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    The History of Autonomy in Language Learning PDF

    Uploaded by

    Paola Torres

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    6, Phil. Tearcliiney cine Rescevlrme, avtonomy sex Lenguaje J Sy { beacring. Longmen ton Elaolnn Lom. Ederburale. DC. a be dd. €henb. qe 2 i) Cop pp wes Chapter 1 The history of autonomy in language learning The first six chapters in this section will + describe the history of autonomy in language learning and its sources in the fields of language pedagogy, educational reform, adult educa tion, the psychology of learning and political philosophy; + discuss definitions of autonomy and key issues in research; * explain why autonomy is a key issue in language education today. 1.1 Origins of the concept Second language acquisition predates institutionalised learning by many centuries and even in the modern world millions of individuals continue to learn second and foreign languages without the benefit of formal instruction. Although there is much that we can learn from their efforts, however, the theory of autonomy in language learning is essentially concerned with the organisation of institutionalised learning. As such, it has a history of approximately three decades. According to Gremmo and Riley (1995), early interest in the con- cept of autonomy within the field of language education was in part a response to ideals and expectations aroused by the political turmoil in Europe in the late 1960s. Holec (1981: 1) began his report to the Council of Europe (see Concept 1.1) with a description of the social and ideological context within which ideas of autonomy in learning emerged: 8 TEACHING AND RESEARCHING AUTONOMY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING Concept 1.1 The origins of autonomy in language learning ‘The concept of autonomy first entered the field of language teaching through the Council of Europe’s Modern Languages Project, established in 1971. One of the outcomes of this project was the establishment of the | Centre de Recherches et d’Applications en Langues (CRAPEL) at the Univer- sity of Nancy, France, which rapidly became a focal point for research and practice in the field. Yves Chailon, the founder of CRAPEL, is con- sidered by many to be the father of autonomy in language learning. Chilon died at an early age in 1972 and the leadership of CRAPEL was passed to Henri Holec, who remains a prominent figure within the field of auto- nomy today. Holec’s (1981) project report to the Council of Europe is a key early document on autonomy in language learning. The journal Mélanges Pédagogiques, published at CRAPEL, has also played an import- ant role in the dissemination of research on autonomy from 1970 to the present day. ‘The end of the 1960s saw the development in all so-called industrially advanced Western countries of a socio political tendency characteri by a definition of social progress, no longer in terms of increasing n well-being through an increase in consumer goods and services, but in terms of an improvement in the ‘quality of life’ - an expression that did not become a slogan until some years later — based on the development of a respect for the individual in society. ‘The Council of Europe’s Modern Languages Project aimed initially to provide adults with opportunities for lifelong learning. The approach developed at CRAPEL was therefore particularly influenced by proposals from the emerging field of adult self-directed learning (2.2), which insisted ‘on the need to develop the individual’s freedom by developing those abilities which will enable him to act more responsibly in running the affairs of the society in which he lives’. ‘Autonomy, or the capacity to take charge of one’s own learning, was seen as a natural product of the practice of self-directed learning, or learning in which the objectives, progress and evaluation of learning are determined by the learners themselves. Among the key innovations in the CRAPEL approach to the provision of opportunities and sup- port for self-directed language learning were the self-access resource centre and the idea of learner training. In its early days, the theory and practice of autonomy in language learning also enjoyed an uneasy asso- ciation with ideas of individualisation. THE HISTORY OF AUTONOMY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING 1.2 Autonomy and self-access ‘The first self-access language learning centres, at CRAPEL (Riley and Zoppis, 1985) and the University of Cambridge (Harding-Esch, 1982), were based on the idea that access to a rich collection of second lan- guage materials would offer learners the best opportunity for experi- mentation with self-directed learning (Quote 1.1). The provision of counselling services and an emphasis on authentic materials were also important elements in the CRAPEL approach. TEED Riley and Zoppis on the Sound and Video Library at CRAPEL If one of our initial aims was to make sure that the Sound and Video Library would actually be able to take in all its potential users for as long as possible each week, we also wanted it to be a place where we would apply some of the pedagogical principles and strategies we firmly believe in. Foremost among these was the principle of autonomous learning for feached a certain level in English can improve their listening comprehension, their oral expression or their written comprehension by regularly working in semi- autonomy with adequately prepared teaching material or in com- plete ‘autonomy using ‘raw’ authentic material. = Riley and a (1985: 287) At CRAPEL, self-access was seen as a means of facilitating self- directed learning. In recent years, however, self-access language learn- ing centres have proliferated to the point where ‘self-access language learning’ is often treated as a synonym for self-directed or autonomous learning. In many institutions, self-access centres have been established without any strong pedagogical rationale and it is often assumed, with- out any strong justification for the assumption, that self-access work will automatically lead to autonomy. To a lesser extent, the producers of self-instructional and distance learning materials have assumed that autonomy will be one outcome of these modes of learning. One of the important lessons of the spread of self-access over the past three decades, however, is that there is no necessary relationship between self-instruction and the development of autonomy and that, under Certain conditions, self-instructional modes of learning may even inhibit autonomy (Chapter 8). 10 TEACHING AND RESEARCHING AUTONOMY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING Because self-access centres have been enthusiastic consumers of educational technologies, self-access learning has also tended to become synonymous with technology-based learning. Within the field of computer-assisted language learning, especially, autonomy has become an important issue, As in the case of self-access, however, researchers on autonomy emphasise that learners who engage in technology-based learning do not necessarily become more autonomous as a result of their efforts. A great deal depends on the nature of the technology and the use that is made of it (Chapter 9). 1.3 Autonomy and learner training - Like self-access, learner training began life as a mechanism to sup- port self-directed learning (Dickinson and Carver, 1980; Holec, 1980) At CRAPEL, it was argued that in order to carry out effective self- directed learning, adult learners would need to develop skills related to self-management, self-monitoring and self-assessment. Leamers who were accustomed to teacher-centred education would also need to be psychologically prepared for more learner-centred modes of learning. According to Holec, teaching learners how to carry out self-directed learning would be counterproductive, since the learning would by definition no longer be self-directed. Instead, learners needed to train themselves (Quote 1.2). Although learners might draw on the support of counsellors, teachers or other learners, the important thing abou learner training was that it should be based on the practice of self- directed learning itself. Self-direction was understood as the key to learning languages and to learning how to learn languages. [TERE Holec on learner training The basic methodology for leamer training should be that of discovery; the leamer should discover, with or without the help of other leamers of teachers, the knowledge and the techniques which he needs as he tries to find the answers to the problems with which he is faced. By proceed- ing largely by trial and error he trains himself progressively. Holec (1980: 42) TT THE HISTORY OF AUTONOMY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING As the practice of learner training became more widespread in the 1980s and 1990s it increasingly drew upon insights from research on learning strategies, which has aimed to identify the behaviours and strategies used by successful learners and train less successful learners in their use. Although the idea of autonomy did not initially have a strong influence on this research, Wenden (1991) made the link explicit in the title of her book, Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy. Like self-access, Jearner training has also taken on a life of its own in recent years. While most practitioners in the field see learner training as leading to greater autonomy, learner training is no longer confined to self-directed learn- ing. Dickinson (1992), for example, views learner training as a resource to help learners to engage more actively in classroom learning, and some of the best learner training materials have been developed for classroom use (Chapter 10). 1.4 Autonomy and individualisation Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the concept of autonomy was closely associated with the concept of individualisation, an association evident in the titles of collections that linked the two fields (Altman and James, 1980; Brookes and Grundy, 1988; Geddes and Sturtridge, 1982). Brookes and Grundy (1988: 1), for example, suggested in the introduction to their collection that autonomy and individualisation were associated by a mutual link to the concept of learner-centredness: One corollary of learner-centredness is that individualization will assume greater importance, as will the recognition of the autonomy of the Tearner as the ultimate goal. Individualisation and autonomy overlapped in as much as both were concerned with meeting the needs of individual learners. Self-directed learning as it was practised at CRAPEL was thus in a sense a form of individualisation, in which learners determined their own needs and acted upon them. As the practice of self-access spread, self-access resource _- centres were also seen as performing important functions in the indi- ~

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