University Students’ Perceptions of Learner-Centered Instruction Incorporating Individual Reading Journal Activities and Collaborative Group Activities in a General English Course

This study aims to investigate students’ perceptions of a learner-centered course that integrates the individual learning activity of writing reading journals with cooperative learning activities including group discussions and presentations. The participants were 153 first-year university students enrolled in a general English course. They engaged in autonomous reading and wrote reading journals in individual activities, shared their readings and participated in discussion in cooperative group activities, and gave group presentations. In the 15th week, a survey was conducted to examine how helpful the two learner-centered activities were for their English learning and to identify which of the four course types presented students found most helpful, along with their reasons. The results showed that 86.28% of students found the reading journal activity helpful. Regarding course types, 67.32% responded that the learner-centered course combining reading journal writing and group work is the most effective. The most frequently cited reasons included “improvement in English skills,” “increased interest,” and “enhanced self-directed and active learning.” In contrast, 22.22% responded that a blended course combining lectures with learner-centered activities is the most helpful, referring to the need for instructor-led explanations and a desire to apply what they learned through lectures. Only 1.96% indicated that a fully lecture-based, teacher-centered course is the most effective, believing it provides more content to learn. Based on these findings, the study proposes that more attention and research should be directed toward implementing learner-centered instruction in university English education. Specifically, it suggests that a well-balanced integration of individual and cooperative activities, as employed in this study, can contribute more effectively to students’ improvement in English skills.