Promoting Self_directed Learning

8/14/2019 Promoting Self_directed Learning

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more traditional, text-book driven style of teaching and this is particularly true of

teachers who are overworked, under-resourced or forced to implement overambitious

syllabuses with large classes of (often uncooperative) teenagers. In such conditions, the

pressure to reduce the syllabus to so many units of the course book per term plus songs

on Friday afternoons is great indeed. However, as Harmer (1983:219) points out,

textbooks tend to concentrate on the introduction of new language and controlledwork, both of which were features of the more traditional classroom.

Language, Learning and Management

Although writers such as Hutchinson and Waters (1987:52) claim that there is no link

between language description and language learning, the truth is that certain views of

language tend, in practice, to be associated, consciously or unconsciously, with certain

methods of teaching. At one end of the continuum, theories of language can be

classified in two broad categories: synthetic and analytical. Synthetic theories see

language as a stock of discrete elements that stand for already existing phenomena in

the real world. In this view, people do not mean something by words, rather wordsthemselves have meanings (Moore and Carling 1982:150). This view corresponds

closely to what Saussure called langue (language as an abstract, conventional system).

In contrast, analytical theories stress the fact that each individuals perception of

reality is somewhat different (otherwise there would be no need for language at all)

and that individuals negotiate meaning through what Saussure called parole (actual

instances of communication involving motivation and thinking).

At the other end of the continuum lie theories of management. All managers have to

plan, organise, direct and control at least one of the following resources: human,

material and financial. Human resources are by far the most difficult to handle, so it

essential for teachers to have clear ideas regarding the nature of work, motivation and

leadership. Douglas McGregor (1960) identified two types of manager corresponding to

two conflicting assumptions about the nature of work: Theory X and Theory Y

(Everard and Morris, 1990). In the context of teaching, it is fair to say that Theory X

teachers tend to prefer a focus on langue and an impersonal, strictly cognitive

approach to learning (perhaps seasoned with a few rewards like Friday afternoon

songs), whereas Theory Y teachers tend to emphasise the more personal and social

aspects of language and a broader view of the term cognitive (see Table 1 below).

Understandably, many Theory X teachers are so because, with classes of potentially

disruptive adolescents, anything else feels too risky, as one teacher told me recently in

a workshop.

The first point to emphasise about this continuum is that both views oflanguage are

complementary - there could be no actual instances of communication without a

common code, and vice-versa and the association of one or other of these views with a

particularteaching methodology is something that every teacher should question. For

example, traditional classroom activities such as dictation, summary and translation are

common in business and nobody would claim that, in this context, they are not

communicative or meaningful. Yet, I have met many company managers from so-called

bilingual schools who can do none of these things very well. True bilinguals are a

different matter: they nearly always act as informal interpreters from childhood

(Harding and Riley, 1986).

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Of course, I am not advocating a return to the grammar translation method. But there

are ways to make these activities meaningful in the classroom. For example, a

communicative variation on the traditional classroom dictation is to get students to do

short dictations from part of a tapescript in pairs, underlining each others possible

pronunciation and intonation mistakes and checking afterwards with the tape, rather

than focusing exclusively on spelling. This is meaningful because, in real life,misunderstandings are often the speakers fault and, in this way, both students have

something to correct. Similarly, evaluating alternative translations or summaries of a

text in pairs or small groups can be a valuable awareness-raising and communicative

activity. Such activities [make] salient the less obvious aspects of the input, so that it is

the learner who does the extraction and focusing, but as a function of how he or she has

been prepared. (Skehan 1998: 49)

Conversely, teachers should be aware that pairwork and groupwork do not

automatically lead to negotiation of meaning and independent learning. All too often,

adolescents only work with friends whose opinions they already know, making many

opinion gap activities about fashion, music, school discipline etc (the type often foundin ELT textbooks) almost meaningless. In many cases, group dynamics actively

discourage students especially boys - from trying too hard. Without the chance to

set individual learning goals and reflect on their learning (for example, in a guided

learning diary) and without the chance to show individual achievement (for example, in

a learning portfolio), students may well find their individuality submerged in the group.

The second point to emphasise about this continuum is that although language

description need not drive teaching methodology, the way that teachers consciously or

unconsciously - perceive their managerial role certainly will. This is why I have

preferred to use the terms langue and parole rather than the more widely used

distinction between Syllabus A and Syllabus B. Theory X teachers may not be

able to change much towards a more student-centred approach; but Theory Y teachers

should remember that accuracy has its place in the real world.

Langue

1. Emphasis on tradition:

Language as a finished product

Words have fixed i.e. dictionary

meanings that reflect reality

2. Emphasis on form and accuracy:

Language is either right or wrong

e.g. as in FCE Paper 3 (Use of English),

Paper 4 (Listening)

Grammar translation method; audio-

Parole

1. Emphasis on innovation:

Language as a creative, on-going process

People mean things by words and create

their own reality through words -

2. Emphasis on content and fluency:

Language is more or less appropriate - e.g.

as in FCE Paper 2 (Writing), Paper 5

(Speaking)

Direct method; total immersion; process-

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lingual method; early Council of Europe

functional-notional syllabus

3. Objective needs

Emphasis on generally useful language

for academic, work or social purposes.

Emphasis on institutional needs and

conforming to these

4. Individual learning

Grammar translation method: learners

expected to think for themselves.

Audio-lingual method: exposure to

mistakes is dangerous

Early Council of Europe functional-

notional syllabus: emphasis on

stereotyped interactions.

5. Teaching and conscious learning

deductive approach

Emphasis on explanations, translation,

models, exercises, drills...

6. Sequential learning

Mostly left-brain learning.

Favours students withPracticaland

Conceptuallearning styles

Lockstep procedure; linear methods

7. Teachers as Theory X classroom

managers

Authoritarian. Believe that most people

are uncreative, irresponsible and need to

be directed.Motivation, activities, materials and

based syllabuses; task-based syllabuses

3. Subjective needs

Emphasis on personal interests,

experience and self-expression. Emphasis

on peoples uniqueness.

4. Social learning

Pair and group work

Learning through negotiation ofmeaning i.e. through making mistakes

Learner-initiated topics and activities that

involve learners emotions

5. Unconscious acquisition inductive

approach

Emphasis on extended reading and

listening, social interaction, tasks...

6. Holistic learning

Mostly right-brain learning.

Favours students withAdventurous and

Sociallearning styles

Pairwork and small group work, recursive

methods

7. Teachers as Theory Y classroom

managers

Democratic. Believe that people can be

self-directed if properly led.

Trust in their learners potential for

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Students, too, can learn to plan and manage their learning better by using a learning

diary. However, if students are to keep a learning diary and write it up after each

activity, time must be set aside in each class for doing this at least until students can

be trusted to do this outside the class (generally speaking, any new learning strategy

takes seven to eight weeks to sink in and should not be rushed). Similarly, the teacher

must have enough time to check these diaries regularly and give students feedback.With a class of thirty students taking lessons four hours per week, this will mean seeing

eight students in each lesson in order to give individual feedback to every student once a

week. So, decisions will have to made about when to collect the diaries, when to see the

students, what to prioritise in the short time available, etc.

Because of time pressure, I would suggest a structured approach to diary-keeping rather

than the open-ended type of diary recommended by Wenden (1998:102). The diary

could be written on photocopied sheets of A4. Each sheet would contain the following

questions with spaces for answers, as well as the date, the students name and the

teachers comments:

1. What task did you complete?

2. How long did you spend on the task?

3. What strategies did you use on the task?

4. What was the main thing you learned?

5. How would you do the same task again?

Once completed, the diary page would be kept in the students folder for assessment

together with any completed work and consulted the next time the student had to

complete a similar task. The main point to remember is that enough time should be

scheduled for these learner training activities before any decisions about specific lessonsare taken.

Giving choices to students

In order to promote self-directed learning, it is obvious that students must at least

occasionally - have a choice of activities. Of course, this does not mean making radical

changes overnight or giving students more responsibility than they (or the teacher) can

comfortably handle. Learner training should be seen a process, like democratic

parenting, which respects the learners freedom within clearly defined and enforced

limits and with high expectations of performance. Although there is no recipe or

formula that can be applied to every class, teachers can begin to reflect on how to offerstudents more choices by (say) taking their class timetable for the last four weeks,

noting down all the activities done with one particular class (including negotiations,

assessment and homework) and coding the activities according to the following

classification:

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CORE SYLLABUS

1. Textbook / tapes with NO choice of activities

2. Textbook / tapes with choice of activities

OPTIONAL SYLLABUS

3. Teacher-driven (e.g. songs, games if chosen by the teacher)

4. Student-driven - group / individual (e.g. self-access work, small-scale project

work)

5. Student-driven - whole class (e.g. large-scale project work, school play,

social evening)

Fig. 2 A Continuum of Choice

The next step would be to decide how the timetable could be modified to include an

optional syllabus (if there is none) and to give more responsibility to the students, e.g.

by moving at least sometimes - from 1 to 2 or, if this change has already been

consolidated, from 3 to 4, remembering to allow time in this schedule for diary writing

and individual feedback.

References

Everard, B and Morris, G. (1990).Effective School Management. Paul Chapman

Publishing Company.

Haring, E. and Riley, P (1986). The Bilingual Family. CUP.

Harmer, J. (1983) The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.Hutchinson, A. and Waters, T. (1987)English for Specific Purposes. CUP.

Lewis, M. (1993). The Lexical Approach, LTP.

Lewis, M. (1997).Implementing the Lexical Approach. LTP.Moore T. and Carling C. (1982) Understanding language: towards a post-Chomskyanlinguistics. MacMillan

Rogers, C. (1983).Freedom to Learn in the 80s. Charles E.Merrill PublishingCompany.

Saussure, F. de (1915, 1978). Course in General Linguistics. Fontana Collins.Skehan, P. (1994). "Second Language Acquisition Strategies, Interlanguage

Development and Task-based Learning" in Bygate et al.

Skehan, P. (1998).A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning. OUP.

Wenden, A. (1998).Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy. Prentice Hall.

Douglas Andrew Town, 2004

Training materials may be used if source is cited.

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Promoting Self_directed Learning