Week #7: Learner Autonomy

As I was reading the texts on learner autonomy, I remembered “The Good Language Learner” by Rubin (1975).  According to him, the Good Language Learner: 

1. is a willing and accurate guesser;

2. has a strong drive to communicate;

3. is often not inhibited;

4. is prepared to attend to form;

5. practices;

6. monitors his own speech and the speech of others, and
7. attends to meaning.

The research is dated and culture specific. However, the key issue here is learner autonomy.

As we have to choose to take part in only one Forum this week, I’ll quote what I have written on this issue:

“Sometimes I feel some attitudes are so ingrained that it's hard to change. Most teen students here go to traditional schools where they don't have much autonomy. And adults have grown up in the same system. Thus, they have rooted ideas and are not willing to change.

When they come to the English classes, they expect to find the same system. 

I was exchanging e-mails with this co-worker on the assessment issue and this is what he wrote: 

"We can't overlook students' educational experience from a broader perspective. So, if you grew up in a system where good performance is rewarded by objective grades, in a way, this is your benchmark, isn't it? So if an "A" motivated you in primary school, irrespective of whether this is right or wrong, chances are that will strike a chord with you in your adult life, too."

“As I was reading the texts on learner autonomy, I was trying to relate those ideas to what we actually do at the school where I work. 

Syllabus, materials and assessment procedures are specified in advance. However, students have "some" autonomy in that, in some courses, on day 1, they reflect on what they learned in the previous level and on what their expectations are for the new course. They, then, write down the skills they have to work on and what they plan to do. They also decide on the amount of hours they will dedicate to that self-study apart from the classes. After midterm exams, they fill in a self-assessment form, where they give their opinion on their performance throughout the course and they decide on their class grade. They also make comments and give suggestions. The teacher, then, decides on the grade and suggests what can be done to improve students' performance.

I also try to engage students in activities they suggest we have in the classroom. I like to improvise and change the lesson plan, if I feel that specific activity is not working. I know what my objectives are, so I give them some options from them to choose from and, that way, they can help in the process. For example, sometimes we have to read an article on the book or folder and that piece of news may be outdated. So, we resort to the internet and go for more updated information. Sometimes the topic is not that interesting, so I go for some current news on something everybody has been talking about. That way, they will read for information. The focus on vocabulary will also be different. There will be the real need to know the meanings of words because they will really want to know what the author means. 

I also encourage students to have their own vocabulary logs, where they add definitions, synonyms, word forms and their own meaningful sentences using the new word. I usually ask them to focus on the words they think will be useful for them in the future. I think they have to be selective and learn well a few useful words rather than memorize huge lists of vocabulary they will never use or recognize in real life."


Looks like we're on the right track! 

Helô