Learner-autonomy

LearnerautonomyFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopediaLearnerAutonomyhasbeenabuzzwordinforeignlanguageeducationinthepastdecades,especiallyinrelationtolifelonglearningskills.IthastransformedoldpracticesinthelanguageclassroomandhasgivenorigintoselfaccesslanguagelearningcentersaroundtheworldsuchastheSALCatKandaUniversityofInternationalStudiesinJapan,theASLLCatTheHongKongInstituteofEducation,theSACatHongKongUniversityofScienceandTechnologyandELSACattheUniversityofAuckland[1].Astheresultofsuchpractices,languageteachingisnowsometimesseenasthesameaslanguagelearning,andithasplacedthelearnerinthecentreofattentioninlanguagelearningeducationinsomeplaces.[1]Thetermlearnerautonomywasfirstcoinedin1981byHenriHolec,thefatheroflearnerautonomy.Manydefinitionshavesincebeengiventotheterm,dependingonthewriter,thecontext,andthelevelofdebateeducatorshavecometo.Ithasbeenconsideredasapersonalhumantrait,asapoliticalmeasure,orasaneducationalmove.Thisisbecauseautonomyisseeneither(orboth)asameansorasanendineducation.Someofthemostwellknowndefinitionsinpresentliteratureare:'Autonomyistheabilitytotakechargeofone'sownlearning'(HenriHolec[2])'inordertohelplearnerstoassumegreatercontrolovertheirownlearningitisimportanttohelpthemtobecomeawareofandidentifythestrategiesthattheyalreadyuseorcouldpotentiallyuse'(Holmes&Ramos,1991,citedinJames&Garrett,1991:198).[3]'Autonomyisessentiallyamatterofthelearner'spsychologicalrelationtotheprocessandcontentoflearning'(DavidLittle)'Autonomyisasituationinwhichthelearneristotallyresponsibleforallthedecisionsconcernedwithhis[orher]learningandtheimplementationofthosedecisions'.(LeslieDickinson)'Autonomyisarecognitionoftherightsoflearnerswithineducationalsystems'.(PhilBenson)TakenfromGardnerandMiller,EstablishingSelf-Accessfromtheorytopractice.CUP(1999)SeealsoLeniDam,whohaswrittenaseminalworkonautonomy.(Dam,L.(1995)AutonomyfromTheorytoClassroomPractice.Dublin:Authentik.)OneofthekeyaspectstoconsiderindefiningLearnerAutonomyiswhetherweviewitasameanstoanend(learningaforeignlanguage)orasanendinitself(makingpeopleautonomouslearners).Thesetwooptionsdonotexcludeeachother,bothofthemcanbepartofourviewstowardslanguagelearningorlearningingeneral.Differentmethodsoflearningneedtobeappliedtoeachindividualinordertosuccessfullylearnautonomously.Onemustdiscovertheirpersonalitytypesandfindoutwhichlearningstylesuitsbest.OnemethodinwhichtodothisistotakeapersonalitytestsuchastheMBTIPersonalityTest.[4]Learnerautonomyisveryusefulinlearninganewlanguage.Itismuchmorebeneficialtolearnalanguagebybeingexposedtoitincomparisontolearningpatternsofdifferenttenses.Accordingtoneo-Vygotskianpsychology,whichsupportstheideaofautonomouslearning,thedevelopmentofastudentslearningskillsisneverentirelyseparablefromthecontentoftheirlearning,seeingaslearninganewlanguageisquitedifferenttolearninganyothersubject.Itisimportantthatthestudentsdiscoverthelanguageforthemselves,withonlyalittleguidancefromtheirteachersothattheycanfullyunderstandit.Independence,autonomyandtheabilitytocontrollearningexperienceshascometoplayanincreasinglyimportantroleinlanguageeducation.[5]Principlesoflearnerautonomycouldbe:(FrankLacey)Autonomymeansmovingthefocusfromteachingtolearning.Autonomyaffordsmaximumpossibleinfluencetothelearners.Autonomyencouragesandneedspeersupportandcooperation.Autonomymeansmakinguseofself/peerassessment.Autonomyrequiresandensures100%differentiation.Autonomycanonlybepractisedwithstudentlogbookswhichareadocumentationoflearningandatoolofreflection.Theroleoftheteacherassupportingscaffoldingandcreatingroomforthedevelopmentofautonomyisverydemandingandveryimportant.Autonomymeansempoweringstudents,yettheclassroomcanberestrictive,soaretherulesofchessortennis,buttheuseoftechnologycantakestudentsoutsideofthestructuresoftheclassroom,andthestudentscantaketheoutsideworldintotheclassroom.