Title: Effect of reflection-based English language instruction on writing quality among secondary school students

Authors: Pratheesh Abraham; Roshna Varghese

Addresses: St. Thomas College of Teacher Education, Pala, Kerala, India ' School of Management and Business Studies, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India

Abstract: Teaching English as a second language is a complex and challenging activity, especially in the school education context. Reflective practice encourages engagement and is a method of learning through and from experience. This study investigates the effect of reflective teaching on English writing quality among higher secondary students. This study proposes an instructional design - reflection-based English language instruction - to improve the writing quality of the students. The current study employed mixed methods approach to collect and analyse the data. The data was collected from two different divisions of a government-aided school in the state of Kerala, India. Results reveal that there is significant progress in the writing quality of students after the treatment with RELI. The proposed RELI model can be an effective instructional design to facilitate reflective learning process in the teaching of the English language. This research provides practical advice to teacher educators, English teachers, school administrators, and policymakers.

Keywords: reflective practices; writing quality; mixed methods approach; English language instruction; reflective diaries; secondary school students; task completion; comprehensibility; fluency; coherence and cohesion; vocabulary; language control.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2025.144193

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2025 Vol.37 No.2, pp.121 - 148

Received: 02 Oct 2023
Accepted: 17 Jan 2024
Published online: 31 Jan 2025 *

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