between the speakers and the audience. Moreover, Mark and Unmark and
Multiple Themes function as a magnet to hold the whole discourse together. In the speech coherence is developed
through Given and New information. Audience gets from the speech only one theme through the related sentences that
show cohesion and coherence.
Thematic Progression of the speech is developed through Constant Theme Pattern. The selected part of the speech is
well knitted, well thought and well organized. It has been created with the help of chain of related ideas and appropriate
words focusing on the main idea. This technique keeps the feeling of the audience intact. It encourages to get united and
free them from the long slavery. Only Constant Theme Pattern is followed in this speech the rest of the three patterns
are not used in the speech. Constant Theme Pattern aims at maintaining the emotional impact on the audience by
focusing on the main idea or theme.
Throughout the speech, Dr. King repeats words and sentence. This is a very outstanding feature in this speech called
repetition. The term repetition is restricted to mean the case of exact copying of a certain previous unit in a text such as
a word, phrase or even a sentence (Leech, 1969). If we study the selected part of the speech more carefully, it is easy for
us to find many other examples of repetition used:
….. “One hundred years later, the life of the Negros still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the
chains of discrimination”. (Luther King, 1963)
……“One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of
material prosperity”. (Luther King, 1963)

Here the phrase “one hundred years later” has been repeated four times, clearly indicating that there has been a long
time these African-Americans aspiring for the freedom and equal rights without any discrimination based on color and
creed.
Parallelism is another syntactic over-regularity. It refers to the exact repetition in equivalent positions but it is different
from the common repetition. To put it simply, parallelism means the balancing of sentence elements that are
 ALLS 4(1):27-33, 2013 31
grammatically equal. In his speech, Martin Luther King uses parallelism to create a strong rhythm to help the audience
line up his ideas. Here are few examples:
…by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination… (Par.2, two parallel noun phrases)
Martin Luther King used the noun freedom 20 times in this speech which reflects that Freedom and inequality are the
major themes of the speech keeping in view socio-political background of the speech. Other pronouns like ‘We’, ‘Ours’
and ‘You’ have been used 30, 17 and 08 times in speech respectively which indicate the intimacy between the speaker
and the audience. Other lexemes like nation, America and justice have also been used several times which indicate that
King’s speech conveyed the message of justice, equality and unity as one nation.

Metaphor is a stylistic device which is used to associate the abstract ideas with the concrete images. King used
metaphorical language in his speech which connects with the concrete images and here in this speech certain
contrastive concrete metaphors have been used to enhance the beauty of the speech. For example, to contrast
segregation with racial justice, King has contrasted the metaphors of dark and desolate valley (of segregation) and
sunlit path (of racial justice). Intertextuality is again one of the important features found in the speech of the king. It
refers to the text taken from some other source in order to validate one’s perspective. It can be explicit as well as
implicit in its nature. The reference given by Martin Luther; “Five score years ago…” [Paragraph 2] refers to
Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address which began “Four score and seven years ago…” This refers to the point that
King was speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Analyzing Context
This spell bounding speech of Martin Luther King carries a complete contextual background with it. The blacks were
deprived of their rights and racial discrimination was at its peak. He fought for the rights of Afro-American people
and launched ‘Civil Rights Movement’ which became the basis of this memorable speech. His struggle for the
oppressed blacks turned to be mass movement against the cruel and discriminatory attitude of the Whites. His prime
motifs were to get equal rights and to get rid of the discriminatory attitude of Whites towards the Blacks. Negroes
were considered socially, economically and politically inferior as compared to the other race living in America. He
wanted to have equality for the Negroes on all grounds so that they could work for the progress of nation ultimately.
Negroes were considered politically and socially inferior and this speech refers to exploitations of the whites. Luther
King tried to make people aware of their rights and that of discriminatory and hegemonic attitude of the whites.
Analysis of Discourse Practices and Socio-Political Aspect of Speech
According to Fairclough (1992) model these two aspects which are discourse practices and socio-political and cultural
perspective are of vital importance. Discourse practices refer to execution of social practices through discourse.
Discourse is always socially constituted and vice versa. On the other hand socio-cultural and political aspects are also
important because they provide a complete overview of the circumstances in which discourses are being constructed.
The analysis of discourse practices and socio-political aspects can be divided into three major areas which are Genre,
Discoursal analysis and style. Researcher discusses each major area with reference to speech and how they are linked
with each other in this particular speech.
Analysis of Genre refers to the analysis of text which relates to the lexical choices used in this speech with broader
socio-cultural context. It also refers to the particular identification of patterns in the speech. In the first paragraph
flames of withering injustice refers to the harsh and cruel attitude of the white. The words flame means the fire and
withering refers to the gloomy and desolate picture of the blacks. Their faces have been withered due to continuous
chain of slavery in their neck. The word vast ocean refers to the great economy and wealth of the America. Here, king
is of the view that these Negroes are deprived of being an independent individual and they are economically and
politically crippled even living in such prosperous and developed state. He used the word nation many a times which
indicate that his stance was that the blacks and the whites are one nation without any discrimination.
Style of the speaker carries importance in the critical analysis of any discourse. Expressive and relational values are
closely linked with this speech analysis. Expressive value indicates the expression of personal experiences of the
speaker. The speaker himself was a Negro and he experienced the same deprivation and indifferent attitude of the
white. His involvement and enthusiasm show that his words are expressions of all Negroes. Relational value throws
light upon the relation among the speaker and audience. He was evoking audience because he was a part of those who
were sufferer and oppressed. He used pronoun ‘We’ and ‘Ours’ several times in the speech which ultimately indicate
that the speaker considers himself of being a member of that group. Speaker with the help of these lexical choices gets
involve in the sentiments of the oppressed ones.
Representational value is of significant importance as it makes the worldview of the audience. It indicates the subject
matter of the discussion and particular socio-political background of the speech. Here, the question arises that why is
this speech different from others? It differs because of its social and political context as it revolves around one major
idea which is social, political and economical inequality in the rights of the blacks. King criticized the American
authorities for being not fulfilling the promise which they mentioned in the constitution. Negroes were not given
liberty, equal rights and economic equality which were being mentioned in the constitution.
 ALLS 4(1):27-33, 2013 32
6. Conclusion and Recommendation
The limitations of the study are linked with the data for the analysis on the interpretative paradigms of the research.
Only first part of the just one speech is analyzed as it becomes very difficult to handle the whole speech rather all
speeches of King Luther. The analysis of the chunk of the speech could not be perfectly analyzed and interpreted.
It can be concluded that in this speech certain textual and stylistic devices have been used very frequently in order to
achieve some specific purpose. It carries all those prerequisites which a speech must have to propagate the ideology in
a sophisticated manner. It seems to be syntactically well-organized with frequent repetitions emphasizing the main
theme which is inequality of socio-cultural rights and racial discrimination on the basis of color and creed. The choice
of the lexemes is not well ordered according to situation but also recapitulating background and indicating the
relational and expressive values of the speaker. Luther king very impressively and successfully with the help of
metaphors and other devices identifies the relationship between the powerful and oppressed. He very persuasively
succeeds in achieving the strength and support of the powerless without creating any conflict with the powerful. His
speech very peacefully sheds light on the institutionalized social inequalities.
There are certain other factors like social cognition in this speech which can be pointed out in further research. There
are other approaches in CDA which can be applied on this speech by keeping in view same patterns. The models
proposed by VanDijk and Wodak can also be applied to carry out qualitative nature of research.

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Meyer, M. (2001). Between theory, method, and politics: Positioning of the approaches to CDA. In R. Wodak & M.
Meyer (Ed.), Methods o/Critical Discourse Analysis
Sampson, G. (1980) School of Linguistics: Competition and Evaluation. London: Longman
Van Dijk, T.A. (1991). Racism and the press. London: Routledge
Van Dijk, TA. (1993). Elite discourse and racism. London: Sage Publications. pp.(242-282)
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 ALLS 4(1):27-33, 2013 33
Appendix

Martin Luther King's Speech: 'I Have a Dream' - The Full Text
By The Rev. MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr.
Aug. 28, 1963
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the
history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the
flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life
of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years
later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred
years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the
magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to
which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights
of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.
Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back
marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there
are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check
that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed
spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take
the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the
sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to
lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the
Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn
of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to
blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will
be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will
continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of
justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy
our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

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 ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA: IMPLICATIONS FOR
PEDAGOGY AND ASSESSMENT

Fan (Gabriel) Fang

([email protected])

English Language Centre, Shantou University

243 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong, China, 515063

Abstract: The English language functions as a global language that facilitates

communication among people of different lingua-cultures. This background leads
to the question of whether the traditional language assessment still fulfils the
needs of the majority of language learners who will use English for various pur-
poses with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This article
illustrates the development and spread of the English language by focusing on two
key paradigms: World Englishes (WE) and English as a lingua franca (ELF). This
article argues that a native-oriented means of English pedagogy and assessment
does not fit the current functions of the language and cannot meet the various and
complex needs of the majority of English language learners. It therefore empha-
sizes the importance of an ELF-informed approach, such as the ‘post-method’ ap-
proach to English language teaching and more flexible language assessment fo-
cusing on students’ performance of tasks. The article concludes that English lan-
guage teaching and assessment need to be more informed by ELF than by the en-
trenched, anachronistic native-oriented ideology.

Keywords: World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, pedagogy, assessment

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15639/teflinjournal.v28i1/57-70

When looking at the global status of the English language, it is hard to deny
that English has spread across the world as a lingua franca (ELF), especially
during the 21st century. In the context of Kachru’s early paradigm of World
Englishes (WE) (1985, 1992) that categorizes the spread and use of English in-
to the three concentric circles (the inner-, outer-, and expanding circles), Eng-
lish is used today as a fluid and flexible lingua franca for international and in-
tercultural communication that transcends between the three circles. The devel-

57
58 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 28, Number 1, January 2017

opment of the theory of WE and the role of ELF has led to debates about the
pedagogy of English, language assessment, and whether native standard should
remain the learning target for students (Brown, 2005; Dewey, 2012; McKay,
2002) who will likely encounter people from different lingua-cultural back-
grounds in the future.
The majority of English learners will use English for various purposes af-
ter graduation, and their future interlocutors are likely to be non-native speak-
ers of English (NNSEs), who outnumber native speakers of English (NSEs)1.
Therefore, from the perspective of ELF, English no longer solely belongs to
NSEs (Seidlhofer, 2011; Widdowson, 1994) and should be viewed from a
broader perspective in which legitimate language users can also claim owner-
ship. However, many current language assessments may largely ignore these
facts and native standard is still the norm on the majority of national and inter-
national tests. The ELF paradigm has raised questions and concerns about the
methods, goals, and needs of English language teaching (ELT) (Matsuda, 2017;
McKay, 2002; McKay & Brown, 2016), as well as possible changes to the as-
sessment of English (Hu, 2012; Jenkins & Leung, in press).
By recognising the gap of language assessment in today’s multilingual
world, this article will first introduce the theory of WE and its development,
and then link the theory of WE to the recent development of the ELF paradigm
in order to challenge the entrenched native ideology and native speakerism
(Holliday, 2006) in the ELT world. This article will also explore the develop-
ment of ELF in relation to assessment of the English language by challenging
the traditional mode of assessment. Finally, the article will argue for the neces-
sity of an ELF-informed English pedagogy and assessment that aims to benefit
the majority of English learners and challenge traditional English language as-
sessment model from the restricted perspective of English as a foreign lan-
guage (EFL).

WORLD ENGLISHES
The theory of WE was originally developed in the late 1970s and early
1980s. As the pioneer of the theory, Kachru (1985, 1992) explored the spread

1
I realise that the terms NSE and NNSE have become notoriously unviable because
they cannot demonstrate the users of English in today’s globalised world. The terms are
used in this article, however, because people are relatively familiar with them.
 Fang, English as a Lingua Franca: Implications for Pedagogy and Assessment 59

and development of the English language and challenged the traditional per-
spective of native ideology. He discussed how “the traditional notions of codi-
fication, standardization, models, and methods apply to English” (1985, p. 29).
Based on the new linguistic background, Kachru proposed WE, a model com-
prised of three concentric circles.
In the WE paradigm, the inner and outer circles include countries where
English is used as a native language (ENL) and a second language (ESL) re-
spectively. The expanding circle, however, has the largest number of English
learners and users, most of whom regard English as a foreign language (EFL)2.
In this light, English speakers in the expanding circle are regarded as language
learners who need facility in the language primarily to communicate with
NSEs, but this scenario is no longer universally true because English is now
more often used for communication purposes between NNSEs whose first lan-
guage (L1) is not English. This situation has to be recognised. However, when
discussing ELT and assessment, it is lamented that “native standard English”
has long been and remains as the (only but highly non-achievable and unneces-
sary) norm.
The paradigm of WE moves beyond the native varieties of English around
the world to include post-colonial varieties of English, such as Singapore Eng-
lish, Nigerian English, and Indian English. The post-colonial varieties, also re-
ferred to as nativised or indigenised varieties of English, are called New Eng-
lishes (Brutt-Griffler, 2002; Mufwene, 1994; Platt, Weber, & Ho, 1984). Alt-
hough native varieties of English are described as located in the inner circle,
WE research argues the importance of moving beyond the native versions.
Post-colonial varieties of English, however, should also be regarded as legiti-
mate varieties of English within different speech communities.
Although the Kachruvian paradigm breaks up the traditional standard Eng-
lish language ideology and thus recognises the varieties of English within a
post-colonial context, bringing the English language “a unique cultural plural-
ism, and a linguistic heterogeneity and diversity which are unrecorded to this
extent in human history” (Kachru, 1985, p. 14), it has certain limitations if we

2
There is no reliable count of the number of English speakers in the expanding circle,
but it is estimated that there are now approximately one billion speakers of English
with “reasonable competence” (Jenkins, 2009, p. 16), with that number expected to
reach a peak of over two billion now (Graddol, 2006).
60 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 28, Number 1, January 2017

view the spread of English from a broader and a more holistic perspective.
First, the WE paradigm is primarily nation-based, as it only focuses on “a nar-
row selection of standardized forms in particular communities” (Pennycook,
2007, p. 21). WE research seeks mainly to codify the features of nativised vari-
eties of outer circle Englishes and does not entirely accept expanding circle
Englishes as legitimate on their own. Second, WE model fails to reflect the
complex nature of English. Tripartite demarcation has been charged with privi-
leging the English of native English communities in the centre circle and un-
derestimating the role of Englishes in the peripheral circles (Canagarajah,
1999; Pennycook, 2007; Phillipson, 1992). Moreover, the demarcation between
inner and outer circle has become less meaningful as the role of “functional na-
tive speakers” has risen to prominence (Yano, 2001).
Another drawback of the WE paradigm concerns the fact that the charac-
terisation of expanding circle Englishes is still norm-dependent. This does not
reflect the diversity of English users but maintains the notion of inner circle
Englishes as the “standard” for English, as English is still a foreign language in
expanding circle contexts. This has led to the critique of the Kachruvian para-
digm in the multilingual world, as it reverts to “the logic of the prescriptive and
elitist tendencies [to] ‘standardize’ the language […] to systematize the periph-
ery variants” (Canagarajah, 1999, p. 180). From this perspective, WE research
is concerned with seeking and constructing endonormative varieties of English.
In sum, WE researchers have argued for the importance of moving beyond
the native ideology and recognising the development of post-colonial varieties
of English. For example, Kachru (1985) argues that: “[w]hat we need now are
new paradigms and perspectives for linguistic and pedagogical research and for
understanding the linguistic creativity in multilingual situation across cultures”
(p. 30). By seeing the world as a multilingual community, English has trans-
cended national boundaries and become more fluid and flexible among its us-
ers. In this way, English is not only used intranationally within certain limited
communities, but more importantly, English has been employed as a lingua
franca internationally to link people from different lingua-cultures together for
communication purposes.

ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA

The theory of WE has greatly influenced the development of the ELF par-
adigm. The field of ELF developed in early 2000s, when Jenkins’s ground-
 Fang, English as a Lingua Franca: Implications for Pedagogy and Assessment 61

breaking monograph (2000) and Seidlhofer’s paper (2001) were published. The
subject of the importance of teaching English as an international language
(EIL) was raised and explored later (McKay, 2002; McKay & Brown, 2016;
Walker, 2010). When discussing the difference between WE and ELF, it should
be noted that ELF is not a variety of English and that there is no specific norm
or standard to follow.
As a relatively new area of study, the ELF paradigm has been interpreted
and reinterpreted through its plurilinguistic, hybrid, and fluid nature (Jenkins,
Cogo & Dewey, 2011; Seidlhofer, 2011). ELF is defined as “any use of Eng-
lish among speakers of different first languages for whom English is the com-
municative medium of choice, and often the only option” (Seidlhofer, 2011, p.
7). ELF is a field of research that focuses on the diversity and fluidity of the
English language; it also values communication strategies adopted by inter-
locutors when encountering difficulties and communication barriers. In terms
of communication purpose, ELF is referred as “a means by which English is
continually being re-enacted and reinvigorated through the inventiveness of its
speakers as they respond to their immediate communicative and expressive
needs” (Jenkins et al., 2011, p. 304). The ELF paradigm does not assume that
native standard English norms should be the only benchmark; instead, ELF fo-
cuses on the majority of English speakers, those who speak English as an addi-
tional language. For achieving the communication end, a given native norm is
far from being the only benchmark in this circumstance.
As a language ideology goes beyond traditional native speaker norms and
nation-bounded varieties (compared to WE), ELF research advocates concepts
such as “multiculturalism, multilingualism, polymodels and pluricentrism” in-
stead of the traditional notions of “monoculturalism, monolingualism, mono-
models and monocentrism” (Seidlhofer, 2001, p. 134). Differing from the WE
paradigm, ELF research does not aim to propose or codify ELF as a variety of
English. However, the ELF paradigm recognises and validates the pluricentric
nature of the English language as it flows across national boundaries (Cogo,
2012; Jenkins, 2007; Seidlhofer, 2011). It is argued that in today’s globalised
context, “ELF is simultaneously the consequence and the principal language
medium of globalizing process” (Jenkins et al., 2011, p. 303). Against the
backdrop of globalisation, English is often the first option for communication
in any international arena; Jenkins (2000) reports that “English is often one of
several languages available in the repertoires of the multilingual populations”
(p. 8).
62 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 28, Number 1, January 2017

The study of ELF goes beyond the traditional notion of language varieties
and homogeneous speech communities to reveal how ELF users could “skilful-
ly co-construct English for their own purposes, […] and create innovative
forms that differ from the norms of native English and do not require sanction-
ing by native English speakers” (Jenkins, 2011, p. 931). In a more recent dis-
cussion, Jenkins (2015) has proposed the notion of English as a Multilingua
Franca (EMF), in which the study of ELF has been explored within the context
of multilingualism (for the development of the third stage of ELF, see Jenkins,
2015).

ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA VERSUS ENGLISH AS A

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
To understand how the theory of ELF could impact the way that English is
assessed, I shall in this section draw a distinction between ELF and EFL. EFL
is the traditional means of teaching and assessment by which English is posi-
tioned in the theoretical framework of mainstream traditional second language
acquisition (SLA) research. From this perspective, native (or near-native)
standard English norms are regarded as the goal of English teaching and learn-
ing. Teachers are supposed to teach native (mainly British or American) varie-
ties of English; students should also follow this “standard” during their learning
process as the native ideology is set as the benchmark most of the time, despite
being unachievable and unnecessary for the majority of students who will use
English for more pragmatic purposes than passing exams. Advocates of the
EFL paradigm would expect such norms to be acquired by English language
learners as the perennial and ultimate goal of the language learning process. In
the EFL setting, language learners are expected to defer to native speaker
norms and need to “strive to abide by these norms” (Seidlhofer, 2011, p. 17) as
the influence of learners’ L1 is regarded as interference or fossilised mistakes
(Selinker, 1972). Use of L1 is treated from a deficit rather than a different per-
spective (see Jenkins, 2006).
Differing from the EFL perspective in which English is perceived as a
fixed asset from a native perspective, ELF considers the English language a re-
source available to its language users instead of the sole property of NSEs
(Graddol, 2006; Seidlhofer, 2011). In the ELF paradigm, NSEs are not exclud-
ed, but they no longer enjoy a privileged status as the only language arbiters in
international communication. NNSEs are not required to adjust to NSEs’ pro-
 Fang, English as a Lingua Franca: Implications for Pedagogy and Assessment 63

tocols during international communication (Graddol, 2006; Jenkins, 2015;

Seidlhofer, 2011). It is argued that ELF is not associated with any particular
norm. When communicating in English, NNSEs do not need to follow native
norms or to strive to fit in with the NSE’s group (Alsagoff, 2012; Cogo, 2012;
House, 2003; Jenkins, 2007). As mentioned above, ELF is not a fixed notion.
ELF interactions are instead constructed, co-constructed and negotiated by its
speakers, for whom the linguistic norms are “primarily regulated by interac-
tional exigencies” (Seidlhofer, 2011, p. 18).
Although the traditional perspective of SLA as seen through an interlan-
guage theory of the learners of language has been questioned and critiqued
(Cook, 1999; Firth & Wagner, 2007) in relation to critical perspectives of lan-
guage pedagogy and ELF (De Costa, 2012; Kubota, 2016; Seidlhofer, 2011),
we cannot deny that a “conceptual gap” still remains between research and the
reality (Seidlhofer, 2011, p. 14). Language teachers still tend to perceive native
English as the only norm worth teaching, regardless of how students might use
English in the future. This leads to an “anachronistic anthropological belief”
(Kumaravadivelu, 2006a, p. 19) about English language pedagogy and assess-
ment, in which, at least in most cases, students are taught to conform to the na-
tive norms and are not allowed to deviate or manipulate the language on their
own. Students are trained from a right-or-wrong viewpoint and there is a clear
line between the so-called standard and non-standard versions of English. For
example, Kobayashi (2011) demonstrates how students try to sound like NSEs
and express indifferent attitudes towards other varieties of English. Pinner
(2016) also illustrates how his students devalue regional varieties of English
but choose to aim to speak an unrealistic native model of English. From an
EFL perspective, a deep-seated language ideology stating that native compe-
tence is the inherent target of language learning remains firmly entrenched in
the ELT field, as well as in English assessment. In the next section, I shall dis-
cuss how the development and theory of ELF would impact on English peda-
gogy and assessment.

IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY AND ASSESSMENT

One of the greatest challenges of the application of ELF approach in ELT
is assessment. One common misconception about the English language peda-
gogy and assessment is that the goal is to retain native norms to all learners and
speakers of English, which is not attainable or necessary for the majority of
64 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 28, Number 1, January 2017

English users if they use English in an international arena to fulfill different

needs with speakers of different lingua-cultural backgrounds. It is pointed out
that international exams such as IELTS, TOEFL, and TOEIC are discriminato-
ry in a way that they may penalise non-native speakers who do not follow na-
tive norms (see e.g., Davies, Hamp-Lyons & Kemp, 2003). Jenkins and Leung
(in press) also call for a more ELF-informed approach to English assessment,
arguing for “a move away from a monolithic framing of language competence
in terms of native speaker norms and practices” (p. 4).
In language teaching and testing today, especially in the international Eng-
lish language tests, a monolingual approach emphasising the native-norm still
seems to be the mainstream benchmark. In the current linguistic landscape, a
restricted monolingual approach cannot fulfil students’ need to use language
where situations can be emergent to form various communities of practice
(Wenger, 1998). Furthermore, “standardized tests are unable to cope with the
fact that language is messy, and lingua franca use is even messier, which ren-
ders futile the attempt to impose a present template on contingent use in diverse
English contexts” (Jenkins & Leung, in press, p. 10). This also creates practical
problems in assessing ELF in relation to ELT and leads to the argument that
traditional approaches to English assessment cannot be adopted to situated lan-
guage use. We need to tackle the issue of how traditional approaches to English
testing can be adapted to the situated language use. I argue that the traditional
paper testing format can assess only limited levels of English use. English lan-
guage assessment in the ELF paradigm should focus on performance-related
tasks and test students’ communication strategies, rather than testing language
in a vacuum (Barinaga, 2009; Pennycook, 2009). Native-oriented tests should
be revisited and revised in order to measure how students accomplish different
tasks and meet the needs when using language in various emergent situations.
I have proposed an ELF-informed approach called ToPIC (Teaching of
Pronunciation for Intercultural Communication) elsewhere (Fang, 2015, 2016).
This approach of language teaching, however, can be applied to how English is
assessed from an ELF paradigm. The approach of ToPIC is based on the “post-
method” approach created by Kumaravadivelu (2003, 2006b). Based on the
three concepts of particularity, practicality and possibility of the “post-
method” approach, I argue for the importance of shifting from an EFL-oriented
teaching model to an ELF-informed pedagogy. In the ToPIC approach, teachers
and students maintain awareness of the complex culture and context of teach-
ing in order to “raise language awareness on the global status of English and
 Fang, English as a Lingua Franca: Implications for Pedagogy and Assessment 65

develop new attitudes towards it to put these new theories into practice” (Fang,
2016, p. 21). When designing assessment tasks based on ToPIC, a series of per-
formative tasks can be designed to focus on various linguistic skills, such as
accommodation strategies and communication skills (Cogo, 2009; Jenkins,
2000; Kubota, 2016). Native standard is not the sole element on which students
are judged. In this way, the ability to speak English will not be perceived as
“gatekeeping” that creates an invisible hierarchy in many international tests,
but as a global skill that will equip people for future opportunities in an interna-
tional arena and develop them into global citizens.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This article discusses the importance of an ELF-informed pedagogy and
assessment of the English language skills for a majority of language learners.
Against the backdrop of globalisation, English is no longer the sole property of
its native speakers. The international use of English leads to multi-functions
and purposes for the complex English use in various emergent communities of
practice (Wenger, 1998). I have argued that English language assessment
should break away from the traditional accumulative means of testing, in which
actual language performance cannot be tested. Furthermore, a traditional na-
tive-oriented ideology embedded in testing should be replaced with a more
ELF-informed ideology in order to, for example, focus on students’ communi-
cation strategies, and how they use the language to fulfil different tasks in both
academic and non-academic settings.
English language pedagogy and assessment should be revisited because
the traditional forms of teaching and assessment do not reflect the actual use of
English as a global language. EFL-informed means of English language teach-
ing and assessment ignores the fact that language is performed by human be-
ings in contact (Barinaga, 2009; Pennycook, 2009). I have argued elsewhere
that a native-oriented approach to ELT does not equip students to use English
in an international arena (Fang, 2015, 2016) because in many situations, con-
versations occur among non-native speakers of English. It is hoped that both
language educators and learners will realise the complexity of English use
around the globe. It is unlikely, though, that major examination board and ELT
practices will shift to a more ELF-informed frame of testing and teaching in the
near future. Only when people use and get more exposure to English in a wider
variety of settings, will they revisit and rethink their attitudes (Jenkins, 2007)
66 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 28, Number 1, January 2017

and make decisions about what kind of English they need to know for their ad-
vantage. English language assessment will also need to adjust in order to match
the global status and people’s real needs regarding English as a global lan-
guage, although this may be a long and painful process.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This article is a partial result of Higher Education Reform Project of
Guangdong Province (No. 236, 2016) titled Investigating Promotion of College
English Teaching Model and Resources from the Perspective of English as a
Lingua Franca. This study is also supported by the Young Creative Talents
Project of Social Sciences at Universities in Guangdong Province (No.
2015WQNCX034) and Shantou University Project of Social Sciences Research
Fund (No. SR15008).
I am also grateful to Professor Jennifer Jenkins and the anonymous re-
viewers for their insightful comments and feedback on the earlier version of
this article. All lack of clarity and any omissions remain entirely my responsi-
bility.

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 USING A FACEBOOK CLOSED GROUP TO
IMPROVE EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING

Rojab Siti Rodliyah

([email protected])

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Jl. Dr Setiabudi No. 229 Bandung, Indonesia

Universitas Negeri Malang

Jl. Semarang 5 Malang, Indonesia

Abstract: This study investigates how social media, in this case Facebook,
can be incorporated in ELT through e-dialogue journal writing shared in a
Facebook closed group. Fifteen EFL students participated in this case study.
They were second, third, and fourth year students of English Education De-
partment of a university in Bandung, who voluntarily joined a Facebook
closed group for about four months and contributed their journal entries. The
content of the students’ journals and responses in this closed group were an-
alyzed to identify the nature of the students’ journals, the patterns of interac-
tion, and their responses to e-journaling through Facebook. The findings in-
dicate that the students responded positively to this activity and perceived
improvement in their writing especially in vocabulary and grammar. The
power of learning and sharing from others is also emphasized.

Keywords: social media, Facebook closed group, E-dialogue journal writing

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15639/teflinjournal.v27i1/82-100

Social media includes social networks, wikis, blogs, podcasts, forums, content
communities, and microblogging. Among this media, social networks seem to
be the most widely accessed and used and they have been the new trend of to-
day’s communication. Facebook, as the most widely used social media due to
its continually increasing active members (Noyes, 2015), can be a promising
educational tool to be used in today’s information era. Similar to other social

82
 Rodliyah, Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students’ Writing 83

media, Facebook shares these following characteristics: participation, open-

ness, conversation, community, and connectedness (Mayfield, 2008). This so-
cial networking site has gained popularity among teenagers; almost all teenag-
ers have a Facebook account and spend hours in there (Zhao, Grasmuck, &
Martin, 2008).
With its large number of users worldwide, Facebook has a great potential
as an educational tool that teachers cannot ignore. The ubiquity of smartphones
makes access to Facebook and other internet-based application easier than ever.
Teachers can take advantage of this convenience to facilitate a mobile-assisted
language learning (MALL) by setting up a Facebook closed group which al-
lows beneficial engagement and interaction among members yet keeps the pri-
vacy maintained.
Previous studies on the use of Facebook as an education tool show that
students see some benefits in using Facebook for certain aspects of peer com-
munication, which often focused around group work (Madge, Meek, Wellens,
& Hooley, 2009) and assessment (Selwyn, 2009). VanDoorn and Eklund
(2013) report that the students in their study felt comfortable contacting lectur-
ers through Facebook and found that the teachers’ unapproachability was re-
duced. This implies that a better atmosphere for learning has been established.
VanDoorn and Eklund (2013) investigate how students perceived the use of
Facebook chat with their teachers, and the study suggests that this social media
chat was perceived positively by students because of the immediacy of re-
sponse and irrelevance of distance. In addition, using social media fosters long-
term retention of information and develops a deeper understanding of content
that has been discussed in a class (Chen & Bryer, 2012).
Besides the benefits, Facebook as social media also pose challenges for
teachers as Bugeja (2006) warned that it can be both a tool and a distraction in
the classroom. Similarly, Hurt et al. (2012) mentioned that social media may
provide too much stimulation and therefore can distract students from complet-
ing their coursework. As Arnold and Paulus (2010) stated, even when social
media is used for an educational purpose, students incorporate the technology
into their lives in a way that may differ from the intentions of the course in-
structor. Instructor cannot take a full charge of what their students do with so-
cial media beyond their supervision. Besides, off-topic or non-academic dis-
cussions occur on social media due to its primary design as a social networking
tool (Lin, Hou, Wang, & Chang, 2013).
84 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 27, Number 1, January 2016

In order to address the issues, Bugeja (2006) maintains that the solution is
not to block content, but to foster students’ ability to discern when and where
technology may be appropriate or inappropriate. Encouraging students to use
social media wisely can maximize the benefits of technology for learning. For
this purpose, teachers’ technology literacy is necessary in order to effectively
incorporate it in their teaching and learning processes and facilitate students’
learning.
The present study explores the possibility of using social media to im-
prove EFL students’ writing by employing electronic dialogue journal writing
(EDJW) through Facebook. It is a type of dialogue journals, defined as “a writ-
ten conversation between a teacher and an individual student, which is quite
confidential and is an on-going writing throughout a whole semester or school
year” (Peyton, 2000, p. 3). In this study, however, the dialogue journal is con-
ducted through a Facebook closed group rather than through traditional paper
and pen media. Another difference is that the ‘dialogue’ is not limited to teach-
er-students but it involves all students in the group.
Dialogue journal is believed to be beneficial for students (Peyton, 2000;
Langan, 2000; Harmer, 2001). They have distinctive features, namely, interac-
tivity, periodicity and privacy (Jones, 1991, pp. 28-29). These features allow
meaningful communication between the teacher and the students. The most
common type of electronic dialogue journal writing used was journal writing
using e-mail. Wang’s (1996) study on the use of email dialogue journaling in-
dicates that students had positive attitude to using email for journaling and pro-
duced more language functions than those who used paper and pen dialogue
journaling. EDJW is also reported to affect the quantity of students’ writing.
For example, the conversational and informal style of email communication
has made students write more (Wang, 1996, p. 776). Meanwhile, Staton, Shuy,
Peyton, and Reed (2005) show the potential value of teachers’ e-mail corre-
spondence with their students since it allows teachers and students to get to
know each other in new ways, to develop greater rapport and mutual under-
standing and to expand and deepen their communication.
Other studies (Shang, 2007; Naba’h, 2013; Abdelrahman, 2013; Foroutan,
Noordin, & Gani, 2013a) indicate that the use of electronic dialogue journal
writing has significantly improved students’ writing performance. Students
were able to improve syntactic complexity (Shang, 2007) and grammatical ac-
curacy (Shang, 2007; Abdelrahman, 2013). Meanwhile, Thevasigamoney and
 Rodliyah, Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students’ Writing 85

Yunus (2014) investigate the use of EDJW as a tool to alleviate writing anxiety
and promote writing skills among gifted learners.
While the previous studies investigated the use of dialogue journals
through email, this article explores how dialogue journals can also be conduct-
ed using the widely used social media, Facebook. Facebook is used because of
its popularity among students. They are already familiar with Facebook’s fea-
tures, which is expected to minimize the possibility of technical difficulties.
The previous studies reveal that dialogue journal writing has positive im-
pacts on students’ learning in general and students’ development of writing
skill in particular. This study investigates the use of electronic dialogue journal
writing through a Facebook closed group, in which all members can share,
comment, and interact freely. Thus, the nature of ‘dialogue’ in this type of
journal is different, because it is more interactive and promotes interaction
among all members, not only between teacher and students.
Using Facebook to support learning is in accordance with the social con-
structivism paradigm, which emphasizes social interaction and learning from
others in the group. It enables synchronous and asynchronous interactions and
information sharing (statuses), such as links, videos, surveys, files, texts, and
photos. Any Facebook member can create a group and invite other Facebook
users to join. The privacy setting can also be managed to determine whether the
group is open to all Facebook users or closed (accessible only to members ap-
proved by the group creator).
Facebook closed group is chosen because it gives more privacy to the
members. Only group members can read and comment on the posts. Anything
posted in the closed group does not appear in the members’ logs as do their
other Facebook activities. It is visible only to other group members (Meishar-
Tal, Kurtz, & Pieterse, 2012). Another convenience is that a Facebook user can
join and be approved as a member without having to be friends with the crea-
tor, so teachers and students do not have to share their profile and statuses with
each other.
As mentioned earlier, this study explores the possibility of incorporating
e-dialogue journal through Facebook closed group to improve students’ writ-
ing. There are three main questions formulated as the problems of the study: (1)
What is the nature of students’ journal entries?; (2) What is the pattern of inter-
action and language functions that appear in students’ journals?; and (3) What
are their responses to journaling through a Facebook closed group?
86 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 27, Number 1, January 2016

METHOD
This is a preliminary case study on the use of dialogue journals through a
Facebook closed group. I created a Facebook closed group named ‘Journal
Community’ and invited students who were interested to participate in this
group. The membership was voluntary.
There were 16 members of this group including me as the facilitator. The
participating students were second, third, and fourth year students of English
Education Department of a university in Bandung. At first I only invited a few
students interested in journal writing, (especially those who were active Face-
book users); then, they added some more students from different classes. I in-
vited the members to post their journal entries in this group’s wall. I did not
specify what topic to write, how often, and how long; they were given full au-
tonomy. I did not score their writing nor their involvement because I consid-
ered this an informal learning channel where students could express their ideas
more freely than in the classroom.
The data in the form of students’ journal entries were collected for about
four months, from February to May 2015. However, there were not many en-
tries posted by the students because only five members were active and the rest
chose to be silent readers or only commented on other journals occasionally.
There were a total of 40 entries or about 10 entries per month. The length of
each entry varied, from 20 to 500 words. The content of the journals were ana-
lyzed by identifying and categorizing the emerging themes in their journals.
Samples of the students’ entries included here were presented verbatim.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Findings

The Nature of Students’ Journals

It is found that students write different types of texts in their Facebook
journals and they can be categorized in the following list, from the most to the
least frequent.
a. Personal account of one’s own feeling and experience
This seems to be the most common types of posts identified. Students tend
to write about what they feel/experience during the day/week. One student, for
 Rodliyah, Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students’ Writing 87

example, told about her dad being sick and hospitalized. Another reported
about his recent conflict with a classmate. Still another wrote about his inten-
tion to move from his current boarding house. There was also one who shared
his feeling discouraged to continue pursuing a career as a teacher, etc.
This is a sample of students’ journal of this type:
My dad is being taken to hospital now. He just recovered from light stroke a few
months ago. My mom said he kept showing some signs that the same illness
might come again. We're both so afraid. Doctors say the second one will be fatal..
b. Personal reaction to a phenomenon
Sometimes students did not write about their feelings or experience but
were critically commenting on a recent phenomenon. For example, one student
commented on the government’ policy to raise the fuel’s price, which was then
commented by other students about how their life was affected by the rise.
Here, the student’s entry was in the form of a comment on the policy. He did
not write introductory sentences (e.g. the government has just increased the
fuel price...) but directly expressed his opinion, which was probably because he
thought that everybody had known about the newly announced policy.
This is crazy! How can the government increases the fuel’s price when the
world’s oil price drops? This increase will lead to the increase of other prices,
which means more people will suffer.

c. Discussion on certain issues

One student wrote about a serious issue regarding ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC) and how they as students should respond to it. The threat,
challenges, as well as promises were discussed. This is the introductory of his
quite long entry:

Facing ASEAN Economic Community 2015 is an inevitable phase. As a last

grade students (and this also may represent other fresh graduate), this phase is
somehow either threatening or promising. We are threatened by the competitive
labours that come from Asean country, and optimist because the task and demand
of the presence of English teacher will soon increase as the needs is increasing.
Indonesian people are urgently required to acquire English skill otherwise they
can't compete with other workers.
88 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 27, Number 1, January 2016

Another member admitted that she just heard about that issue and that she
was grateful to have been informed through his post. She also found the infor-
mation useful when she had a conversation about it with her teachers. This is
what she wrote in her comment:

I'm so lucky that I read your post before visiting my school today. My teachers
there talked about this MEA thing (which I had never heard before), and since I
had read this, I could share (or "copy"?) your opinions and blended in well with
them. They think I've improved a lot, lol. Thanks for sharing this n_n"

d. Reflection on an event/thing
One student wrote a reflection after reading others’ posts, revealing how
grateful she was to be a part of the community because it helped open up her
horizon and she appreciated the value of sharing with others, which allows her
to learn many things from others’ writing.

I’m so fortunate to be in this group because reading my freinds’ (sic) posts has
opened up my horizon. Sharing in this group makes me learn a lot from others’
writing.

The Degree of Formality in Students’ Journals

Unlike other in-class writing assignments, which require students to use
formal style, journaling through Facebook is not restricted to certain genre, top-
ic, length, and style. The lecturer’s presence in the group does not really affect
the students’ choice of language used. They mostly used informal style in their
writing. This is indicated by the use of abbreviations (lol, asap, OOT), informal
language (‘coz, wanna), slang (dude, buddy), idioms (kinda punching me in the
head), also the heavy use of emoticons (e.g. smiley or frowny faces). In addi-
tion, their writing is more like a written speech, with some exclamation (This is
crazy!) and conversation-like chats.
I’m sorry…L (A student wrote this after a ‘debate’ on an issue)
I don’t see why you need to say sorry though, ha ha (The reply)

This informality is something quite common in computer-mediated com-

munication (CMC) and it in fact promotes genuine communication.
 Rodliyah, Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students’ Writing 89

The Patterns of Interaction and Language Functions

The interaction/exchange in this dialogue journal can be from teacher-
students, student- teacher or students-students. In this study, I give students the
autonomy to write about topics of their own choice. By doing so, I expect that
they will be autonomous writers who take charge of their on writing, similar to
an autonomous learner who is responsible for their own learning (Little, 1991).
The interaction with other members can also lead to autonomy, as suggested by
Foroutan, Noordin, and Gani (2013b, p. 996) that “Online interaction in CMC
along with the constructivist principles, which emphasize the role of communi-
cation and social contacts, are important factors in developing autonomy
among language learners”.
Sometimes I prompted questions for them to respond when they were not
active for a long time. Once there was no post for about two weeks, I wrote a
topic for them to reply, and they responded in two days. I assumed that some-
times they just did not know what to write or were busy with some assign-
ments. However, they mostly wrote as they like and others commented when
they thought they had something to say about the issue. Otherwise, they would
show their presence or attention to their friends’ post by pressing the ‘like’ but-
ton.
The language functions the students perform in their writing can be cate-
gorized into:
a. Showing agreement and disagreement
When one student wrote about the bad effect of the increase of the fuel’s
price, for example, others showed agreement by writing about similar problems
resulting from the increased price, complaining how it had also affected their
life, and criticizing the government for the policy. However, they can also
show disagreement on things written by their friends.
Indeed, the increase of fuel price has killed me softly... L (Response to a journal
entry)
b. Asking questions
Student asked questions to their friends or sometimes to their teacher, and
in other occasions, the teacher asked a question to the students related to the
topics they raised. An example of student-initiated question is the one raised by
G: “Mom, could you tell me what personal account is?”
90 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 27, Number 1, January 2016

Another example is when one student wrote about a certain issue and oth-
ers responded by giving their own opinion regarding the issue. In the following
journal entry, a student responded to his friend who wrote about being success-
ful, which was indicated by a perfect GPA.
Anyway, besides all definition of "being the best" that people have, I personally
define success as not only as "high GPA" or "doing assignment without mistakes"
but also as "to be effective person". (Response to a journal entry)

c. Offering suggestions
When one student wrote about her problem, others give opinion about how
she could solve the problem.
All you need to do is just prove it, because saying out loud is not enough!
(Response to a journal entry)

d. Showing empathy
Students showed empathy when one student wrote about a bad thing that
happened to his/her family.
I’m sorry to hear that, we’re on the same boat. (Response to a journal entry)

Students’ Responses on EDJW through Facebook Closed Group

In general, the participating students consider journaling through Face-
book beneficial for improving their writing and increasing their knowledge.
Some of the benefits expressed by the students are:
a. Enlarging their vocabulary
One student said that writing journals regularly helped them enlarge their
vocabulary because when they wanted to express something and they did not
know the word, they would be forced to search the word in a dictionary. Writ-
ing in Facebook can help students remember the vocabulary better because
they can refer to the word anytime they reread their writing. Therefore, it is
good to retain the long-term memory. As written by one student:
Writing journals will help to develop our vocabulary. While we write a word that
we do not know the meaning, we just keep the word and we look for in a
dictionary what the meaning of that word.
 Rodliyah, Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students’ Writing 91

b. Improving their grammar and spelling

The student also reported that she improved her grammar knowledge be-
cause she sometimes used the spelling and grammar check before posting her
entries. She also learned from others how to write good sentences. This is be-
cause some students were considered ‘better writers’ than others. They wrote
longer, more frequently and more grammatically accurate. Their writing can
therefore serve as models for others to learn from.
The tools in microsoft word helps me check the grammatical accuracy and
spelling when writing. The more I write the more often I check it. Besides, I also
learn from other smarter students about how they write good sentences.
c. Providing a fun and interesting practice
One student wrote that he found journal writing through Facebook a fun
and interesting practice because he could share with others. He experienced the
excitement of using social media (sharing with others, giving and receiving
comments and feedback from others) as well as a fun practice to use English.
I find writing journals on FB like this fun and interesting, in a way that I
don't usually get a chance to share anything or interact with people with so much
use of English. So I just like it. It feels ‘cool’.
d. Widening their knowledge
The freedom to write on any topic has given students extra knowledge in
addition to what they acquire in the classroom. For example, one student
seemed to know much about manga, while others talked about more serious
topics such as economy (e.g. increasing fuel price), culture (e.g. a wedding cer-
emony), or politics (e.g. government’s policy). The variation of topics in jour-
nal entries can enrich their knowledge and open up their horizon.

After reading other posts, I somehow feel like my mind gets bigger.
I learn a lot of new things from this group.

e. Learning from others’ writing

One student reported that although he was not very active in posting his
journals on Facebook, he felt excited to read others’ posts and he learned a lot
from their ways of expressing their ideas in writing. In his opinion, his friends’
92 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 27, Number 1, January 2016

English was amazing that sometimes made him ashamed to write. He learned
some expressions that he did not get from his textbook, and he felt very good
about it.
To be honest, the presence of this community is quite helpful generally for us to
share everyhing, and for me as an english learner in particular. I seldom put my
words here; however, it doesn't mean that i am not following this group and
discussion. I always feel excited when someone posts something and others put
their comments on it. From that, i can learn many expression snd (sic) utterances
that i rarely find it in books.
f. Building rapport
Undoubtedly, sharing with others helps them know each other better, and
this can build a good rapport among group members. This group consists of
students from different classes so they did not really know each other well be-
fore. Being involved in this group by sharing and commenting on each other’s
writing helps create a bond between them.
This is an interesting way of knowing each other better.
g. Expressing feelings
Some students wrote about their personal problems in their entries; for ex-
ample, a female student wrote about her having argument with her mom, a
male student wrote about his conflict with his peer during a teaching practice at
school, etc. Having a place to express one’s feeling can help release the stress,
and this is admitted by one of the students.
I feel so releaved (sic) after writing here. I can’t talk nor argue with my parents so
expressing my feeling here helps me release my stress. Reading your comments
and encouragement makes me feel even better. Thanks, guys. Lucky to have you.

Discussion
Regarding the first research questions, it is revealed that students write on
various topics for different purposes in their journals. This is in line with
Wang’s (1996) study on email journaling that students produce more language
functions than those who use paper and pen in dialogue journaling. Just like
updating status on Facebook, students have the autonomy to write whatever
they want, from a personal complaint to a serious topic for other members to
respond to. This practice gives students exposure to different types of writing
 Rodliyah, Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students’ Writing 93

such as description, recount, narration, argumentation, with different styles and

tones, from informal to formal style, and personal to impersonal. This also sup-
ports the view that journaling is a method that can help students develop their
voice (Rohman, 1965).
The students’ writing style, which is mostly informal, is the common
characteristics of language used in computer-mediated communication (CMC)
context, in which the use of special abbreviations and acronyms and informal
language as well as features of speaking are common (Warschauer, 2007). This
should be seen as an indicator that the students really communicate using au-
thentic language as they usually use in social media.
Unlike the traditional dialogue journals, in which the pattern of interaction
is mainly between teacher and students, in this study, the interaction is not only
between teacher-students but also among students. All members can contribute
and comment on each other. The value of sharing is dominant here, in which
the role of the teacher is more like a ‘friend’ rather than an instructor or a
teacher. Teachers and peers have equal chance to comment and share with oth-
er members of the group. This suits the theory of constructivism, which places
social interactions as an essential part of human cognitive development (Kurtz,
2014). It is believed that this social interaction can better foster students’ learn-
ing.
The findings also indicate that students have positive attitude toward hav-
ing interactive journals in a Facebook closed group. A Facebook group is con-
sidered a good media to promote learning. As also found in Kurtz (2014), a Fa-
cebook group is perceived as a protected environment that fosters social learn-
ing processes while emphasizing learner involvement and active contribution
as well as frequent interaction with peers and instructor.
Incorporating electronic dialogue journal writing is believed to give sever-
al benefits to students. In the following sections, some values of journal writing
will be discussed and compared to previous research findings.
a. Improving students’ writing skill
One of the students said that this activity helped enrich her vocabulary.
Similarly, Rezaei and Manzari (2011) who conducted a study on the effect of
EDJW on the quality and quantity of students’ writing found that participants’
vocabulary gradually developed as they wrote more complicated and advanced
topics.
94 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 27, Number 1, January 2016

In addition, the same student wrote that writing journals regularly helped
her improve her grammar. This is in line with previous studies which reported
that journal writing improves students’ grammatical accuracy (Shang, 2007;
Abdelrahman, 2013). This is because the availability of grammar checker in the
computer allows students to check for their writing’s grammatical accuracy be-
fore posting it on Facebook, especially when they access Facebook using their
laptop/PC. Being exposed to the writing of other students who have better
grammar skill also helps them to get familiar with the correct grammar use.
Besides grammar, the students’ spelling also improves because they can
also check the spelling in their writing using the spelling check feature. Those
features (grammar and spelling checkers) can facilitate students to be autono-
mous learners. As Abdelrahman (2013) maintains, EDJW provides a chance for
self-learning, which helps students to be more independent.
It is found that students’ writing fluency has improved from the first to the
last entries recorded. Even though some of them might not realize it, based on
my observation, the students were likely to write longer and more fluent than
before. This is in line with Holmes and Moulton (1997) who maintains that dia-
logue journal writing can develop writing fluency.
Most importantly, EDJW allows students to learn from others. They learn
how others express their ideas, arrange sentences, and choose appropriate
words. This conforms to Yancey’s (2009) opinion stating that the 21st century
will be known as a new era in writing where people who compose are not nec-
essarily taught through formal instruction, but rather they will use a process
called co-apprenticeship in which the students write authentic texts and are
evaluated by peers rather than instructors.
b. Promoting students’ motivation
Another advantage of journaling through a Facebook closed group is that
it can promote students’ motivation to write. This is because journaling though
Facebook is a fun and non-threatening writing activity for them. As one student
said, this practice could raise her motivation to write more, and that she was
especially excited to know that her peers positively commented on her writing.
Similarly, Liao and Wong (2010) found in their study that EDJW can increase
students’ motivation. EDJW through Facebook is even more motivating be-
cause it suits the current trend in communication media.
This is also supported by Remiasova’s (2009) study which shows that dia-
logue journal writing is motivating as it contributes toward establishing a closer
 Rodliyah, Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students’ Writing 95

relationship and a mutual trust environment. Indeed, students feel secure and
motivated to post their entries because there is trust among them, so they can
freely express their ideas and feelings.
c. Boosting students’ confidence
Another response from a student to journaling through Facebook is how it
can boost his confidence to write. He used to be shy and unconfident to write
because of fear of making grammatical mistakes. I emphasized that the main
goal of writing a journal is to foster a writing habit and that grammatical accu-
racy is not the main priority. Later on, he discovered that writing a journal can
increase his confidence to write. This is in accordance with the results of other
research on EDJW which indicate its potential to increase students’ writing
confidence and control over written language (Jones & East, 2010).
d. Building rapport
Interactive journal writing through Facebook allows sharing and genuine
communication between teacher-students and among students. Research done
by Staton, et al. (2005) on dialogue journals shows the positive impact it has on
teacher-students’ communication and rapport. When journal writing is con-
ducted interactively through a Facebook closed group, this can increase stu-
dents’ engagement and interaction and establish rapport among them as well, as
it has been proven that using social media as an educational tool can lead to an
increased student engagement (Chen, Lambert, & Guidry, 2010).
Compared to the results of previous studies on the benefits of using social
media for learning, this study reveals that despite the participants’ perceived
benefits of writing journals on Facebook, they did not share the same level of
confidence when it comes to writing. Therefore, some had low or even non ex-
istent participation due to the EDJW’s voluntary nature. Some participants pre-
ferred reading entries from other students whom they considered better-skilled
at writing rather than writing their own entries. Freedom to write was not al-
ways good for them either. Some were confused about what to write. This sug-
gests that if EDJW is to be integrated in writing class, teachers need to occa-
sionally provide topics for them to write about and consider their participation
in the evaluation in order to encourage their active participation.
This study has some limitations due to its short time and limited members
participating in the Facebook closed group. As mentioned earlier, there were
only five members who actively posted their journal entries. From an interview
96 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 27, Number 1, January 2016

with the students, some reasons were revealed. Those who chose to be silent
readers mentioned that they did not have enough confidence to write because,
in their opinion, their friends’ writing was mostly very good and they thought
their writing was not that good, so they felt ashamed of it. Others said that they
did not feel comfortable sharing many things publicly.
Meanwhile, those active contributors shared the same reasons: perceived
values and benefits of sharing. They posted their entries because they like to
share and believe in the benefits of writing and reading others’ comment. An-
other reason is because of hobby, as stated by one most active member, a se-
cond year student, whose hobby was writing diaries. Writing journal entries is
therefore not a problem for her. She loved writing down many things both in
her diary and on Facebook. Those factors led to uneven participation, and this
should be better handled in future research.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The study implies that teachers should adapt to the changes in technology
and consider how the changes affect the teaching learning process. Social me-
dia as the new trend in today’s society can be potentially used for teaching and
learning purposes. Teacher’s role as a facilitator is essential to ensure that the
use of social media is in accordance with the previously set purpose. Dialogue
journals through a Facebook closed group can be adopted not only to improve
students’ writing skill but also to help students express themselves better, inter-
act with their peers and teachers in a more meaningful way, build a good rap-
port among them, and learn from each other.
In this study, e-dialogue journal writing was not integrated with any writ-
ing course; rather, it was an informal learning channel provided for students in-
terested in sharing their journal entries. This had some limitations, in that stu-
dents’ participation was sometimes low, especially when they were busy with
school assignments. During this period, nobody posted in the group, or if one
did, there was no response from other members. Another problem was that
some students chose to be ‘silent readers’, who only read and ‘liked’ others’
writing without commenting on it, let alone posting any journal entries. This
happened because of low confidence in writing, or because there was no such
obligation to do so. Therefore, it is suggested that this e-journaling activity be
integrated into a writing course, so as to increase students’ motivation and to
 Rodliyah, Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students’ Writing 97

have ample data to measure students’ writing progress. Teachers can then set a
kind of rules at the beginning, whether students are expected to post entries
every week or any other specified time. Teachers can also set a rubric for a
good journal entry, and can then use it for assessment.

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