A dialogue journal is an ongoing written interaction between two people to exchange experiences, ideas, knowledge, or reflections.Peyton, J.K., & Staton, J. (1993). Dialogue journals in the multilingual classroom: Building language fluency and writing skills through written interaction. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. It is used most often in education as a means of sustained written interaction between students and teachersStaton, J. (1988). An introduction to dialogue journal communication. In J. Staton, R. Shuy, J. K. Peyton, & L. Reed (Eds.), Dialogue journal communication: Classroom, linguistic, social, and cognitive views (pp. 1–32). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. at all education levels. It can be used to promote second language learning (English and other languages) and learning in all areas.Peyton, J.K. (2000).
Dialogue journals are used in many schools as a form of communication between teachers and students to improve the life that they share in the classroom by exchanging ideas and shared topics of interest, promoting writing in a non-evaluative context, and promoting student engagement with learning (Samar & Parsaei, 2025). They are also used between teachers and teacher trainers to provide professional development opportunities and improve teaching.
Dialogue journal interaction occurs in various ways; e.g., in notebooks, letters, email exchanges, Internet-based interactions, and audio journals. The important feature is that two people communicate with each other, about topics and issues of interest to both, and the interaction continues over time.
Dialogue journals are a teacher-developed practice, first researched in the 1980s in an ethnographic study of a sixth grade American classroom with native English speakers,Staton, J., Shuy, R., Peyton, J.K., & Reed, L.(1988). Dialogue journal communication: Classroom, linguistic, social, and cognitive views (pp. 1–32). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. supported by a grant to the Center for Applied Linguistics from the National Institute of Education (NIE), Teaching & Learning Division. Applications to other educational settings developed quickly as a way to enhance writing development and the teacher-student relationship across linguistic and cultural barriers, with increasing use in second language instruction, deaf education, and adult literacy education. Since the 1980s, dialogue journal practice has expanded to many countries around the world.
History of use and research
The use of dialogue journals as a classroom practice was first documented in the early 1980s, with an in-depth study of its use in a sixth grade classroom in Los Angeles. The teacher, Leslee Reed, wrote daily throughout the school year with each of her students in a dialogue journal (a small notebook) to promote personalized, ongoing, supportive communication.
The first study of Mrs. Reed's classroom of all native English speakers (1979–1980) was followed by a second study (1981–1982) of the same teacher teaching a 6th grade class of students from other countries, all learning English as a second language (ESL), again for an entire year.
The practice spread to deaf education in 1982, with the invitation from William Stokoe at the Gallaudet University Linguistics Research Laboratory to Jana Staton to conduct research and work with teachers at all levels on the Gallaudet University campus.Staton, J. (1990). Conversations in writing: A guide for using dialogue journals with deaf post-secondary and secondary students. (GRI Monograph Series B, No. 4). Washington, DC: Gallaudet Research Institute, Gallaudet University
With the publication of research on the sixth grade ESL students, use of dialogue journals with ESL students and research on the practice and outcomes began growing through the 1980s and 1990s.Peyton, J.K. (Ed.) (1990). Students and teachers writing together: Perspectives on journal writing. Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Students_and_Teachers_Writing_Together.pdf The practice is now used in educational settings and classrooms at all age levels, from kindergarten through university courses, in adult education programs,Peyton, J.K., & Staton, J. (1996). Writing our lives: Reflections on dialogue writing with adults learning English. McHenry, IL & Washington, D.C.: Delta Systems & Center for Applied Linguistics. and in teacher education programs, to promote open communication, connections among teachers and learners, knowledge sharing, and reading and writing development. The International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF) has a long list of references about dialogue journal writing.
Key concepts and features Research on dialogue journal use at all age levels—with native speakers of the language of the writing, first and second language learners, deaf students, and teachers—has identified key features of dialogue journal communication that set it apart from most writing in educational settings: authentic communication, collaborative learning and knowledge building, critical thinking, personal voice, critical pedagogy, reciprocal discourse, zone of proximal development, literacy as an interactive process, relationship building, and counseling.
A dialogue journal allows students and a teacher to use authentic communication (including questioning, complaining, complimenting, apologizing, and requesting) to communicate honestly and openly and "get things done". This distinguishes it from most student writing assignments, which are restricted to monologic description, explanation, or narrative. This aspect of everyday language use is known in philosophy as speech acts (John Searle) and in linguistics as pragmatics (J.L. Austin).Austin, J.L. (1962, 1975). How to do things with words. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dialogue journal conversation, unlike academic writing, opens up opportunities to use almost the full range of these natural functions of language. Tanner and Clement (1997) and Bhushan (2014) give very helpful overviews of these benefits, based on comprehensive literature reviews. They provide a real audience, increase students’ motivation to write, help students focus on meaningful topics, affect the quantity and the quality of their writing, provide conversation practice, allow students freedom to explore and discover, and increase their confidence as writers. Students also develop critical thinking and literacy skills.
Dialogue journals have been found to be successful when students are allowed to write about topics for which they are comfortable. If students are not comfortable discussing a topic, their level of motivation decreases significantly (Trites, 2009). In this study, students were eager to communicate with each other when discussing topics of culture; however, when the topic was on grammatical aspects or research, students would not engage in discussion.
By engaging in interactive and functional interactions in a private context, dialogue journal partners in educational settings are engaged in collaborative learning and collaborative knowledge building about the topic or task they are working on, each other's experiences and backgrounds, and perceptions and thoughts about shared topics.Staton, J. (1984). Thinking together: Interaction in children's reasoning. In C. Thaiss & Charles Suhor (Eds.), Speaking and writing, K-12. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. In a classroom setting, the teacher is able to learn about each student's interests, concerns, fears, and experiences within and outside the school.Peyton, J.K. (1990). Dialogue journal writing: Opening the door to effective student-teacher communication. In A. M. Padilla, H. H. Fairchild, and C. M. Valadez (Eds.), Bilingual education: Issues and strategies (pp. 184–194). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Staton, J. (1987). The power of responding in dialogue journals. In T. Fulwiler (Ed.), The journal book (pp. 46–63). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.
Dialogue journals have been studied by a number of researchers for their value in developing students' critical thinking by providing opportunities for students to practice self-reflective awareness and to critique classroom practices, teaching assignments, and social contexts, in both first and second language acquisition settings. Practice with critical thinking in exploring their own worlds and the worlds of others, with the words that they have at their disposal,Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1987). Reading the word and the world. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey. results in students experiencing personal empowerment and expressing a personal voice—the unique expression of the self that seems like hearing that particular person speak in their writing.
Critical pedagogy in dialogue journal writing creates contexts for students to think critically, often in collaboration with the teacher, and develop communicative language abilities as well as critical understanding and awareness of the language and the world.Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2004). Critical pedagogies and language learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.Walsh, C.E. (1991). Literacy as praxis: Culture, language, and pedagogy. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. When critical pedagogy is used in language teaching and in interactive writing, learners have the opportunity to use the language in context, use it in writing to consider authentic situations, and think and act as critically conscious beings.
The dialogue journal's reciprocal discourse structure is often cited as the motivation for both teacher and student to continue their engagement with each other over time without external coercion. The reciprocal nature of the discourse provides multiple opportunities to develop an understanding of the other person's world, culture, and experiences, and thus learning occurs for both. The power to question, challenge, and complain becomes equally shared by both writers.
Dialogue journals visibly record how learning occurs in the zone of proximal development, a key concept in the psychology of Lev Vygotsky.Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. According to Vygotsky, learning takes place in the space or "zone" that a child or learner is working in when solving a problem or accomplishing a task. The teacher or more competent peer assists, "scaffolds," the learner's actions or behavior by working collaboratively with the learner. This is different from the learner's actual abilities when working independently on the same task or goal. This concept captures the nature of dialogue journal communication, in which the goal of understanding is achieved by a collaborative effort, with the more competent partner ensuring its accomplishment.