WEEK 7: learner autonomy

          This week I have read an article by Thanasoulas Dimitrios and another one by David Little. Learner autonomy is the main point of their articles. I agree with both authors on one point: autonomy is highly desirable for learners if we want them to be able to use the language independently of teachers and outside the classroom, through life. However, I personally find it difficult to attain for many reasons: here in Africa, culture has always made the master the number one provider of instruction in the process of education. As a result, in most educational institutions, education is carried out vertically with the teacher above, feeding learners underneath. Secondly, curriculums themselves are so designed that they betray this vertical orientation of education. Finally, learners themselves are not prepared for taking charge of their own learning. I notice that every time I ask my learners to write some comments about what they have learned or even what they want to learn and how they want to learn it, they are shocked. Some even confess that they think that this activity is a trap while others view it as a weakness or incompetence of the teacher. The same occurs when I ask learners to form groups in order to work on projects: they want me to help them choose their group partners and even share job or responsibilities within the group. In front of such a situation I agree with David little that “autonomy is not an inborn ability but it can be brought in the learners by making them more responsible”. I think that what I can do to instill more autonomy within my learners is to start talking them into the benefits of autonomy for themselves. Then, as often as possible, I will have them do activities which cultivate autonomy.

          The article “Strategies and applications for the one computer classroom” suggest interesting activities for reinforcing learners’ autonomy with just the teacher’s computer. I am very much interested in group activities because I think that they are suited for large classrooms. With my 1st year students in business management we are currently dealing with the advantages and weaknesses of globalization. As a project I will ask them to write an argumentative article about business and human rights for the website of Amnesty international (www.amnesty.org). This activity will encourage their autonomy because it provides an opportunity of using the language for an authentic purpose (writing an article which will be published for real on a website for potential readers to see). Secondly, my learners will have to go online (using the teacher computer in turn) to retrieve alone the information which they find appropriate for their task. Then, they will have to interact and collaborate within their groups, negotiate meaning, distribute their time and set their own objectives. They will also evaluate their own performance in completing the project. Finally they will have to post the article alone on the website at the end of the project. I will just provide assistance for using the computer, I will organize group rotations for using the computer, and I will allow them to consult me if they face some difficulties. In this way they will become responsible for their own learning.