LEARNER AUTONOMY IN A NUTSHELL

Cem BALÇIKANLI

Gazi University, Faculty of Education,

English Language Teaching Department

E-mail: balcikanli@gazi.edu.trThe 11th International INGED ELT Conference

6-8 September 2007Ankara, TURKEY

'Autonomy is the ability to take charge of one's own learning' (Holec, 1979).

'Autonomy is a capacity – for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action

(Little, 1990).

'Autonomy is a situation in which the learner is totally responsible for all the decisions concerned with his/her

learning and the implementation of those decisions' (Dickinson,1993).

'Autonomy is characterized by a readiness to take charge of one’s own learning in the service of one’s needs and

purposes. (Dam 1995:1)

what is learner autonomy?what is learner autonomy?

Benson and Voller (1997) point out five ways the term autonomy is used for.

• situations in which learners study entirely on their own;

• a set of skills which can be learned and applied in self-directed learning;

• an inborn capacity which is suppressed by institutional education;

• the exercise of learners’ responsibility for their own learning;

• for the right of learners to determine the direction of their own learning

If democratic states are to develop and flourish as democracies, they must

undertake educational measures calculated to develop the capacity of their citizens to think and act as free and self-determining

individuals (Holec,1981).

why is it necessary in EFL settings? why is it necessary in EFL settings?

In the field of second/foreign language education there has been a shift in focus from the teacher to

the learner, from exclusive focus on how to improve teaching to an inclusive concern for how

individual learners go through their learning (Gremmo, 1995).

From the idea of man ‘‘product of his society’’, one moves to the idea of man ‘‘producer of his

society’’ (Janne, 1977: 15; cit. Holec, 1981:3).

Kupfer Kupfer (1990) defines the autonomous person as “the one who chooses for

himself what to think and what to do.”

* set his/her learning goals, identify and develop learning strategies to achieve such goals

* develop study plans* reflect on his/her learning which includes identifying

problem areas and means of addressing these problems

* identify and selects relevant resources and the necessary support

* assess his/her own progress and define his/her own criteria for evaluating performance and learning

(including strategies, materials, etc) Chan (2001)

what dispositions does an autonomous what dispositions does an autonomous learner display?learner display?

Adults do not know how to diagnose their own needs for learning, formulate their own learning

objectives, identify learning resources and planning strategies for taking the initiative in using those

resources, assess their own learning and have their assessments validated. Knowles (1981),

what should be done to promote learner what should be done to promote learner autonomy in EFL settings? autonomy in EFL settings?

Dickinson (1992), Nunan (1997), Littlewood (1997), Brajcich (2000) have

suggested several ways in which the teacher can prmote learner autonomy in

the classrooms.

Brajcich (2000) suggests the twelve ways to promote learner autonomyBrajcich (2000) suggests the twelve ways to promote learner autonomy..

• Encourage students to be interdependent and to work collectively.

• Ask students to keep a diary of their learning experiences. • Explain teacher/student roles from the outset. • Progress gradually from interdependence to

independence. • Give the students projects to do outside the classroom.

• Give the students non-lesson classroom duties to perform (taking roll, writing instructions, notices, etc. on the board

for the teacher)

• Have the students design lessons or materials to be used in class.

• Instruct students on how to use the school's resource centers: the school library, the language lab, and the

language lounge. • Emphasize the importance of peer-editing, corrections,

and follow-up questioning in the classroom.• Encourage the students to use only English in class. Part

of the role of the language teacher is to create an environment where students feel they should

communicate in the target language and feel comfortable doing so.

• Stress fluency rather than accuracy.• Allow the students to use reference books, including

dictionaries in class.

what is the importance of learner autonomy in terms of what is the importance of learner autonomy in terms of European Language Portfolio (ELP)?European Language Portfolio (ELP)?

to promote self-directed learning and socially responsible language learning

to develop reflective learning and self-assessment, emphasizing learning to learn in foreign language

educationto develop negotiated learning strategies and learner

commitmentto emphasize the central role of self-assessment, and

self-assessment instruments providedto promote lifelong-learning for the citizens

to improve the learner strategies which help the learners acquire the language

THANK YOU SO MUCH