Lesson 1 Topic: Study skills basics

maturity making success
working in libraries
free time working on my own	managing my time
responsibility	less help
working aCone	finding support
working with a friend
isolation
pursuing own interests	making choices

Handout 3.Quiz.To what extend you need a teacher’s support?
The following set of statements will help you to reflect on how you prefer to work: with or without a teacher.
Task 2.Rate the statements below depending on how true they are of you. Rating:3 for "very true of me",2 for "true", 1 for "sort of true", 0 for "no strong preference". You may choose only one response for each pair of statements.
I prefer...

1	to decide what I want to learn on my	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	a teacher to tell me what
	Own								I should learn
2	to learn things my own way	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	to be told exactly how to
									learn
3	to decide when and where I want to	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	to be told when and
	study								where to study
4	to choose my own books/materials	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	a teacher to decide which
	for learning								books/materials I should
									learn from
5	to explore on my own how to use	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	to go on a course to learn
	computer software								about new software
6	to assess my knowledge and skills	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	a teacher to assess me
	myself
7	to work out grammar rules for	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	a teacher to explain
	myself								grammar rules to me
8	to look up new words in dictionaries	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	to ask a teacher the
	or on the internet								meaning of new words
9	to decide myself what kind of extra	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	a teacher to decide what
	language learning activities (e.g.								kind of extra language
	watching films in English, reading								learning activities I need
	fiction etc.) I want and need to do								to do
10	to motivate myself to learn	3	2	1	0	1	2	3	to be motivated by a
									teacher to learn

Score for the left column…………… Score for the right column………..

Interpreting your score

• 
  If you have more scores towards the left column, it suggests you have a strong preference for taking control over how you work. This is very useful in developing as an independent, autonomous learner, and setting targets for yourself. Look for the statements that have a low score in this column and try to develop these skills in yourself. Different sections of the ELA Guide might help you in developing these skills.
  

If you have more scores towards the right column, it suggests you are very open to direction and leadership from others. This can be very useful as a way of making sure that you are going in the right direction, that you are using time economically for the purposes of team working. However, it is worth considering whether you need to start taking more control over your own learning and being more open to exploration and risk- taking. Look for the statements in the opposite column and try to adopt some of the strategies.

Handout 4 Roles of a teacher and a student Put 'T' for Teacher's role, 'S' for student's role and 'B' for both in the columns T/S/B. You can also add more roles to your lists.
Roles in Learning	T/S / B
Asking and answering questions about language and learning when needed
Giving and asking for feedback
Assessing your level of English
Evaluating and monitoring your progress
Contributing to creating a friendly learning atmosphere
Deciding on time and day to study
Setting learning goals
Finding a study partner/study-buddy
Developing strategies that help you to learn
Developing your study plan
Making a decision about what learning materials to choose
Providing language support when necessary
Motivating learners
Informing and guiding learners about useful resources

Activity 4 Handout 5
"I am more critical in my learning, looking for different independent sources. I think that learning creates more new questions than answers. I can see learning in several more situations than before. I often use other people when I learn. " (Student, Sweden)
"I learn best...when I can determine the learning objectives, learning content and way of assessment self-reliantly or collaboratively (in a group) and when the learning environment supports this very self-directedness." (Student, Germany)
"What I like most here is that you can be very creative during classes, that you can say something wise on the basis of your own experiences or on the basis of read literature, you can show your creativity, you can create a theory which will be adopted by the others or which can be discussed. We do not base our ideas only on a concrete bibliography and literature we have to read, the truth still takes place on the basis of a free discussion and this is the nicest as we learn most from this."
"Now that I have done work experience in various places I notice that I sort of think about my own actions more. And especially what are the good sides of an exam or a group work or something. So I do a lot of reflection all the time." (Student, Finland)
"At my first course the teachers said 'You should question everything.' That made a great impact on me, because then I had to learn to think on my own and to analyse. In my home country the attitude is that the teacher is always right."
(Student, Sweden)
"I think that it is of added value that there are older people in the classroom, because they contribute a level of reflection which is more involved, in order to specify more content or to give different levels (...) while at the same time they contribute to myself and to my colleagues a great deal of knowledge and interesting issues." (Lecturer, Spain)