Ciencia y Educación

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DIARIOS REFLEXIVOS EN WHATSAPP PARA MEJORAR LAS HABILIDADES DE

ESCRITURA EN ESTUDIANTES DE NIVEL A2

REFLECTIVE JOURNALS IN WHATSAPP TO IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS IN A2

LEVEL STUDENTS

Autores: ¹Marcelo Javier Figueroa Ramos, ²Jacqueline Elizabeth López López, y ³Josué Reinaldo

Bonilla Tenesaca.

¹ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6849-0744

²ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1765-8103

³ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6748-2345

¹E-mail de contacto: mjfigueroar@ube.edu.ec

²E-mail de contacto: jelopezl@ube.edu.ec

³E-mail de contacto: jrbonillat@ube.edu.ec

Afiliación: ¹*Unidad Educativa Salinas Innova, (Ecuador). ²*³* Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador, (Ecuador).

Articulo recibido: 30 de Noviembre del 2024

Articulo revisado: 2 de Diciembre del 2024

Articulo aprobado: 27 de Enero del 2025

¹Licenciatura en Pedagogía, mención en enseñanza del idioma Inglés adquirida egresado de la Universidad Estatal Península de Santa

Elena, (Ecuador). Maestrante de la maestría en Pedagogía, mención enseñanza del idioma Inglés de la Universidad Bolivariana del

Ecuador, (Ecuador).

²Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación, mención en Administración y Supervisión Educativa adquirida egresada de la Universidad de

Guayaquil, (Ecuador) con años de experiencia laboral. Magister en Pedagogía mención en enseñanza del idioma Inglés como lengua

extranjera adquirida egresada de la Universidad de Jaen, (España). Master universitario en Lingüística Aplicada, mención en enseñanza

del Inglés como lengua extranjera. Doctorante en Educación, Universidad de Ciencias Pedagógicas Enrique José Varona, (Cuba)

³Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación, mención Inglés adquirida egresado de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, (Ecuador).

Ingeniería comercial adquirida egresado de la Universidad Metropolitana, (Ecuador). Magister en Tecnología e Innovación Educativa

adquirida egresado de la Universidad Casa Grande, (Ecuador). Magister en Pedagogía de los idiomas nacionales y extranjeros, mención

en enseñanza de Inglés adquirida egresado de la Universidad Casa Grande, (Ecuador). Phd. En ciencias pedagógicas adquirido egresado

de la Universidad de Oriente, (Cuba).

Resumen

El objetivo del trabajo presentado era

determinar si la implementación de los diarios

reflexivos en WhatsApp tiene una incidencia

positiva en el desarrollo de las habilidades de

escritura en el idioma inglés en estudiantes del

segundo año de bachillerato, especialidad en

informática, paralelo “C” en la Unidad

Educativa Salinas Innova, cuya hipótesis se

basa en la premisa que las habilidades de

escritura en inglés se pueden mejorar

implementando los diarios reflexivos en

WhatsApp. Se usó el enfoque de investigación

cuantitativo; los métodos teóricos de

investigación fueron análisis-síntesis,

inductiva-deductiva y sistemática-estructural;

las técnicas para la recolección de datos fueron

una encuesta e interpretación estadística,

mientras que los instrumentos fueron un

cuestionario, el segundo modelo para el análisis

de las necesidades de Hutchinson and Waters,

una prueba de diagnóstico, una prueba antes y

otra después de la implementación de la

propuesta. Los resultados mostraron que el

nivel de competencia lingüística en inglés

promedio de los estudiantes era A2, los

estudiantes querían mejorar sus habilidades de

escritura redactando diarios reflexivos en

WhatsApp fuera de clases, mientras que el

análisis de los resultados después de la

implementación de los diarios reflexivos

evidenció una mejora en la escritura de los

estudiantes. Basado en los resultados del

estudio, se concluye que los diarios reflexivos

en WhatsApp tuvieron una incidencia positiva

en el mejoramiento de las habilidades de

escritura en el idioma inglés.

Palabras clave: Diarios reflexivos,

WhatsApp, Mejoramiento, Habilidades de

escritura, Estudiantes de nivel A2.

Abstract

The objective of this research work presented

was to determine if the implementation of

reflective journals in WhatsApp has a positive

incidence in the development of writing skills

in the English language in students at second

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baccalaureate level, informatics specialization,

parallel “C” at Unidad Educativa Salinas

Innova, which hypothesis is based on the

premise that writing skills in English can be

improved by the implementation of reflective

journals in WhatsApp. The quantitative

research approach was used; the research

theoretical methods were analysis-synthesis,

inductive-deductive and systemic-structural,

and the techniques for data collection were a

survey and statistical interpretations, whereas

the instruments were a questionnaire, the

second model of needs analysis proposed by

Hutchinson and Waters, a diagnostic test, a

pretest before and another after the

implementation of the proposal. The results

showed that the average level of students’

proficiency in English was A2, the students

wanted to improve their writing skills by

composing reflective journals in WhatsApp

outside the classes, whilst the analysis of the

results after the implementation of the

reflective journals evidenced an improvement

on students’ writing skills. Based on the results

of the research, it was concluded that reflective

journals in WhatsApp had a positive incidence

on the improvement of writing skills in the

English language.

Keywords: Reflective journals, WhatsApp,

Improvement, Writing skills, A2 level

students.

Sumário

O objetivo do trabalho apresentado foi

determinar se a implementação de diários

reflexivos no WhatsApp tem um impacto

positivo no desenvolvimento de habilidades de

escrita em inglês em alunos do segundo ano do

ensino médio, com especialização em ciência da

computação, paralelo “C” na Unidad Educativa

Salinas Innova, cuja hipótese se baseia no fato

de que as habilidades de escrita em inglês

podem ser melhoradas com a implementação de

diários reflexivos no WhatsApp. Foi utilizada a

abordagem de pesquisa quantitativa; os

métodos teóricos de pesquisa foram análise-

síntese, indutivo-dedutivo e sistemático-

estrutural; as técnicas de coleta de dados foram

uma pesquisa e interpretação estatística,

enquanto os instrumentos foram um

questionário, o segundo modelo de análise de

necessidades de Hutchinson e Waters, um teste

de diagnóstico, um teste antes e um teste depois

da implementação da proposta. Os resultados

mostraram que o nível médio de proficiência

linguística dos alunos era A2, os alunos queriam

melhorar suas habilidades de escrita escrevendo

diários reflexivos no WhatsApp fora da sala de

aula, enquanto a análise dos resultados após a

implementação dos diários reflexivos

evidenciou uma melhoria na escrita dos alunos.

Com base nos resultados do estudo, conclui-se

que os diários reflexivos no WhatsApp tiveram

um impacto positivo no aprimoramento das

habilidades de redação dos alunos.

Palavras-chave: Diários reflexivos,

WhatsApp, Aprimoramento, Habilidades de

redação, Alunos de nível A2

Introduction

According to Nishanthi (2018), the impact and

importance of the English language in the

contemporary society is extremely noticeable

since it is spoken in every part of the world.

Akther (2022) states that this foreign language

is vital for the personal and professional growth

of any human being in the world. Andayani

(2022) commnted that English is also a requisite

in the work place for finding a job and also for

obtaining a promotion in their jobs resulting in

people’s motivation as well as their interest in

learning English. As a result, Ilyosovna (2020)

affirmed that many nations include English in

their school syllabus so that children study the

language from childhood; educational

institutions have decided to implement the

learning of this language in their curriculums as

an obligatory subject; to increase the

advantages of people worldwide so that

individuals can access to international

opportunities in the work or education field.

Needless to say, Latin American countries, such

as Chile, Costa Rica and Ecuador, too.

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There have been done some previous studies

that have positioned the Latin American nations

as the less proficient in the English language,

and in Ecuador, the situation the same, in fact,

Ortega et al. (2017) found out that the

proficiency in English of students was not

satisfactory, which clearly evidenced the data

that talk about the low level in the foreign

language of Ecuadorian learners.

On the other hand, the English learning is a

process that takes time in order to achieve a

proficiency in the language, H. (2023) said that

it is needed 200 assisted learning hours for

reaching the next level, and that it is required at

least 1200 hours to achieve a C2 proficiency.

Due to the fact that it involves the development

of receptive and productive skills, Sreena and

Ilankumaran (2018) voiced that this were

listening, reading, writing and speaking. From

them writing could be a challenging skill to

domain, indeed, the English writing is tough for

native speakers, and this is equivalent for the

non-native ones because these speakers

evidence difficulties in composing

understandable paragraphs, determing the skills

required for writing as well as the omission of

ineffective words or phrases (Sulaiman &

Muhajir, 2019).

As it was pointed out before, the problem is the

students’ limitations in the English language.

This limitations are because the lack of use of

innovative and engaging learning activities.

Rone et al. (2023) stated that professors are in

charge of finding stratgies and teaching

methods that are more suitable for the learners

and their level since teachers ought to engage

learners in their lessons. In other words,

students engagement is gained by teachers as

long as their learning activities catch students’

attention because of interactive features.

Teachers also need to find activities that involve

reflection in class.

Theoretical Framework

One relevant character who was interested in

reflecting was the famous John Dewey. Dewey

(1910) mentioned that the process of reflective

thought is a belief intentionally sought and its

adequacy to support it. In other words, it is the

pursuit of the reasons and foundations of a

belief using reflective thought, known as

critical thinking in this modern age. Adam

(2020) affirmed that the art of reflecting is a

vital element of learning and teaching, in other

words, it is necessary to apply reflection

activities in school lessons to assess and make

students relate what it has been learned to what

learners already know about the topic.

Additionally, Waugh (2023) claimed that Schön

also proposed the reflection-on-action which

refers to reflecting after an event has happened.

These principles could be applied in education

since students could reflect on what it was

learned after receiving specific content, which

involves the analysis and evaluation of that

content, which supports the idea of reflection as

a means to lead a meaningful students’ learning.

Nevertheless, it is believed that professors have

to establish reflection in the educational

curriculum (Yost et al., 2000 as cited in Cavilla,

2017), which means that reflection is left behind

by educators. These reflection activities could

be covered by the implementation of reflective

journals.

Speaking about reflective journals, Seema

Yadav (2022) sustained that reflection activities

as the composition of reflective journals can

help in the connection of previous and current

knowledge. The University of Edinburgh

(2024) declared that there are some aspects

which are in favor of reflective journals since

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these enable students to develop their critical

thinking skills and other complex learning

outcomes. Another point of view that supports

the use of reflective journals is provided by

Ahmed (2019) who remarked the usefulness of

reflective journals as these encourage students

to learn, master written skills, assess how well

students deliver their reflections, and promote

professional growth. Santiana et al. (2024)

revealed that reflective journals have the

potential to increase their self-awareness as well

as their critical thinking and problem-solving

skills, which means that these journals can help

to discover what learners think about the class

and what they have really learned from the

lesson while putting into practice critical

thinking and writing skills. The composition of

reflective journals is a common activity

prepared in order to reflect on the learning

course. However, there are also some

drawbacks when writing reflective journals.

According to Akhmetova and Khaliullina

(2023) one key challenge at the moment of

composing reflective journals is the students’

ability to formulate their ideas or reflections in

sentences. This means that it is limiting for

students to express themselves clearly. In

addition to this, prior experiences using

reflection activities in class, language barriers,

and differences of conceptual understanding of

reflection because of culture are other

challenges (Moon, 2004 as cited in Veine et al.,

2019).

The good point is that these reflective journals

can be implemented by the use of technological

means in the classroom. Ratheeswari (2018)

pointed up that technology can play a vital role

in the education field as it could provide

innovation and engagment in the classroom.

This can be reached through the application of

the information and communication

technologies in the teaching and learning

process. Technology has the potential to

establish students engagement in the classroom.

The use of information and communication

technologies, also known as ICT, are extremely

important because not only does technology

catch students’ attention but also create interest

in learning about any topic in this new

technological and digital era. Henderson (2020)

asserted that the use of technology in the

classroom has the power to transform a

traditional class into a more hilarious and

enjoyable one, improves students’ retention

since learners are more likely to recall

information when it interests them, foster

individual learning because of the flexibility

that digital tools offer to the learners, and

encourages collaboration owing to the fact that

young adults prefer virtual interaction than the

face-to-face one and students can work without

being physically in the same place. Ghavifekr

and Rosdy (2015) developed a research whose

results manifested that teachers who have

implemented ICT in their lessons have made

their teaching more effective, and the teachers

who do not apply them expressed their

willingness to learn how to use ICT in the

teaching and learning process. Charles et al.

(2023) also agreed that will definitely have a

positive impact on the teaching pracitce as it has

been doing in the last years.

There are some ways in which technology can

be employed in English classes. For example,

Santiana et al. (2024) also concluded that

learners admitted that digital reflective journals

are beneficial in English lessons; needless to

say, the use of technology was required in order

to write those digital journals. The development

of these reflective journals provided

accessibilty and flexibility to students.

However, there are other alternatives to take

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advantage of technology in the English lessons

and classrooms.

According to the Oxford University (2011), the

use apps can make the teaching of a foreign

language a more catching process. It is

undeniable that there have been designed some

applications developed specifically for learning

languages, but there are also others whose

function is helping people to socialize and

express their feelings and thoughts, but English

teachers may use them as technopoedagogical

resources. In fact, it was concluded that

WhatsApp can be used for teaching English

thanks to its benefits, which makes it more

interesting (Afsyah, 2019). Rai Savitri (2022)

comments that WhatsApp can certainly boost

students’ writing skills by using one app

English language learners all know how it

works.

Coulmas (2002) exposed that writing can be

defined as a system of language through visible

marks. This is the representation of a language

through signs, symbols and marks that are put

on a piece of paper by making hand movements

in order to form them by using an item that

allows to make it visible for others who read it.

Furthermore, there are four elements which take

part in the writing process, which are the

messenger, the content, the media, and readers

Suparno and Yunus 2008 as cited in Ferira

(2020). Writing skills also involve vocabulary,

spelling, accuracy and communicative

competence.

The three main indicators of vocabulary are

form, meaning and use. Form is the written

forms of a word and the recognition of its parts,

meaning is interpreted as the form-meaning

relationship, and use refers to the grammar

function of words, collocations and its usage

(Nation’s, 2013 as cited in KILIÇ, 2019). Afzal

(2019) concluded that students faced difficulties

in structuring words as well as guessing the

meaning of words from the contexts. In

accordance with Harb (2020) spelling is

challenging for language learners as they need

to connect patterns and also because it involves

spelling rules which are indicators of the

spelling dimension. According to Hahn et al.

(2020), accuracy goes hand in hand with both

grammar and word order/arragement. Fauzan et

al. (2022) found that students’ challenges

encompass grammar and syntax errors, which

means that their grammar is limited as well as

the knowledge of how words are arranged in a

sentence. For Kiessling and Fabry (2021)

communicative competence involves

organization, selection and application of skills.

Competence also implies processes and

coordination in a sequence. Fauzan et al. (2022)

also discovered that students had difficulties in

organizing their ideas because of the lack of

appropriate words, writing logical sentences

and punctuation, which are important element

for reaching the communicative competence in

writing.

Writing is also crucial for reaching

communicative competence through written

communication since Walsh (2010) claimed

that if a learner is unable express himself

written, he will also be unable to communicate

properly with his professor, colleagues or

employers, due to the fact that the majority of

professional communication is carried out by

writing essays, proposals, formal letters, and

reports, which demands a high proficiency in

writing.

Hence, the research object of this study is to

demonstrate if applying reflective journals by

using WhatsApp has an incidence on writing

skills in students in the second level of Unified

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General Baccalaureate, class C, informatics

specialty, at Unidad Educativa Salinas Innova.

Materials and Methods

It was decided to apply the quantitative one.

Ghanad (2023) told that the quantitative

approach is addressed to quantify data and

generalize findings from various perspectives.

It consists of gathering and analyzing numerical

data, multiple-choice interrogations, and array-

type questions by using standard research

instruments to describe characteristics and find

correlations, which means that the type of

research is the descriptive one. Ghanad also put

an emphasis on statistical information presented

through charts, tables, figures among others.

This research approach will be applied to

determine and know if there is an improvement

in students’ writing skills from the educational

institution after applying the composition of

reflective journals.

The research theoretical methods are analysis-

synthesis for the collection of data and students’

needs analysis for the characterization of the

object considering the phycological, linguistic,

didactic features of the language and

technological aspects of the research through

the second model of needs analysis proposed by

Hutchinson and Waters (1987), which classifies

these target needs into three caregories, which

are necessities that make reference to what

students must know to act successfully, wants

that are viewed as what students think it is

needed to learn, and lacks that are gaps between

what students know and the necessities;

inductive-deductive for the logical

understanding of the problem and object, to

substantiate the nexus between the different

structures that frame the logic of this research,

arrive at pertinent conclusions, including the

final proposal; and systemic-structural for the

selection of topics, establish the links that

guarantee their practical functioning of the

research proposal.

Regarding the population to be considered for

this research paper, the overall population is

constituted by the educational community from

Unidad Educativa Salinas Innova, which

institutional AMIE code is 24H00328 District

24D02 zone 5 in Salinas city, province of Santa

Elena, Ecuador. Salinas Innova is known for its

prestige, having primary and high school

education working with children and teenagers

who are studying at their school level in the

morning. It has a complete infrastructure since

it has science and robotics laboratories, as well

as computer and media labs, a cafeteria, library,

and green areas. Besides, it also recognized in

the province because of its curriculum

prioritizing the English subject as students

receive 10 hours per week of English classes,

which are covered by six teachers in high school

and 4 in the primary level; some of them are

certified by international qualifications.

The sample will be composed of 11 students

from the Informatics specialty, second Unified

General Baccalaureate, class C whose ages

range from 15 to 17.

Table 1. Summary of the sample

Participants

Sample

Percentage

Males

72,73%

Females

27,27%

Total

100%

Source: Elaborated by the author

The research instruments, surveys and

statistical interpretation will be carried out in

order to know what students think about the use

of reflective journals, the use of technology and

WhatsApp in the classroom, and students’

perceptions of writing skills; as well as the

second model questions of Need Analysis in

order to determine the effectiveness of

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reflective journals in WhatsApp on students’

writing skills based on the results obtained.

The instruments to gather data are a

questionnaire for the survey with closed-end

statements and the second model questions

proposed by Hutchinson and Waters.

Additionally, a diagnostic test will be applied to

know the students’ English levels, a pretest to

assess students’ level regarding writing skills

before the implementation of the proposal and a

posttest after it to identify whether students had

an improvement in their writing skills or not.

The intervention was applied for 8 weeks in

which students answered the survey, took a

diagnostic test and a pretest before the

implementation of the proposal; and a posttest

after the implementation.

The diagnostic test was elaborated by

Cambridge University Press. This consisted of

60 multiple-choice questions related to the

grammar and vocabulary that appears in all the

parts and skills of the international Cambridge

exams of English proficiency from the

Cambridge A1 Movers to the B2 First.

Table 2. Description of the diagnostic test

Skill

Number of

items

Points

Task

Use of English

(Grammar and

Vocabulary)

60 (each

answer 1

point)

Multiple-

choice

Source: (Cambridge University Press and

UCLES (2016)

Table 3. Scores and levels

Scores

Levels

0-9

Level 1 (A1)

10-18

Level 2 (A2)

19-27

Level 3 (A2+)

28-36

Level 4 (B1)

37-45

Level 5 (B1+)

46-54

Level 6 (B2)

55-60

Level 7 (B2+)

Source: Cambridge University Press and

UCLES (2016)

The pretest consisted of 4 parts, with 10 as the

full score. The dimensions are in order to

determine how well students’ level regarding

their writing skills are before the

implementation of the proposal.

The posttest consisted of 4 parts, with 10 as the

full score. The dimensions are in order to

determine how well students’ level regarding

their writing skills are after the implementation

of the proposal.

Table 4. Description of the pretest

Dimensions &

indicators

Number of

items

Points

Type

Vocabular: word

form and meaning

5 (each

answer 0,50

points)

2,50

Multiple-choice

Spelling:

recognition of

patterns and

spelling rules

5 (each

answer 0,50

points)

2,50

Selection of

elements

Accuracy:

grammar usage

and word order

5 (each

answer 0,50

points)

2,50

Selection of

elements

Written

communicative

competence:

coherence,

cohesion and

punctuation

1 (2,50

points)

2,50

Development

Source: Elaborated by the author

Table 5. Description of the posttest

Dimensions &

indicators

Number of

items

Points

Task

Vocabulary: word

form and meaning

5 (each

answer 0,50

points)

2,50

Multiple-choice

Spelling:

recognition of

patterns and

spelling rules

5 (each

answer 0,50

points)

2,50

Selection of

elements

Accuracy:

grammar usage

and word order

5 (each

answer 0,50

points)

2,50

Selection of

elements

Written

communicative

competence:

coherence,

cohesion and

punctuation

1 (2,50

points)

2,50

Development

Source: Elaborated by the author

After administrating the diagnostic test, pretest

and the survey, the students performed the

proposal which consisted of sending the

learners answering reflective questions every

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day, and the learners had to send their journals

in a private WhatsApp group.

Results

The first results are from the diagnostic test.

Table 6. Students’ English level

Total

Number of

students

Percentage

Level

18,20%

45,50%

9,10%

A2+

18,20%

B1+

9,10%

Source: Elaborated by the author

These results evidenced that the average level

of English proficiency is falls into the A2 level

which fits the level to work with. As the

diagnostic test was designed to identify

students’ English proficiency, this means that

their writing skills could be at an A2 or nearly a

B1. The Council of Europe (2001) established

that an A2 can produce a series of simple

phrases and sentences linked with simple

connectors like “and”, “but” and “because”. A

B1 can produce straightforward connected texts

on a range of familiar subjects within their field

of interest, by linking a series of shorter discrete

elements into a linear sequence.

The second results are from the pretest.

Table 7. Results of the pretest applied to

students

N°

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

2,50

9,50

5,27

Source: Elaborated by the author

The third results are the description of students’

needs analysis

Students’ necessities are what they need to

know. So, they need to know that English is

necessary here because is a compulsory subject

in all courses. Also, the English language will

be used in class in informal interactions with

other classmates, for writing reflective journals.

It is needed that students know that the language

taught is General English. It is essential that

they bear in mind that General English is used

for communicating with other students, teacher,

friends from other countries or relatives.

Students’ wants are personal expectations. So,

one expectation about learning English is that it

can increase the opportunities of finding a job.

Also, students have commented that English is

necessary for getting promotions at work, which

is something they want to. Students would like

to communicate more effectively in English.

Students want to learn English with attractive

and engaging teaching methodologies. They

also want to learn English vocabulary through

didactic and unconventional learning activities

outside the classroom using technological

means, including WhatsApp. Students’ lacks

are aspects that learners ignore or do not do for

developing their English language. So, students

do not practice English outside the classroom.

They have some opportunities to reflect on the

content checked in class. Students do not know

how to use smartphone apps for educational

purposes. Students do not do activities using

other technological means. Students do not have

the opportunity to perform many learning

activities outside the physical learning

environment.

The fourth results from the survey applied to

students consisting of 10 statements and a scale

of agreement, which are from totally disagree

(TD), disagree (D), neutral (N), agree (A) to

totally agree (TA). These survey results are

represented in percentages.

For the first statement, 18,2% of the participants

totally disagreed, 0% disagreed, 36,4% were

neutral, 9,1% agreed and 36,4% totally agreed

with this statement, which means that most of

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the participants reflected on the content learned

in each class, but also some of them do it.

For the second one, 18,2% of the participants

totally disagreed, 9,1% disagreed, 18,2% were

neutral, 27,3% agreed and 27,3% totally agreed

with this statement, which means that most of

the students write reflective journals regularly,

but others do not employ them.

For the third statement, 9,1% of the participants

totally disagreed, 9,1% disagreed, 9,1% were

neutral, 9,1% agreed and 63,6% totally agreed

with this statement, which means that many of

the participants share the view that reflective

journals can develop critical thinking skills

whilst some of them do not consider it.

For the fourth statement 18,2% of the

participants totally disagreed, 0% disagreed,

9,1% were neutral, 36,4% agreed and 36,4%

totally agreed with this statement, which means

that most of the learners consider that reflective

journals in WhatsApp can be useful in English

classes, but few of them did not consider their

effectiveness in English classes.

For the fifth statement, 9,1% of the participants

totally disagreed, 9,1% disagreed, 9,1% were

neutral, 54,5% agreed and 18,2% totally agreed

with this statement, which means that the

majority of the students relate what they have

learned to what they already know about the

topic, whereas few of them do not do it.

For the sixth statement, 18,2% of the

participants totally disagreed, 9,1% disagreed,

36,4% were neutral, 18,2% agreed and 18,2%

totally agreed with this statement, which means

a few of them do not face problems with

vocabulary, most students do not have any idea

of their difficulties in vocabulary while some

struggle with vocabulary with vocabulary since

it requires word form and meaning.

Table 8. Results of survey applied to students

N°

Statements

(%)

I reflect on the

content learned.

18,2

36,4

9,1

36,4

I regularly employ

reflective journals.

18,2

9,1

18,2

27,3

Reflective journals

can develop my

critical thinking.

9,1

63,6

Reflective journals

in WhatsApp can be

useful in English

classes.

18,2

9,1

36,4

I relate what I have

learned to what I

already know about

the topic.

9,1

54,5

18,2

I have difficulties

with vocabulary

since it requires

word form and

meaning.

18,2

9,1

36,4

18,2

Spelling is hard as it

involves recognition

of patterns and

spelling rules.

27,3

36,4

18,2

Accuracy is not

easy since it has to

do with grammar

usage and word

order.

36,4

27,3

18,2

Written

communicative

competence is

difficult for me as it

requires coherence,

cohesion, and

punctuation marks

to organize my

ideas correctly.

27,3

9,1

18,2

Writing is vital in

the development of

my communicative

competence.

18,2

45,5

Source: Elaborated by the author

For the seventh statement 27,3% of the

participants totally disagreed, 36,4% disagreed,

0% were neutral, 18,2% agreed and 18,2%

totally agreed with this statement, which means

that most of the learners do not consider that

spelling is that hard even if it involves

recognition of patterns and spelling rules, but

some of them agree with this element.

For the eighth statement, 36,4% of the

participants totally disagreed, 0% disagreed,

27,3% were neutral, 18,2% agreed and 18,2%

totally agreed with this statement, which means

that some of the participants do not face

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accuracy problems, some consider that

accuracy is hard since it has to do with grammar

usage and word arrangement while others think

that in some cases it is also hard.

For the nineth statement, 27,3% of the

participants totally disagreed, 27,3% disagreed,

9,1% were neutral, 18,2% agreed and 18,2%

totally agreed with this statement, which means

that a good number of the participants believe

that written communicative competence is not

difficult despite it requires coherence, cohesion

and punctuation.

For the tenth statement, 18,2% of the

participants totally disagreed, 0% disagreed,

18,2% were neutral, 18,2% agreed and 45,5%

totally agreed with this statement, which means

that the vast majority of the participants agreed

that writing is a vital element in the

development of their overall communicative

competence whereas few of them do not feel the

same.

Last but not least, the fifth results to be revealed

are the scores obtained in the posttest

Table 9. Results of the posttest applied to

students

N°

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

6,00

10,00

8,05

Source: Elaborated by the autor

Discussion of Results

Students’ overall level of proficiency in English

is A2. The council of Europe (2001) stated that

users of level A2 can produce a series of simple

phrases and sentences linked with simple

connectors like “and”, “but” and “because”.

This is evidenced in the students results in the

diagnostic and pre tests since in one question

students needed to write an essay in which all of

them could write a piece of writing using simple

sentences and connectors, but a reduced number

of them could write straightforward connected

texts in a familiar subject within their field of

interest, by linking a series of shorter discrete

elements into a linear sequence, which are the

descriptors of higher levels.

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) asserted that

considering students’ necessities, wants and

lacks are necessary. Students’ needed to know

that pupils had to write their reflective journals

with general English to share with their

classmates. Students wanted to learn English

through other engaging learning activities

motivated by the idea that learning this

language could be useful for getting a

promotion at work and academic purposes.

Students’ lacks of opportunities to learn English

using other technological means to practice

their writing skills outide the classroom by

reflecting on the contents learned in class.

Adam (2020) affirmed that reflection is vital for

learning and teaching. The data obtained from

the survey revealed that a good number of the

participants reflect on the content learned in

each class because of the vitality for the

teaching and learning process of every subject.

This assumption agreed with Adam’s

affirmation

Moreover, professors need to establish

reflection in the educational curriculum (Yost et

al., 2000 as cited in Cavilla, 2017), in other

words, it says that reflection is left behind by

educators since they need to put it into practice

in their teaching praxis. The data obtained from

the survey revealed that they do apply reflection

activities in class, therefore, reflective journals

are somehow included in their learning

activities. This is the reason why students

employ reflective journals regularly as a good

number stated this fact in their responses. This

result contrasts with the perspective commented

before.

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Santiana et al. (2024) revealed that reflective

journals have the potential to increase their self-

awareness as well as their critical thinking and

problem-solving skills. Taking into

consideration this premise, the data exposed

that the participants share the view that

reflective journals can develop critical thinking

skills. This finding confirms that reflective

journals can promote the development of

critical thinking skills.

Ratheeswari (2018) pointed up that technology

can play a vital role in the education field as it

could provide innovation and engagment in the

classroom. Furthermore, the Oxford University

(2011) manifested that the use of apps can make

the teaching of a foreign language a more

catching process. What’s more, Afsyah (2019)

concluded that WhatsApp can be used for

teaching English thanks to its benefits, which

makes it more interesting. In other words, these

reflective journals can be implemented by the

use of technological means in the classroom.

Agreeing with these conceptions, most of the

participants consider that reflective journals in

WhatsApp can be useful in English classes,

which means Ratheeswari’s point of view is

supported by the learners’ opinion.

Seema Yadav (2022) sustained that reflection

activities as the composition of reflective

jouenals can help in the connection of previous

and current knowledge. In accordance with the

previous description, the data from the survey

confirmed this thought as the participants

expressed that they relate the content learned to

what they already know about it. This result

concords with the Seema Yadav’s affirmation.

Afzal (2019) concluded that students faced

difficulties in structuring words as well as

guessing the meaning of words from different

contexts. Stemming from these notions, most

students manifested that they do not have any

idea of their difficulties in vocabulary bearing

in mind that it requires word form and the

meaning of them.

In accordance with Harb (2020) spelling is

demanding for language learners as it is needed

to connect patterns and also because it involves

spelling rules. Considering these parameters, a

good number of participants do not consider

that spelling is that hard although it involves

recognition of patterns and spelling rules. These

results refute Harb’s argument.

According Fauzan et al. (2022) found that

students’ challenges encompass grammar and

syntax errors, which means that their grammar

domain is limited as well as the knowledge of

how words are arranged in a sentence. Based

on the data garhered by means of the survey,

some consider that accuracy is hard since it has

to do with grammar usage and word

arrangement while others think that in some

cases it is also hard.

Fauzan et al. (2022) also discovered that

students had difficulties in organizing their

ideas because of the lack of appropriate words,

writing logical sentences and punctuation,

which are crucial elements for reaching the

communicative competence through writing.

Taking into account this fact, a good number of

the participants believe that written

communicative competence is not difficult

despite it requires coherence, cohesion and

punctuation to organize their ideas correctly.

This means that students feel that they can

organize their ideas sequentially using features

of written communicative competence, which

does not support the previous statement.

Writing is also crucial for reaching

communicative competence through written

communication since Walsh (2010) claimed

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that if a learner is unable express himself

written, he will also be unable to communicate

properly with his professor, colleagues or

employers, due to the fact that the majority of

professional communication is carried out by

writing essays, proposals, formal letters,

reports, and articles, which demands a high

proficiency in writing skills. This fact tallies the

participants’ answers as most of them expressed

that writing is vital in the development of their

communicative competence.

Last but not least, after taking the posttest to the

learners who took part in this research work, it

disclosed the students really improved their

writing skills as the pretest, the first mean was

5,27, obtaining 2,50 as the lowest score and

9,50 as the highest one. In contrast, the second

mean was 8,05, the lowest score was 6,00 and

the highest one was 10,00 which was the full

score in the posttest. This indicates that their

writing skills had a positive impact after

practicing their writing skills by composing

reflective journals using the smartphone app

known as WhatsApp due to the fact all of the

participants obtained nearly a B1 level in

writing. The council of Europe (2001) states

that a B1 can produce straightforward

connected texts on a range of familiar subjects

within their field of interest, by linking a series

of shorter discrete elements into a linear

sequence.

Conclusions

From the results presented, of their analysis and

discussion, the following conclusions can be

obtained regarding the implementation of

reflective journals in WhatsApp: 1) the main

characteristic of the proposal employed lies on

the significant improvement on writing skills in

A2 level learners of English as a foreign

language; 2) the proposal does not require

demanding effort to implement in English

classes because of the fact that teachers only

need to establish reflection by formulating

reflective questions to be sent through

WhatsApp, which is a smartphone app that

every student knows to use, so that not only can

the learners develop their critical thinking but

also their writing skills, including their

communicative competence in the English

language by using technology outside the

classroom; 3) the results attained demonstrate

that the use of reflective journals in WhatsApp

can develop students’ writing skills as the

participants showed an improvement in their

vocabulary, spelling, accuracy and written

communicative competence; 4) the proposal

employed on the 11 participants can be applied

in other contexts with a wider range of sample

to know how well it works in other English as a

foreign language contexts around the world.

Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge my academic tutor,

PhD. Jacqueline Elizabeth López López,

assigned by the Universidad Bolivariana del

Ecuador as she was the person in charge of

revising and approving this research paper so

that it can be sent to the Science and Education

Journal examiners.

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Figueroa Ramos, Jacqueline Elizabeth López

López, y Josué Reinaldo Bonilla Tenesaca.