Theme: learner-centred approaches to teaching and learner autonomy contents: introduction

Theme: LEARNER-CENTRED APPROACHES TO TEACHING AND LEARNER AUTONOMY


CONTENTS:

1. 
   INTRODUCTION
   

2. 
   MAIN PART:
   
   1. 
      The Emergence of Learner Autonomy as an Educational Concept
      
   2. 
      Autonomy and the Effects of Societal Changes on Education
      
   3. 
      Autonomy and Sociolinguistics
      
   4. 
      Autonomy and Metacognition
      
   5. 
      Defining Autonomous Learning
      
   6. 
      Operationalising Autonomy
      

3. CONCLUSION

4. REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION

Learner autonomy is an educational concept that attracts a lot of attention worldwide. A recent count showed 17 conferences in less than two years dealing with autonomy or related topics. In the years since Henri Holec first proposed a formal definition of autonomy as a language educational concept (1981) many other definitions have been put forward but there remains a great deal of discussion around these. In this article I argue that rather than defining autonomy (which is extremely challenging), it may be both easier and more meaningful from a pedagogical point of view to attempt a definition of the behaviour that characterises autonomy, i.e. autonomous learning. This article first traces the historical roots of autonomy before proposing a model of autonomous learning that will be a first step to help practitioners to better understand the scope and meaning of the term, and will also help to better implement and assess autonomy in their learners.

The problem of learner autonomy is not new. The notions “learner autonomy”, “autonomous learner” has been in wide use in teaching foreign languages since the seventies of the past century. Previously the terms “individualization”, “learner independence” were preferred.
The role of the learner as an active subject of the learning process has been one of the basic directions in teaching foreign language communicative competence, and the central concepts were the notions of “autonomy” and “autonomous learner” [1, 2].
There are various definitions of the term “autonomy”, however, as a rule, autonomy is understood as “the ability of students to take responsibility for their own learning [3]. In national foreign language teaching methodology the concept of autonomy, in our opinion, is most fully expressed in the definition of Koryakovtseva N.F. as «the ability of the individual to carry out their educational activitieson their own, actively and consciously control it, carrying out a reflection and correction of learning activities and accumulating personal experience responsibly and independently make informed decisions with respect to the actual teaching in various educational contexts with a certain degree of separateness / independence from the teacher and making on its functions» [4].
Independent learner is largely motivated and the development of autonomy implies better results in mastering foreign language communicative competence.
There are three models of autonomous learning:
– individual model, where the focus is on the learner and his own personal needs in learning a foreign language;
– group model, which involves discussions and decisions concerning the process of learning in the democratic manner in the group of students with the same or similar purposes;
– model of project work, which puts on the first place focused on the ultimate goal activity of several learners [5-7].
From the point of view of some researchers, there are three basic methods of increasing students’ autonomy:
1) problem presentation method, which consists in the fact that the teacher formulates the problem before setting out the material, showing the way to solve it;
2) heuristic method, the essence of which is to organize the search for ways of solving problems, and the teacher leads students to the solution of the problem using a number of questions;
3) research method, involving independent study of literature and performing of other steps of exploratory nature by learners [8].
For the development of autonomy, according to Zh.S. Anikina, it is necessary to create the following pedagogical conditions:
– carrying out theoretical training of students on formation of metacognitive strategies. Explicit method for introduction and formation of educational strategies is the most appropriate one because it allows students to consciously master the learning strategy, understand the psychological mechanisms of actions performed, as well as their individual psychological characteristics.
– pedagogical support of the learning process. Pedagogical support is a new form of relationship between the teacher and students in the process of educational interaction, suggesting the problematic representation of the new material, encouraging students for self-reflection, providing them with opportunities to learn something new and to construct their own world, a joint reflection on the work performed. Pedagogical support involves interaction of teacher and student in which a student performs actions to bring about learning, and a teacher provides an environment not only to carry out these actions, but also for their comprehension. The main outcomes of pedagogical support are not only the mastery of specific knowledge but also awareness of the meaning and significance of all the above actions.
– creating an effective learning environment. In the process of development of autonomy in foreign language learning one of teachers’ basic problems is the creation of this environment that would provide full support to the activities of students in their absence. This becomes possible in case of application of modern information technologies. This learning environment can provide cooperation of subjects of educational process, providing a significant share of the learner autonomy and defining the role of a teacher as a consultant and assistant [9].