Diary studies emerged in the 1970s from individual language learners outside their cultures recording their struggles and breakthroughs both in the target languages and the host cultures. Such studies provided a raft of literature in subsequent decades on the intersection of language and culture, and both the affirmative and detrimental factors that impacted on the experience. While such studies have dropped off as of recent, perhaps due to a merger with reflective learning research, the diary study format proved worthy of exploration on the small level with a Japanese student embarking on an initial short-term homestay and study abroad sojourn in Australia. The student was asked to keep a running chronicle of the experience there, both inside and outside the classroom where the student would be, and a post-sojourn interview and review of the diary revealed changes in consciousness and a nascent expansion of global awareness. This indicated that the experience was an affirmative one for the student and that a diary chronicle could enable reflection on issues and difficulties in cultural adjustment, as well as language expansion, during the experience.

1. A learner’s diary: Learning, growth,
and change in consciousness
on a homestay sojourn
Lee Arnold
Seigakuin University
JALT 2016 Learner Development
SIG forum

2. Such studies emerged in the 1970s
Significant works from Jones (1977), Schumann (1980),
Schmidt & Frota (1986), Ellis (1989), and Peck (1996)
Diary studies came to lessen somewhat in research
literature within the last 10-15 years
Reasons may be from merger with reflective learning
studies or exhaustion of new research findings
Learner diary studies

3. Changes undergone by a Japanese university female
homestay learner on one-month sojourn in Australia
Learner had never previously traveled outside Japan
but was eager to undergo experience
Learner reported some trepidation before departure but
believed sojourn beneficial for language gain and
cultural expansion
Aim of study to review validity of diary study concept
Overview of present study

4. Diary guidelines & content
Learner was asked prior to departure to keep a journal
for the month she would spend in Australia
Guidelines for the journal included:
• To write in English whenever she could
• To write as much in English as she was able
There would be no pressure on her to write every day
and no specification of content – she was free to write
whatever she wanted

5. Initial entries within first days were impressionistic but by end of
first week were already becoming longer with greater complexity
in syntax

6. Some further entries from end of first week and into
second week

7. By middle of sojourn some entries became more impressionistic
again from her more active extracurricular socializing beyond
classroom study

8. Some frustration with L2 came through but was tempered by
social interactions and excursions

9. Some final entries

10. Analysis
Journal began as straightforward chronicle in L2
Collection brought forth growth in writing but also
reflected some emergent change in consciousness
Learner reported post-sojourn change in orientation
with university study upon return to Japan

11. Conclusion
Literature of diary studies may have dropped off but
concept may remain valid for analyzing impact of study
abroad on individual learners
Longer-term sojourns may naturally lend themselves to
greater growth in L2 and change in consciousness but
shorter-term stints can still have affirmative effect on
L2 and consciousness
Validates Carroll’s (1967) early findings on benefits of
even short-term study abroad sojourns for L2
development

12. Thank you for listening!