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    Nguyễn T. Thúy Hà
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    © All Rights Reserved
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    15 views21 pages

    Learner Autonomy

    Uploaded by

    Nguyễn T. Thúy Hà

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 21
    hap) urteen Learner autonomy in the classroom Phil Benson, University of Hong Kong (China) v Sennen ri emerson Vv Bac would organize a project or eeres ee. Rasen tn et ioain ties oe v sree me ‘ard claaeroom activites offer, ofall ‘10 Offer: "&Nd support for autonomy. 1. What is autonomy? TT eaAOEEy Jn a definition that has stood the test of time, Holec (1981, p. 3) defined sxtonomy a: “the ability to take charge of one's owa learning More Sep iin Satay orients (Benson, 2001, p. 47). Although these definitions do not difer substantially, sutonomy is pechape best described as a capacity, as Holec has often described it, because various kinds of abilities canbe involved in contol over [Researchers generally agree that the most important abies are ‘hove that allow leamers to pan their own learning actives, motto thelr ‘progress and evahuae thei Outcomes. Ia my own research, Ihave also ug. gested that diferent kinds of abilities may be needed for control over the day today management of learning, control over the mental procesesinvalved in second language leering and contol ofthe content of learning (Beason, 2001, p. 50). But these ways of talking about autonomy only describe the ‘rea of earning over which autonomous leamers need {o exercise contol. [No matter how we divide up the language learning tsk, the abies that primey coal ce aed mye a i a cal to specty exactly what they are. Lite (1991, p49), for example lla us ‘that autonomy isa capacity for “detachment, critical reflection, decision mak {ng and independent action,” but Candy (199, pp. 459-466) lita more than 8 ‘hundred abilities associated with autonomy in lesring! Thiel sta! auton. ‘omy can never bean allor nothing matter (Nunan, 1997)."There are degrees of autonomy, and autonomy may also take diferent forms. From the classroom teacher’ ott vom efor the importa qotion echo ty “onan Iarer ba Row fo bal po ti ony a an Ries poie Forts ran, we tnd tty a entonoey as oe but ot taght In order fo fe stonomy mn the canons ne ge ace, ned provide ars wh te opprtanty to make at Cn et ‘decisions about their leaing. We also need to help them develop abilities that will allow them to make these choices and decisions in an informed way. ai ere ep et Yun undrtani t astay ay 0 + over yu ec es oy? Di so how {> inaks clos and don eo ore ‘vor your fever? * hog 2. What your atta owas choca yn learing? which choles tne decison do you ti mao Yura and whch we you prefer lgy eae? 290 Chapter 4 2.__Background to autonomy in the classroom In the fd of pola pinophy,penoalatonomy ra ou ee. oneal siomy er ara ee ome tenon a wlan bot troy ou ver fy be le than woman epuing Young len to canes, pata The ides of stony fit ame into langage aching nh ate 19608 Skrough the alt edseaton movement in Europe and Neh Amen tod for many year it contin tobe stocialed with ad learner who had Tet formal edeaton. Many ofthe en astoomous language arin pees ‘were carried out within the Council or Europe's Moses Lipase Project inthe 170, Hens Hole, who provided ws wih our fst defios of so. omy in earning, layed ey rl inthis project a the diet of the Ce de Recherches et d'Applications en Langues (CRAPEL). This center continues to tbe a focal pon for research and price on snnomy in the presen ey, "ALCRAPEL,sxonony war fered trough eledirectog ox leaning outside the daaroon ht was planed and exec byte eae tr themselves Selected Inning a! CRAPEL was bse on aselfacceas Center-an open acce recur cater containing euhentc pt ato aed ‘video target language materials. Self-directed learning also involved learner taining in which lero lnred how fo lex by experimenting wf le. cesta with de ip cf language Inning cote My othe import concepts and pacts nite wt tonomy flaring dey were exablshed inh nd tor Counc of Barope projec fred eas tr Tn the 180s, however, the eanphas began to sil fom te sal lamer ‘ho was no longer eosng nna education to younger and ler lars ‘hose leaning war mainly fcwed on the canoe ne ofthe most infec projoca was case out by Len ‘Dam and ber ealleagues in English languge leareng ia Dens seegary schoas (Dam, 1009} Their aproch doe ot involve self acco oral Tener waning Instead, clastoom learner ae spy asked tae espn sibiiy for the major decison in ter language lering throughout Incr secondary school years The lamers are ab eked to tke respon fe trourng that thor leaing ‘mec naonal cucu a examinon ‘equrement. The work of Bam and her coleagues has etl demon. that tenages can manage ter own caroom learing witout advene ‘Mfc on tht proficiency. Altcugh irs sometimes uggesed tha het St Loamer autonomy inte casscors 208 ation is exceptions, similar projects elsewhere have also produced postive results, Johnson, etl (1990), for example, have show that primary school chilrea are able to make significant decisions abou their language learning and Holmes (1990) has reported silar rel for young children with lara ing dificules Early work on autonomy was mainly concerned with leamers who were learning on their own. The experience of fostering autonomy in the clas oom has, therefore, raised new questions concerned with the socal reation- fhipa involved in autonomous learning. One ofthese questions concerns the role ofthe teacher in an autonomous classroom. the learaers make tos ot all the key decisions about their ‘what does the teacher do? Voller (0907) haa argued that the who intstes and supports decision-making processes, «counselor who responds tothe ongoing ‘needs of individuals, and a reource who makes his or her knowledge and ‘expertie avalable othe learners when it is needed. Cleary, teachers who ‘want to foster autonomy should not see themselves as directors of elasroom earning oa founts of knowledge tobe poured into the heads of the leaa- cers. Crabbe (1993, p. 208) also reminds us that fostering autonomy is not simply a matier of how we see our relationship with our studens It is also a {question of how we interact with them. The important quesion, he argue,

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