Week 07-1: Learner Autonomy and the One-computer Classroom

Learner Autonomy

1. The autonomous learner is a self-activated maker of meaning, an active agent in his own learning process. (Rathbone)

2. Seven main attributes characterizing autonomous learners
-Autonomous learners:
1) have insights into their learning styles and strategies;
2) take an active approach to the learning task at hand;
3) are willing to take risks, i.e., to communicate in the target language at all costs;
4) are good guessers;
5) attend to form as well as to content, that is, place importance on accuracy as well as appropriacy;
6) develop the target language into a separate reference system and are willing to revise and reject hypotheses and rules that do not apply; and
7) have a tolerant and outgoing approach to the target language.

3. Learning strategies
1) Cognitive strategies
-repetition, when imitating others’ speech
-resourcing, i.e., having resource to dictionaries and other materials
-translation, that is, using their mother tongue as a basis for understanding and/or producing the target language
-note-taking
-deduction, i.e., conscious application of L2 rules
-contextualization, when embedding a word or phrase in a meaningful sequence
-transfer, that is, using knowledge acquired in the L1 to remember and understand facts and sequences in the L2
-inferencing, when matching an unfamiliar word against available information
-question for clarification, when asking the teacher to explain, etc.
2) Metacognitive strategies
-directed attention, when deciding in advance to concentrate on general aspects of a task
-selective attention, paying attention to specific aspects of a task
-self-monitoring, i.e., checking one’s performance as one speaks
-self-evaluation, i.e., appraising one’s performance in relation to one’s own standards
-self-reinforcement, rewarding oneself for success

Sources:
-What Is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered? by Dimitrios Thanasoulas
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Autonomy.html