CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

This chapter presents the conclusions of the results that were reported in

the previous chapter and their implications for practice and further research.

5.1 Conclusions

The main area of investigation in the present study was to explore

whether, or not, EFL teacher-trainees at Bouzereah learning the writing skill are
ready to be involved in autonomous learning regarding three areas: learners’
beliefs, learners’ use of metacognitive strategies and learners’ use of social and
affective strategies.
In the present study, four research questions were asked concerning the
readiness of EFL teacher-trainees at Bouzereah in the writing skill for
autonomous learning.
The inferences that can be drawn from the results of the study will be presented
in the same order with the research questions produced for the study. The first
research question is the main research question ,it aims at exploring whether, or
not, EFL teacher-trainees at Bouzereah learning the writing skill are ready to be
involved in autonomous learning

5.1.1 Conclusions on learners’ beliefs

The second research question aimed to find out learners’ beliefs on (1)
role of the teacher ;(2) role of feedback;(3) learner independence;(4) learner
confidence in study ability; (5) experience of language learning.

The data regarding this question were gathered in Section 1. Concerning

learners’ own and their teachers’ responsibilities in learning the writing skill,
respondents appeared to be more reliant on the teacher, their answers reflected a
belief that the teacher is assigned to functions of diagnosing difficulties,
allocating time and establishing the purpose of activities. This belief is
considered negative to autonomous learning. According to Sarah Cotteral(1995)
“Learners who expect the teacher to be the authority can present an obstacle to
teachers who wish to transfer responsibility to their learners”.
 As for learners’ perception of feedback ,the participants displayed also
reliance on the teacher to provide them with tests and supervise their progress in
the writing skill while according to Sarah Cotteral (1995) “Autonomous learners
are unlikely to depend solely on the teacher for feedback, they not only monitor
their language learning, but also assess their efforts” ,which means that the
participants still have a traditional view of the teacher in which he is more
responsible than the learners in the learning process. This view represents an
obstacle to achieve autonomy in learning.

Interestingly, in the area of learners’ perception of their independence

towards learning the writing skill, participants displayed a high level of
confidence in knowing what they need the writing skill for and by taking risks to
try new things in the writing skill, this reflects a kind of independence .To Sarah
Cotteral (1995), Learner independence has been identified in the literature as a
correlate of successful language learning. Autonomous learners are likely to be
individuals who have overcome the obstacles which educational background,
cultural norms and prior experience may have put in their way.

This confidence was also reflected in the study ability of the writing skill
since the majority of the participants indicated that they know how to produce a
piece of writing well and how to study other modules as well. Because Learner
confidence correlates with academic success, this belief in the learner's ability
influence the outcome of his/her learning. In addition to being a defining
characteristic of autonomous learners ; therefore, a confident learner is a learner
that is ready for autonomy.

Concerning the learners’ experience of learning the writing skill, the

findings did not show a good experience of learning the writing skill,this may
not be a promising indicator of learner autonomy. Quoting from Sarah Cotteral
(1995) “Past experiences with learning a language contribute in the form of a
positive evaluation of the outcome of prior language learning. This prior
experience has resulted in the development of methods of self-assessment
which is an indicator of readiness for autonomy”.

As a summary for this section ,findings of this section revealed a positive

attitude on learners’ confidence in their study ability but this confidence cannot
be significant to learner autonomy without being accompanied with
responsibility in functions of diagnosing difficulties, allocating time,
establishing the purpose of activities, monitoring their writing learning and
self assessment. In addition, unsuccessful learners’ experience in learning the
writing skill might influenced negatively the development of methods of self-
 assessment, which can be the cause for being learners dependant on the teacher
for assessment. In fact, being dependant on the teacher for these activities can
be an obstacle to achieve learner autonomy.
A possible explanation for this finding might be that the teachers’ role in the
writing skill module is authoritative. He might not encourage individual
initiatives and imposes his method on the learners. This traditional role of
teacher encourages the learners to take a passive role in the classroom without
being involved in taking decisions regarding the activities concerning
diagnosing difficulties, allocating time, establishing the purpose of activities,
monitoring their writing learning and self assessment. A freedom in those
activities may allow learners to take part in making decisions and being
responsible for their own learning and therefore being autonomous in learning.

5.1.2 Conclusions on the Use of Metacognitive Strategies

In the third research question, the aim was to investigate the extent of
metacognitive strategies used by EFL teacher-trainees at Bouzereah. The data
regarding this question were collected in section 2 in seven dimension factors:
planning, directed attention, selective attention, self-management, self-
monitoring, problem identification and self-evaluation. As mentioned earlier, the
frequent use of metacognitive strategies is closely tied to autonomous learning.
For instance, Victori and Lockhart (1995) have reported that the use of effective
metacognitive strategies help students to develop more active and autonomous
attitude enabling them to take the control of their own learning.
In this study, the results concerning selective attention, self-management,
self-monitoring, problem identification and self-evaluation were positive. The
majority of the participants reported that they decide in advance to ignore
distracters , maintain attention during the task, acknowledge the conditions that
help accomplishing the writing skill and arrange their presence , verify and
correct their writing tasks and self identify their problems in writing and their
strategy in learning the writing skill and their own progress in writing ,which is
a very positive indicator of using the metacognitive strategies related to selective
attention and self management, self-monitoring, problem identification and self-
evaluation,White (1995) has found out that self-management strategies like self-
evaluation and self monitoring are used distinctively by distance language
learners who tend to be more autonomous learners than classroom learners.
Unfortunately, this was not the case for planning and directed attention
because only fewer students reported their willingness to use certain strategies
related to planning before writing any piece of writing or decide in advance to
attend in general to a learning class.
This finding can be explained by the traditional educational system, which
promotes teacher-dependent learning habits.
5.1.3 Conclusions on use of social and affective strategies

In the fourth research question, the aim was to investigate the extent of
social and effective strategies used by EFL teacher-trainees at Bouzereah. The
data regarding this question were collected in Section 3 in five dimension factors
: asking questions, cooperating with others, empathising with others, lowering
anxiety, encouraging oneself and taking one’s emotional temperature.

The results emphasized that the respondents seek for help and ask
questions to their teacher or classmates and have their own ways to encourage
themselves during the writing and take their emotional temperature. According
to Benson (2000) such strategies that are related to asking questions,
encouraging oneself and taking one’s emotional temperature ,describe actions
taken by the learner to control aspects of the learning situation related to others
and to self. The use of those actions is an indicator of taking control of the
learning situation; therefore, showing readiness for autonomy.
But for strategies like cooperating with others, empathising with others and
lowering anxiety, subjects did not show a mastery of those strategies. This
result can be due to the culture of the students in school that encourages students
to be more individualist than collectivist and cooperative with others.

5.2 Implications for Practice

The design of the study made it possible for the researcher to consider two
main implications for practice: learner training for autonomous learning and
changes in curriculum to promote autonomous learning.
According to Sinclair (1997), learner training helps learners think about the
factors that affect their learning and find out the learning strategies that suit
them best in order that learners may become more effective learners and take
more responsibility for their own learning.
As mentioned in the previous chapters, in the promotion of learner autonomy,
learner choice is essential. Thus, creating a learning environment, which
provides students with opportunities to make decisions, must be considered to be
an important method for learner training. Various projects and simulations
aiming to help learners work at their own pace, make decisions on the objectives
and content of the lesson, plan, evaluate, monitor and assess their learning
process can be used throughout the promotion of learner autonomy.

5.2.2 Changes in Curriculum

Autonomous learning is a new approach to foreign language learning and

foreign language teaching. In this approach, the primary focus is on the learners’
individual awareness of the learning process. Consequently, the Curriculum Unit
will need to go over the course objectives and design tasks or materials in order
to enhance autonomous learning. Firstly, discussions will be held to determine
what could be done in accordance with the data obtained from students. Next,
research will be conducted to find out the basic principles and aspects of
autonomous learning. These phases will be integrated into curriculum
development. For instance, teachers will be encouraged to conduct action
research in their classrooms, or students will be provided with compulsory tasks
like project works, portfolio, journal writing which will enable them to take
more responsibilities.

5.3 Implications for Further Research

In this part recommendations for future researchers are presented.

1. In the present study the data were gathered only from students learning
the writing skill, a further study can be carried out via collecting data from
writing teachers, which might give a better idea for the curriculum
members when designing new programs to develop autonomous learning.
2. A further research can be conducted as a case study in which researchers
can gather data from various data sources such as action meetings, needs
analysis, biographical and end-of-course questionnaires, learner diaries
and portfolios. This way, a more detailed picture of how learners use
metacognitive and social and affective strategies and develop their
decision-making skills can be examined.
3. A further research can be carried out as a survey study to investigate the
language teachers’ readiness for autonomous learning. Such research may
provide teacher training curriculum with new implications for
methodology and the role of the teacher in practical autonomous learning.
4. A further research can include other aspects of autonomy such as control
over the cognitive process and over the content.

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