Thinking about My Learning

One way to improve one's language learning is to monitor the learning process constantly. The following questions may be used as references for checking your learning strategies or reflect on your learning process.

You may also use the checklist and questions for writing learning journals and preparing your English portfolio.

Checklist of the Speaking / Listening Process

Speaking

  • Do I volunteer for speaking activities?
  • Do I express my ideas clearly and logically?
  • Do I participate in pair conversations actively?
  • Do my comments contribute to converstaions?
  • Do I use background information appropriately in conversations?
  • Do I response logically to comments made by others?
  • Do I participate in group discussions actively?
  • Do my comments contribute to group discussions?
  • Do I practice my part several times for role-play activities?
  • Do I practice role-play with my groups?

Listening

  • Do I pay attention to conversations?
  • Do I try to understand the instructor's English lecture?
  • Do I try to understand the contents of the tapes?
  • Do I follow the directions appropriately?
  • Am I able to ignore distractions when listening?
  • Do I use the audio-visual resources to practice English?
  • Do I listen to English radio broadcast regularly?
  • Do I cover the subtitles on the screen when watching English moives or programs?
  • Do I keep a weekly listening logs or news story summary ?

 

Reading / Writing Strategies Checklist
What do I want to know or say?
(Do I focus on purposes for reading and writing?)
What do I already know?
(Do I use background knowledge from previous reading and other experiences to make sense in my reading and writing?)
Do I think about the ideas before I read and write?
(Do I discuss the genre and the types of things that one expects to find in a particular kind of reading, and the kinds of things that are included in a particular kind of writing?)
Do I think about what is coming next?
(Do I talk about predictions in reading and writing?)
Do I picture what is happening?
(Do I visualize story events in both reading and writing?)
Do the ideas make sense to me?
(Do I reflect about the ideas in an attempt to develop a coherent understanding?)
Do I make changes if the things don't make sense?
(Do I go back in my reading to check out why things don't make sense? Is there evidence of revision in writing?)
Do I get help when I need it?
(Do I know how to use resources such as the dictionary? Do I collaborate with other classmates?)

 

Thinking about My Reading
The topics I like to read about most are:
The kinds of things I like to read most are:
I use my imagination when I am reading by:
I guess what is going to happen next when I read by:
I like to read books and stories that:
I don't enjoy reading books and stories that:
I (do, do not) talk with my friends about things I read because:
I think I would be a better reader if:
I get the ideas about what I want to read from:

 

Thinking about My Writing
When I write, I like to include these kinds of things in my writing:
I like these things about my writing:
I can improve my writing by:
I (do, do not) like my writing when:
I get most of my ideas for my writing from:
I think that other people (like, dislike) my writing because:
I'd like to write more about:
I think that one of the best things I have written is:
One of the things that I think is my worst writing is:


© Copyright 2001 by Nae-Dong Yang, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. All Rights Reserved.