A diary study in second language learning or teaching is an analysis of a second language experience which has been recorded in a first-person journal. This qualitative research method has recently been employed by SLA researchers especially in the field of classroom process research or classroom-centered research. Although the diary study is a relatively new field of SLA research, interesting results have been published by such researchers as Schumann and Schumann (1977), Jones (1977), Bailey (1980), and Brown (1983). The second language diary study has five major advantages. (1) It is holistic; it allows for investigating "all" aspects of classroom language learning or teaching experience. (2) It is exploratory and creative; it not only generates new hypotheses concerning the process of SLA but also discovers new factors playing a significant role in classroom language learning or teaching. (3) It deals with "natural" classroom data; the amount of research intrusion is probably least of all possible SLA studies. (4) It sheds light on hidden psychological variables in SLA (e.g., affective factors, cognitive style, learning strategies) as well as on individual learner variables. (5) It can be of immediate use for diarist-learners or an aid to their second language learning. Although there almost inevitably remains the problem of subjectivity or ungeneralizability, the diary study is worth conducting especially in Japan, where foreign language learning takes place almost dominantly in controlled, formal instructional settings. Further, very little investigation has been done so far concerning the actual process of SLA and factors which will influence classroom language learning or teaching in the context of various schools in Japan. It is strongly suggested that future second language classroom-centered research focus more on qualitative studies particularly to explore unobservable, psychological aspects of language learning or teaching, and to allow new hypotheses to emerge for further experimental investigation.
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