Fostering Autonomy in Language Learning

Developing Learner Autonomy in a School Context  The development of learner autonomy is a move from a teacher-directed teaching environment to a learner- directed learning environment  The task for the teacher in this connection is two-sided:  She has to make the learners willing to take over the responsibility for planning their own learning, for carrying out the plans and for evaluating the outcome  She has to support them in becoming capable of doing so

Reasons for Developing Learner Autonomy with School Kids  To learn is to develop relationships between what the learner knows already and the new knowledge presented to him, and this can only be done by the learner himself  School knowledge is the knowledge which someone else presents to us. If we never use this knowledge we probably forget it  We use action knowledge for our own purposes; we incorporate it into our view of the world, and use parts of it to cope with the exigencies of living

Implementing Learner Autonomy in an Institutional Context: Important Principles 1.The importance of choice  There is no doubt that being given even a limited choice obviously motivates learners  Having to choose requires reflection, which again heightens awareness of learning  Making a choice makes the learners feel responsible  Being allowed to make choices and to have a say in one’s own learning process supports self-esteem

Implementing Learner Autonomy in an Institutional Context: Important Principles 2.Clear guidelines for the learners for what to do  In an institutional context the curricular guidelines have to be followed  The important thing when developing learner autonomy is to make these guidelines known to the learners  In order to make the learners willing to take over, it is vital that they feel secure by knowing what is expected and demanded of them

Implementing Learner Autonomy in an Institutional Context: Important Principles 3.Focus on learning rather than teaching  In the traditional teacher-directed teaching environment, teachers ask themselves: How do I best teach this or that?  In a learner-centred learning environment, teachers ask themselves: How do I best support my learners in learning this or that?  In other words, there is a shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning on the part of the teacher

Implementing Learner Autonomy in an Institutional Context: Important Principles  In the first situation, teachers focus on how best to pass over school knowledge to learners  In the second situation, teachers consider how best to engage learners in developing their action knowledge by activating their existing knowledge  This again has an impact on the activities that teachers introduce into the learning environment  They have to consider activities where all the learners have the opportunity of actively taking part

Implementing Learner Autonomy in an Institutional Context: Important Principles 4.Authenticity in the language classroom  If we want our learners to be genuine users of the target language, we must create a learning environment that is real life in its own right  This implies that the participants act and speak as themselves within their respective roles in the teaching/learning environment

Implementing Learner Autonomy in an Institutional Context: Important Principles 5.The importance of evaluation  It is well-known that the learner does not necessarily learn what the teacher believes herself to be teaching  Every pupil in the class will go away with a version of the lesson, which in some respects is different from all the other pupils’ versions, because what each pupil brings to the classroom will be different  In order to find out what learners have learnt, they have to be asked

Implementing Learner Autonomy in an Institutional Context: Important Principles  It is essential that learners get regular and palpable evidence that they are making progress (not just when tested)  Evaluative positive feedback of this kind will lead to sustained motivation  It is equally important for teachers themselves to be able to regularly evaluate the outcome of their teaching  Finally, because evaluation demands reflection it produces awareness of the elements involved in learning, a pre-requisite for active involvement in further planning

Putting Principles into Practice 1.The role of the teacher  The teacher sees and accepts the importance of a shift of focus from teaching to a focus on learning  The teacher is responsible for providing various options for the learners to choose from in their course of learning  This could be choosing personal aims, activities, partners, organization of work, or ways of evaluation  The teacher is responsible for presenting her learners with the demands outlined in the curricular guidelines for their learning within which they can set their individual goals.

Putting Principles into Practice  It is equally important that any restrictions for their freedom to choose and act are made clear  It is the teacher’s responsibility to establish some kind of transparent structure for a lesson or a teaching/learning sequence which the learners can take over, partly or completely, in due course  One of the most important roles for the teacher in the language classroom is to be the user of the target language from the very beginning and to establish situations for authentic language use

Putting Principles into Practice 2.The organization of the classroom  Seating in groups has proved useful for a number of reasons when developing learner autonomy, especially in language teaching and learning  It supports the social aspect of learning. It makes the organization of pair work and group work easier, which facilitates peer-tutoring. It promotes independence of the teacher  It is easier to get learners to use the foreign language directly with a partner or in a group as it is less threatening than speaking up in class

Putting Principles into Practice 3.Use of logbooks, portfolios, and posters  Logbooks provides an overview of progress made, for the learners themselves, for the teacher, and for the parents  The book documents the learning process and gives space for direct and authentic communication between learners and teacher  The portfolio contains the products deriving from work carried out during the lesson or at home  It is a collection of stories, essays, and tests which also provides essential documentation for learning and progress made

Putting Principles into Practice  Posters visualize and document the learning process in the classroom. They are placed on top of each other under various headings:  Plans (for lessons, for group work – who does what and with whom)  Ideas (for activities to be undertaken, for homework to choose from)  Things to remember / demands (good expressions, grammar rules, an overview of dates for handing in things)  Things we have experienced (criteria for a good talk, a good presentation, a good group work

Putting Principles into Practice 4.Activities in the autonomous language classroom  An activity must give space for differentiated input as well as differentiated outcome. This means both a weak learner and a strong learner gain from the activity  Propose activities where the learners are engaged in authentic language use among themselves such as:

Putting Principles into Practice  Small talk with a partner (2 minutes’ talk )  Make a play (free production, or based on a cartoon, picture story, poem or a story)  Make a radio programme / make a TV programme / make a PowerPoint presentation / set up a talk show  Give a talk  Text production in pairs or small groups

Putting Principles into Practice 5.Tools for evaluative practices  Evaluation does not necessarily demand a lot of time. What is important is that it is done on a regular and daily basis, and space is set aside for it  Reasons have to be given for the evaluation

Putting Principles into Practice  It is important that the written, individual evaluations are followed up orally, either in pairs, in plenary, or directly between teacher and learner  In the autonomous classroom a natural thing would be to let the learners evaluate their own performance before they get the results  Learners can also produce their own tests. Learners’ self- assessments are very reliable when the learners are used to evaluating

Putting Principles into Practice 6.Involvement of parents  Detailed information about the set-up of the English lessons should give the parents an insight into the structure and contents of the on-going teaching/learning  The parents might try out some of the activities taking place at beginners’ level, such as the production of word cards. This makes the parents feel at ease  Parents should regularly be informed and be encouraged to follow the ongoing work via the logbooks  Some teachers might also prefer to use the logbook as a tool for communication between parents and the school

Positive Results from Developing Learner Autonomy  Developing enhanced self-esteem  Acquiring an evaluative competence of self and others  Learning how to learn and to accept responsibility  Gaining social competence by experiencing social forms of learning  Preparing for life-long learning