English as a foreign language (EFL) university students use reflective journals as learning logs to express or capture their ideas within a scientific conceptual framework. The objectives of this research are to (1) describe the power of reflective journal writing in communicating ideas, and (2) identify the aspects of reflective journal writing that aid learning in an EFL context. The reflective journals were written by 21 EFL university students. This research takes a qualitative approach, with the primary data coming from several reflective journals (N=124) while the secondary data coming from EFL students’ interviews (N=15). The research results showed that reflective journals were useful for students to make critical reflections and self-discovery responses to writing topics. The students learned to focus on writing components such as order, unity, coherence, cohesiveness, content, and organization of ideas through reflective journal writing. The students’ perspectives on aspects of reflective journal writing were primarily concerned with macro-and micro-level linguistic issues, as evidenced from the interview results. Writing a reflective journal necessitated their ability to reformulate thoughts, provide details, and solve problems. Furthermore, critical thinking, metacognitive skills, and self-reflections became increasingly important in helping the students to develop their ability to write reflective journals.

writing that has significant impacts on student writers worldwide and identify the qualities of reflective journal writing that foster transformative practices involving personal, relational, and intellectual activities. This systematic literature review incorporated important theoretical frameworks into acceptable convictions. A thorough analysis of 20 recently published research articles (out of 450) from 2016 to 2021 aimed to present written arguments that support thesis positions and credible evidence, as well as determine the global contexts of writing practices. The findings showed that reflective journal writing reinforced a profound transformation to further explore self-discovery, self-inquiry, and critical ideas. It is also concerned with writing performance, as well as the advancement of cognitive and metacognitive writing skills. Reflective journal writers' voices empowered significant changes in a variety of writing aspects, including personal idea exploration, creativity, self-organization, and professional practice development. These findings have implications for encouraging critical reflection, self-expression, and critical thinking among students. They should write reflective journals that can have an impact on a global community and allow them to bring about transformations.