Autonomy in TEFL

What is autonomy?

In a definition that has stood the test of time, Holec (1981) defined autonomy as “ the ability to take charge of one’s own learning.”

According to David Nunan it is defined as : “ the ability to take charge of one’s own learning”.

Although these definitions do not differ substantially, autonomy is perhaps best described as a capacity, as Holec has often described it, because various kinds of abilities can be involved in control over learning. Researchers generally agree that the most important abilities are those that allow learners to plan their own learning activities, monitor their progress and evaluate their outcomes.

Different kinds of abilities may be needed for control over the day to day management of learning, control over the mental processes involved in second language learning. But these ways of talking about autonomy only describe the areas of learning over which autonomous learners need to exercise control.

Little (1991) tells us that autonomy is a capacity for “detachment, critical reflection, decision making and independent action.” But Candy (1991) lists more than a hundred abilities associated with autonomy in learning. This tells us that autonomy can never be an all or another matter. There are degrees of autonomy and autonomy may also take different forms.

            Autonomy can be fostered, but not taught, in order to foster autonomy in the classroom, we as teachers need to provide learners with the opportunity to make significant choices and decisions about their learning. We also need to help them develop abilities that will allow them to make these choices and decision in an informed way.

Background to autonomy in the classroom:

In the field of political philosophy, personal autonomy refers to our freedom and ability to “shape our own live” (Young,1986).  Advocates of personal autonomy see it as a basic human right-without any autonomy our lives may be less than human. Preparing younger learners to exercise personal autonomy in adult life is a declared goal of many educational systems around the world, but advocating autonomy in learning means more than this. It means that students should be allowed and encouraged to shape their own learning as well as their own lives. Put somewhat differently, it means that learning should be seen as an integral part of life, and not as a preparation for it.

            The idea of autonomy first came into language teaching in the late 1960s through the adult education movement in Europe and North America, and for man  years it continued to be associated with adult learners who had left formal education. Many of the early autonomous language learning projects were carried out within the Council of Europe’s Modern Languages Project in the 1970s. Henri Holec, who provided us with our first definition of the autonomy in learning, played a key role in this project as the director of the Center de Recherches et d’Applications en Langues (CRAPEL). This center continues to be a focal point for research and practice on autonomy in the present day.

            At CRAPEL, autonomy was fostered through Self-directed learning or learning outside the classroom that was planned and executed by the Learners themselves.  Self directed learning at CRAPEL, was based on a Self-access center—an open access resource center containing authentic print, audio and video target language materials.  Self-directed learning also involved learner training, in which learner learned how to learn by experimenting with self-access materials with the help of language learning counselors. Many of the important concepts and practices associated with autonomy in learning today were established in his and other Council of Europe projects for adult learners.  In the 1980s, however, the emphasis began to shift from the adult learner who was no longer receiving formal education to younger and older learners whose learning was mainly focused on the classroom.

            One of the most influential classroom projects was carried out by Leni Dam and her colleagues in English language learning in Danish secondary schools (Dam, 1995). Their approach does not involve self-access or forma learner training. Instead, classroom learners are simple asked to take responsibility for the major decisions in their language learning throughout their secondary school years. The learners are also asked to take responsibility for ensuring that their learning meets national curriculum and examination requirements. The work of Dam and her colleagues has clearly demonstrated that teenagers can manage their own classroom learning without adverse effect on their proficiency. Although it is sometimes suggested that their situation is exceptional, similar projects elsewhere have also produced positive results. Johnsan, et al. (1990) for example have shown that primary school children are able to make significant decisions about their language learning and Holmes ()1990 has reported similar results for young children with learning difficulties.

            Early work on autonomy was mainly concerned with learners who were learning on their own. The experience of fostering autonomy in the classroom has therefore raise new questions concerned with the social relationships involved in autonomous learning.  Voller(1997) has argued that the teacher must act as a facilitator who initiates and supports decision making processes, a counselor who responds to the ongoing needs of individuals, and a resource who makes his or her knowledge and expertise available to the learners when it is needed.

Another important question concerns the social side of learners decision making in the classroom. IN earlier models of self-directed learning, it was largely assumed each learner would make decisions by and for themselves. But in recent years, emphasis has been places on the ways in which the choices and decisions of one influence those of others.  Important work on classroom decision making has been carried out in the fields of collaborative experiential learning (Kohonen,2001) and curriculum negotiation (Breen and Littlejohn,2000). In both of these approaches, coming to terms with the needs and choices of other learners in the classroom is seen as a crucial aspect of the development of autonomy. Little (1996) has also argued that autonomy implies interdependence, rather than independence, and that a “ capacity to participate fully and critically in our social interactions.” Is essential to it.

Another questions concerns our own autonomy as teachers. In recent research on “teacher autonomy”, our willingness and ability to model the autonomy that we would like to see in our students is seen as being of greater importance than any particular method or technique (Little 1995; McGrath,2000). All teachers are of course, subject to institutional and curriculum constraints that limit the freedom they are able to grant their students. For this reason the ways in which we foster autonomy will depend on our individual judgments of what is possible or reasonable in our own situations. But as Little (1995) argues, the starting point for teacher autonomy must be a recognition that we cannot help but “teach ourselves.” Because the curriculum that we present to the learners is our own.

The ideological roots of autonomy in learning remain important because they can help us to understand why fostering autonomy in the language learning classroom ca be important to learners.

Principles for fostering autonomy in the classroom:

Dam(1995) suggests that fostering autonomy in the classroom is initially “ a matter of getting started, of taking the first steps towards creating a learning environment where learners are encouraged to make decisions concerning their own learning, where the teacher dares to let go.” The results of these first steps will largely determine the steps that follow, which means that there is no simple recipe for fostering autonomy in the classroom. In place of such a recipe, we can offer certain principles based on our knowledge of what tends to work well in the classrooms and what does not.

1. Be actively involved in the students’ learning
2. Provide a range of learning options and resources
3. Offer choices and decision making opportunities
4. Support the learners
5. Encourage reflection