USD Conference Systems, UNDERGRADUATE CONFERENCE (UC) 2025

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Perceived Benefits and Challenges of Students’ Reflective Writing Related to Critical Thinking Skills
Mikhael Kunses Bani, Yosua Umbu Teda Garameha, Eni Lestari Andayani Adi

Last modified: 2025-06-08

Abstract


Reflective practices are deemed as worthy of pursuing to enhance students’ soft skills. This study reports a study investigating what students perceived as benefits and challenges of reflective writing applied in a skills-based English class of undergraduate students. Employing explanatory mixed-methods, 43 second-semester students of an English education study program from a private university in Yogyakarta were involved in this survey study, and eight students in the following FGD. In addition to the questionnaire data, bi-weekly reflective journals written by students were used to triangulate both survey and FGD. The data analysis suggests that bi-weekly reflective writing activities were found effective in improving students’ critical thinking skills, developing general literacy skills of English, and increasing their self-knowledge. To improve the teaching practice, regular feedback from the class instructor was expected to appear.



Keywords


Reflective Journal, EFL Students, Critical Thinking