Leaner's Autonomy

The topic this week in our CALL class is autonomy, specifically in language learning. Autonomy is another one of those teaching 'buzz words' that I hear all the time from my colleagues. But, until now, I never really knew what it meant, even though I have incorporated it several times in my classes over the years. So, what does it mean? It means giving the learner more freedom to choose certain aspects of their learning. This could be the content, the pace at which they learn, the time and place, or the process. So, from now on, when I design a lesson that is learner centered, I can brag to my fellow teachers and tell them that I am deciding to give my student's more autonomy. I will sound so smart.

The article that we read this week is called "Theory and Research: Autonomy in Language Learning", and it is by Deborah Healey. I think Healey has done a good job of thoroughly explaining this kind of teaching method. Here is a chart that she has come up with to describe some of the most common settings to create more of a learner centered approach.

(Healey, 1999)

This chart shows four possible scenarios on how to manage the content and the source of the structure in your classes. Looking at this chart, I don't know if any of these would be feasible in my classes. In all of these cases, it looks like the student has control of the pace of the class. I have a rigid schedule right now, and I must stick to that. I would like to try some of these in the future, maybe in an elective class. But now, I am teaching only general conversation classes.

I think in this CALL class, we are given a good amount of autonomy in regards to the time and the content. The content is given to us, it's out there, but there are several different ways we can interpret the content and use it. An example is this blog site here. Dan, our teacher, directed us to this site to make a blog. But, after that, it was up to us on the design, appearance, and the time and effort we put into the upkeep of it. Also, the time is up to the students. I can do this assignment now, tomorrow, or on Saturday. Whenever I am free, I can do this. The pace is decided by Dan for the most part. There are deadlines on when we have to turn in assignments. But, there are no restrictions on working ahead. So, we are in control of the pace in that regard.

Overall, I liked the article. Compared to some topics we have studied in the past, I am more interested in this and learning more about it. I think giving student's more autonomy can be risky, but it can be very motivating if used in the right setting. I believe this style will be more and more common in classrooms in the future, and I want to be a part of that.