Autonomy – responses to questions

Promoting learner autonomy is something I try to do on a daily basis, because I think it is very important, but I do struggle with this. I found it interesting to read about the origins of the term learner autonomy in language learning and especially to see that I’m not the only one confused by terms used interchangeably, such as learner independence, or the distinction between exercising autonomy and developing the capacity for autonomy (see Smith, Learner autonomy). I haven’t done all the reading yet, but I have thought about Alex’s questions and I’m deliberately posting my thoughts before reading what others have said.

I’m conscious of two particular obstacles to learner autonomy here at CELE: Firstly, cultural background/previous educational experience and a mismatch in S/T expectations of the learning environment has proved to be a huge obstacle to promoting learner autonomy. For many students, their experience has been of the teacher telling them what to do, or of simply attending the course and automatically passing the final assessment. Secondly, I find the pressure of time and the desire to get through the syllabus (covering the material) a significant obstacle because the courses on AE presessional are (necessarily?) prescriptive. It’s easy to fall into the trap of ‘teaching the course’ rather than ‘teaching the students’. There’s danger of negative backwash from the exams in the sense that you want the students to succeed and their progression ultimately hinges on success in these final exams. And there’s another dilemma, because the tests don’t always appear to reflect what the students will need to do in their future departments – at least in the students’ view.

Whenever we focus on study skills, I either tell or elicit from students how specific skills can/should be used outside the classroom, e.g. recording vocabulary, techniques for approaching reading/listening texts. I try to raise awareness of what they need to do in their own time e.g. dictations/spelling tests can be a concrete indication that they do not yet ‘know’ that word completely.

Regarding my own autonomy as a teacher, I am very conscious of limitations, especially on presessional courses because they are very prescriptive. However, within those constraints, I constantly make choices about what I think my students need at any particular point.

Although the term ‘autonomy’ is bandied about a lot, I think it can amount to little more than lip service and I wonder to what extent it could even be considered a luxury, both for students and teachers. Within the presessional model here in CELE there does seem to be a ‘need’ for uniformity in terms of what is covered and how. I’m tempted to explain in more detail, but perhaps I should wait for responses or questions on that. Perhaps there is a continuum when it comes to considering how central a role autonomy plays in teaching and learning objectives.

In an ideal world, I would like to encourage my students to take control of the classroom, but those same two obstacles I mentioned at the beginning make that pretty unrealistic in my current situation. I have done this in the past; in China where I was afforded a huge amount of freedom to do almost whatever I wanted in a 20 week term – set my own aims, create my own syllabus, develop/choose my own materials – there was scope for encouraging learners to do this.

But, in my current EAP situation I try to give choices to the students in what tasks to do or what order to do them in during a lesson. This may involve getting consensus, and the deciding vote may lie with me, but I will always try to mediate fairly and give reasons for decisions.
In tutorials, there is scope for encouraging more learner autonomy, but perhaps that is moving away from the original question.

Finally, regarding the question of technology fostering learner autonomy, there does seem to be a huge amount of good stuff out there online, such as VSAC and podcasts from websites such as the BBC. I think it does need to be presented well to students so that they can develop discernment in making choices as to what will benefit them most. I have used podcasts in my teaching, especially last summer when teaching a module on listening and notemaking. Being a technophobe myself, this was quite something, but I was convinced of their value and pretty chuffed with the lessons in which I used them. It was well worth the time spent in preparing tasks to get the most out of the material.