Week 7 Reflection - Learner Autonomy

I have always been interested in learner autonomy simply because I am aware that I could never teach students how to speak English on a native-speaker level by the time they finish their education. I have always believed that our role as teachers is to provide students with tools and mechanisms how to continue to learn the language on their own. I also realized that it does not come easy and that some issues are assumed. There are many assumptions where they need not to be. For example, using a dictionary. It is kind of supposed that people would know how to do that. But they don’t. They need some training, not only how to look up for words but we must explain what they need to do when they find several meanings to words… and that will keep happening throughout their lives. We also need to teach them how to read critically, how to self-correct their own writing or their translation… We cannot simply leave them standing there on their own…

This week was really interesting. I tried to analyze the definition of learner autonomy bit by bit and see if I understand it correctly. I realized that it is a complex issue consisting of several elements. Each of those elements sheds a different light on the concept. The key elements for building autonomy in language learning, as stated in the articles, seem to be: engagement of learners, learner reflection and appropriate target language use. I stopped to think how that applies to my teaching context. Here is the thing: I engage students as much as I can. I do not have enough classes to engage them more fully. I really need to use technology as a tool to kind of “buy more of their own time” in a way. Forum, blogs, projects… they need to participate more. Learner reflection is something that I have recently discovered myself, to be honest. I was aware of the concept but not really knew it… Now that I have fully understood what it means for my own professional development, I will strongly encourage my students to stop, think , analyze and verbalize what they discover… we will see how that goes, I hope they will find it useful.  Appropriate target language use seems to be straightforward. I use English in the classroom almost all the time and it seems it would be a good idea to migrate the practice online, too. Students would be exposed to English more.

I would also have to spend some time to encourage them to read extensively and listen to online radios or podcasts more by explaining that exposure to the target language is really important. It would also build towards them being more autonomous in their learning.

I believe I have discovered many issues to a topic that I find really relevant and I am glad that I am still thinking about it…