How to Foster Learner Autonomy by Teachers and Students

How to Foster Learner Autonomy by Teachers and Students

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Shoko Fujimoto

2015

Contents

Abstract

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Introduction······································1

1.2 What is Learner Autonomy?····································2

1.2.1 Definition of Learner Autonomy

1.2.2 The Characteristics of Autonomous Learners

1.2.3 Responsibility of Autonomous Learners

1.3 How Can Learner Autonomy Be Helpful for Students?

1.3.1 Advantages of Learner Autonomy

1.3.2 Disadvantages of Learner Autonomy

1.3.3How Can Learner Autonomy be Promoted?

1.4 The Effect of Learner Autonomy on Student Performance

1.5 Learner Autonomy in the Japanese School Environment

1.6 Research Questions

1.7 Conclusion

Chapter Two: The Questionnaire

2.1 Introduction

2.2 The Questionnaire

2.2.1 Method

1) Subject

2) Test Design

3) Procedure

2.3 Results

2.4 Summary

Chapter Three: The Discussion

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Summary of the Results

3.3 Discussion of the Results

3.3.1 The Awareness of Students

3.3.2 Motivation

3.3.3 Objectives

3.3.4 Reflection

3.3.5 Self-control

3.3.6 Collaboration

3.3.7 Strategy

3.3.8 Teacher

3.3.9 Class

3.3.10 Technology

3.4 Research Questions

3.5 Implications

3.6 Limitations of the Questionnaire

3.7 Further Research

3.8 Conclusion

References

Appendix

Appendix A: The Questionnaire of English version

Appendix B: The Questionnaire of Japanese version

1

Abstract

The author went to junior high school for the teaching practice and saw many students follow their teacher’s instruction and study while sitting and keeping silent. However, some of them did not listen to the instructions and did not study in class, just sleep or do different things. If they have the high quality of learner autonomy, they must be able to study or learn something useful for them and utilize the learned contents by themselves. Therefore, we will research learner autonomy which is helpful for students.

In Chapter One, we will look at various definitions of learner autonomy, the characteristics of autonomous learners, how learner autonomy can be helpful for students, the effect of learner autonomy on student performance, and the environment of learner autonomy in Japanese school. Then, we will have three research questions to investigate.

In Chapter Two, we will look at the result of the Questionnaire about learner autonomy. We have three sections in the Questionnaire; whether subjects know the concept of learner autonomy, how autonomous a learner they think they are, and what factors and activities can make them autonomous for subjects.

In Chapter Three, we will discuss the result of the Questionnaire. We will find out that factors and activities which can be helpful for learners to develop learner autonomy.

1

Chapter 1 Learner Autonomy

1.1 Introduction

So far, the center of education in Japanhas been on teachers. Teachers had control inside the classroom, so students were always likely to follow the teacher’s instructions in class. In Europe, however, the center of education has been shifting gradually from teachers to students. The concept of learner autonomy was developed in the 1960’s in order to raise independently-minded responsible citizens. At that time, democracy was becoming important, so it was believed thatresponsible citizens coulddevelopthe society from then on. Moreover, it was thought that autonomy is not only for students but also for adults. Holec (1981) started mentioning the need for learner autonomy in adult education. After Holec, other researchers began thinking about learner autonomy and how learners can develop their autonomy. The concepts of learner autonomy has been developed in Europe last two decades, and it slowlys is coming to Japan little by little.

1.2. What is Learner Autonomy?

Learner autonomy is generally defined as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning” (Holec 1981, cited in Barillaro 2011). It is a ‘buzz-word” within the context of language learning (Little 1991, cited in Thanasoulas). According to Farquharson (2011), autonomous learning can take place without having a teacher, tutor, and facilitator physically present in all instances of learning. If teachers or students can foster learner autonomy, students can be independent and can freely decide what they do. While it is said that learner autonomy is very important, there are various definitions of learner autonomy so it is difficult to define it. In the next section, we will look at the definitions of learner autonomy with various researchers’ views.

1.2.1 Definitions

As we saw in Section 1.2,Holec (1981)the father of learner autonomy, defined it as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning”. But it is quite a vague definition. Here are some other definitions about learner autonomy.

Little (2007) defined Autonomy as“essentially a matter of the learner’s psychological relation to the process and content of learning.”

Dickinson (1993) said that “Autonomy is a situation in which the learner is totally responsible for all the decisions concerned with his [or her] learning and the implementation of those decisions.”

Benson (1997) said that, “Autonomy is recognition of the rights of learners within educational systems.”

Benson & Voller (1997) defined learner autonomy in five ways:

1. for situations in which learners study entirely on their own

2. for a set of skills which can be learned and applied in self-directed learning

3. for an inborn capacity which is suppressed by institutional education

4. for the exercise of learners’ responsibility for their own learning

5. for the right of learners to determine the direction of their own learning.

Aoki (2006) said“Learner autonomy means the freedom, responsibility, and ability that learners can select what to do for their learning, make plans how they learn, practice the plans, and assess the progress by themselves according to their hope or needs.

According to Franc Lacey(2007), there could be eight principles of learner autonomy;

1.Autonomy means moving the focus from teaching to learning

2.Autonomy affords maximum possible influence to the learners

3. Autonomy encouragesand needs peer support and cooperation

4.Autonomy means making use of self/ peer assessment

5. Autonomy requires and ensures 100% differentiation

6. Autonomy can only be practiced with student logbooks which are a documentation of learning and a tool of reflection

7.The role of the teacher as supporting scaffolding and creating room for the development of autonomy is very demanding and very important

8. Autonomy means empowering students, yet the classroom can be restrictive, as are the rules of chess or tennis, but the use of technology can take students outside of the structures of the classroom, and the students can take the outside world into the classroom.

As we saw above, there are various definitions. However, the common awareness is that the focus is shifting from teacher to students but the teacher’s role is also important to develop learner autonomy.

1.2.2 Characteristics of autonomous learners

In this section, we will look at the characteristics of autonomous learners. Likewise Section 1.2.1, we will see the various views of it.

According to Mackness (2011), autonomous learners have various characteristics, and here we will see some of the characteristics:

1. They are responsible for their own learning

2. They have initiative

3. They can monitor and evaluate their own learning

4. They are reflective and show high levels of metacognition

5.They are self-aware in relation to their own learning

6. They are intrinsically motivated

7. They are life-long learners

8. They can managed and regulate their own learning

9. They are adept at taking or making decisions

10.They have specific skills and strategies for managing their learning online

11. They are adaptable and flexible in their approach to learning

12.They are good at filtering and selecting the information which they need

According to Benson (2001), autonomous learners can control their own learning all the three levels of learning management, cognitive processes, and learning content. Also he said that these levels are not independent, it is thought that they interrelate with each other.

The first level, learning management includes setting a goal for learning, selecting the learning path, strategies for learning, and monitoring and the pace for learning, and evaluating learners’ process. This level is visible. The second level, cognitive processesis invisible in contrast with control for learning. This level includes the process of thinking which learners reflect, infer, analyze, and pay attention to their learning. The third level, learning contentmeans the control for the contents to learn. However, it is almost impossible for learners to control what they learn in the curriculum in the school. Therefore, Benson said that the institute of education or teachers should take account of making learners choose the tasks as they want in classes. Also he claimed that the utilization of self-access center can foster learners’ autonomy.

There are more another characteristics within the context of education according Omaggio (1978):

1. Autonomous learners have insights into their learning styles and strategies

2. They take an active approach to the learning task at hand

3. They are willing to take risks, i.e., to communicate in the target language at all costs

4. They are good guessers

5. They attend to form as well as to content, that is, place importance on accuracy as well as appropriacy

6. They develop the target language into a separate reference system and are willing to revise and reject hypotheses and rules that do not apply

7. They have a tolerant and outgoing approach to the target language

Through these characteristics above, ideal autonomous learners are responsible for their own learning, be able to utilize the strategies for their learning, be high-motivated intrinsically, and reflective for their learning. However, learner autonomy cannot be fostered by themselves, so the roles of teachers and schools are also important to develop autonomous learners.

1.2.3 Responsibility of Autonomous Learners

We found out that many researchers said that learners should be responsible for their own learning. However, what is their responsibility? Here, we will look at what their responsibility is. Chan (2001) states that the following areas should be their responsibility of the autonomous learner:

1. Setting learning goals

2. Identifying and developing learning strategies to achieve such goals

3.Developing study plans

4.Reflecting on learning (which includes identifying problem areas and means of addressing these problems)

5. Identifying and selecting relevant resources and support

6.Assessing one’s own progress (which includes defining criteria for evaluating performance and learning)

These above are the responsibility of autonomous learners. To be an autonomous learner, learners should make decisions by themselves about what their goals for learning is, how to learn, what strategies they learn, and reflect their learning.

1.3 How Can Learner Autonomy be Helpful for Students?

Here, we will look at how learner autonomy can be helpful for students. There are advantages of learner autonomy but,on the other hand, there are disadvantages of learner autonomy too. Let us see them in this section.

1.3.1Advantages of Learner Autonomy

According toSwift (2011), the key benefit of learner autonomy is that autonomous learners will take more responsibility for learning and are likely to be more effective than learners who are reliant to the teacher overly.

According to Gremmo (1995), “there are a shift in focus from the teacher to the learner, from specific focus on how improve teaching to inclusive concern for how individual learners go through their learning.”

Zhe (2009) said, learner autonomy was started in adult education, but has confirmed that the development of learner autonomy could also be used with young learners with guided and gradual introduction. European language teachers have highly accepted this position. Therefore, learner autonomy may be useful for students of all ages although its application may be tempered by their age and experience.

Jiao (2005) said, there are four substantial reasons in support of learner autonomy for English learning:

1. It enhances the learner’s motivation and leads to more effective learning

2. It provides learners with more opportunities for English communication in a non-native environment

3. It caters to the individual needs of learners at all levels

4. It has a lasting influence

At first, the concept of learner autonomy was thought in adult education as we saw in Section 1.1. However, the focus of education is changing from teachers to students gradually and it is spread toward the field of education. If students can be autonomous, the student will be an adult who has responsibility. Moreover, if learner autonomy is developed, students can not only enhance their motivation but also be positive for English communication in non-native environment. Learner autonomy can give learners good effects for their life. Therefore, learner autonomy is helpful for students.

1.3.2 Disadvantages of Learner Autonomy

In this section, we will look the misunderstandings of learner autonomy and problems of learner autonomy.

According to Little (1991), learner autonomy is often misunderstood and there are five misunderstandings as follow.

1. Learner autonomy is synonym of self-instruction

2. Learner autonomy means that ateacher should give up the initiative and control for everything in class

3. Learner autonomy is teaching method.

4. Learner autonomy means certain behavior by learners

5. Learner autonomy is the unchanging state which specific learners can achieve

Let us first look at the first five misunderstandings. Self-instruction means that there is no room for learners to make decisions by themselves, that is to say, the materials for self-instruction are made with the assumption that the schedule of the contents, way to learn, order to go through are already decided, so it is not synonyms of learner autonomy.

Secondly, the ideal state is that learners can learn without teacher’s help but it is difficult for learners to be such state until they can develop learner autonomy. Therefore, a teacher has a lot of things to do for students.

Thirdly, learner autonomy is not fostered only by constant procedure. There are various approaches to develop learner autonomy and we cannot conclude which the best is. Therefore, it is not a teaching method.

Fourthly, learner autonomy is not the state but the ability to have responsibility for their learning, as we saw already so far. The ability depends on individuals so there are various behaviors depending on people.

At last, everybody can have this power, learner autonomy. Learner autonomy is always changing and it may sometimes recede. Therefore, we cannot say that learner autonomy is the specific state.

As we saw above, there are misunderstandings about learner autonomy, so if teacher misunderstands it and he or she incorrectly practices it in order to develop learner autonomy in class, learner autonomy cannot be developed. Therefore, teachers should have certain knowledge of learner autonomy and should tell about learner autonomy to students precisely.

Next, we will look at the problems of learner autonomy. There are problems which teaches may encounter when developing learner autonomy in class. Here, we will look at the problems which Țurloiu and Stefánsdóttir (2011) mentioned below;

1. Teacher cannot see clearly that students make progresses

2. It takes a great deal of time when students plan their own works

3. It is difficult for a teacher to manage a large number of learners

4. Learners do not like writing and do see the benefit of the logbooks

5. Working in group can success only within particular group

6. It is difficult for students to maintain motivation in a mixed-abilityenvironment when they use the target language

7. Parents are an important fact for students because parents’ attitude toward teaching and learning is directly related to students so a teacher should the understanding of autonomous classes.

These above are the problems when a teacher confront with the difficulties to practice the autonomous classes.

Moreover, we will look at the problems how a teacher should manage the difficulties in classroom about the differences between students’ levels. According to Case (2009), there are various students in classroom, e.g., who are very good at English, who are not good at English, who are keen, who are not interested in English and so on. Also the interesting points which each student has are of course different. Therefore, some students may go ahead, read, practice, and use the textbooks sometimes, some who do not like English may not join the activities e.g., writing and seeing the benefit the logbooks. Therefore, teachers are asked to provide the conditions for autonomous classes which can suit each student.

As we saw above, there are good and bad points of learner autonomy. However, it is absolutely important and helpful to make students autonomous for themselves, so teachers should grasp the difficulties to practice and practice with students to develop learner autonomy in classroom.

1.3.3 How Can Learner Autonomy be Promoted?

We already looked at the advantages and disadvantages of learner autonomy. Then, let us look at how learners can promote learner autonomy. According to Thanasoulas (2000), “To posit ways of fostering learner autonomy is certainly to posit ways of fostering teacher autonomy, as '[t]eachers' autonomy permeates into [learners'] autonomy' (Johnson, Pardesi and Paine, 1990, cited in Gathercole, 1990: 51).” However, the main focus will be on what the learners can do in order to reach a considerable degree of autonomy, although the success of the learners isdetermined by the educational system and the requisite role of the teacher.

According to Farquharson(2011), there are also two ways how learner autonomy can be promoted by a teacher. One is to foster an awareness of the skills that are involved in learning and demonstrate the learning strategies in use through the activities that they plan during the course, and second is to “transfer some of the decision making and choices gradually to the learners in order to develop their awareness and confidence for making decisions.

Through these progresses, learners can develop their learner autonomy step by step. At that time, teachers should play an important role in fostering learner autonomy while making learners be aware of the concept of learner autonomy, and then increasing the opportunities which students can make decisions by themselves gradually.