Reflective learning in higher education. FAREM-Matagalpa, UNAN-Managua

Abstract

The following essay reports on a short exploratory qualitative study given to pre-service English teachers who were studying the class of linguistics. In the linguistics class, they studied a chapter related to how adults learn a language, and the phases they go through. Due to the relevance of this topic, the instructor asked pre-service English teachers to reflect and examine on their learning critically from two different perspectives - my reflection as a language learner and my reflection on learning. This essay used a series of open and reflective questions as the primary source of data and asked 20 pre-service English teachers to write a two-page reflection paper about their experience learning English. For the purpose of this essay, data analysis was conducted using the grounded theory approach that involved comparing a piece of data with others. Eight essays were selected using random sampling. The results exposed the different challenges and strategies that pre-service English teachers have gone through so as to learn the language and how these have changed along the years. The essay presents both some theoretical background and challenges.