Abstract:

This action research took place in a public university with a group of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students at an elementary level. It aimed at guiding students in the development of their metacognitive ability based on their experiences during the classes. To reach this goal, students participated in different activities adapted to their level and based on their learning needs and personal interests.

The action taken consisted of students’ participating in two different types of tasks. On the one hand, students intervened through discussion boards sharing their ideas about what and how they were learning. Students also created a digital portfolio assembling the activities they had performed and demonstrating in this way their progress. In brief, students were asked to reflect on their learning writing about what they have worked on through the use of reflection tools implemented in the virtual platform.

Two surveys were conducted, one of them at the beginning of the study to identify the problematic and the other, at the end of the course, to get to know students’ feedback. The data suggested that a systematic reflection approach facilitated by activities inviting to reflection was a valuable way to improve students’ awareness about English learning.

Keywords:

Discussion boards, reflection, portfolio, EFL learning, metacognition.