Developing learner autonomy

Learner Autonomy

In page 135, Kumaravadivelu states what to me are two indispensable aspects in the development of learner autonomy: the learners’ awareness of learning strategies, and (b) the teachers’ effectiveness of learner training.

Making students aware of the number of learning strategies that are available to them, of their own learning styles, of how these strategies have to combined for particular settings and of how strategies can change and be personalized as they move forward in the learning process depends on a number of factors that need to be looked at closely and that I will only mention here. Among these factors are the student’s previous home and school education, the type of learner he/she, student’s intrinsic/extrinsic motivation in learning the language, the student’s cultural background, and numerous socio-affective factors that influence the student’s involvement in his/her learning process, and many others.

Of course, it seems naive to believe that an individual teacher will be able to get to know all these factors in such a manner that he/she is able to offer each particular student what they require to learn and become willing to use a number of learning strategies which would eventually lead to different levels of autonomy. However, it is my belief that it is possible for the teacher to collaboratively find these strategies by engaging the students in the learning process. This is obviously no easy task. And I believe that one way to do this is by explicitly teaching learning strategies by pointing out their benefits and by modeling them in class session. I consider myself an advocate of this model and am willing to ‘neglect’ the teaching of content in order to make sure that students understand the importance of autonomous learning and mastery of learning strategies. I am convinced (this is something I would like to study through a comparative study by teaching two classes, one of them being a control group) that making students aware of the instructional goals as well as the ways strategies can be used to reach those goals is a much more effective way not only to obtain better pedagogical results, but to educate learner’s who will have more control over their language education and that will become lifelong learners.   

The biggest challenge in this, at least this what I can derive from my own experience, is to develop the rapport necessary for each student to open up and start looking at learning as an internal process rather than as something you get by someone else teaching in a class. This is probably the first step in transforming students’ minds and having them become willing to take over their own learning process. Put this way, this sounds simple enough but it is not, since it involves constant modeling, discussion, reflection and expertise.  This leads to the second aspect mentioned by Kumaravadivelu: the teachers’ effectiveness of learner training.

In my opinion, making teachers aware of the importance of these matters and, more importantly, having them become effective strategy ‘coaches’ is even harder than developing student’s autonomy. And here I’m taking about of teacher as a social force, not teachers at a particular school. I mean teachers across a country or in the case of the US, a state. Even if we sometimes go crazy with students because they don’t seem to care, because they want to be spoon-fed and not worry about how, why and what they learn, I have been able to meet teachers who work wonders on the most reluctant/indifferent/absent/uninterested/isolated students. No matter what their age is, I’m convinced that a person is always willing to learn if they realize we have something (interesting) to teach them (this is a quote from a Depeche Mode song). Of course, I reckon the idealism in this statement, but to me a teacher is (or should be) the eternal optimistic. Unfortunately, this seems to be the exception, not the rule. And this is to me the biggest challenge: to convince teachers as a whole that teaching is not only transferring knowledge, to make aware of the importance of the student’s agency and ability to control their own learning. This involves loosing what most teachers believe to be their source of authority: the belief that they are the proprietors of knowledge.

Transforming classroom practices require this paradigm shift, which is in itself a educational revolution. It requires changes at all levels in the educational system as well as a close examination of the type of education future teachers receive in college. It involves teaching becoming autonomous themselves so they are able to recognize the value of autonomy for learning. Probably, this requires a whole new generation of teachers to take place so we need to look carefully at how this autonomy is promoted amongst future teachers. 

On writing and standardized testing

Of all the readings, the one that called my attention most was the one by Ferris. It is to my a well-thought, easily understandable piece that resorts to practical issues that can be taken into the classroom and that explains how these activities respond to the research that has been done on the teaching and learning on writing. I have found it very useful both as a consultant at the Writing Program here at ISU and as learner of EFL learner myself.

I found it very easy to relate to this article given the experience I have had working closely with standards and the professional development of teachers of English as a Foreign Language. One of the things that has puzzled me throughout my career has been the distance that exists between what the research on the field of EFL writing (and in general) and the policies made by government institutions. It seems to me that it is a (as we say in Spanish) ‘diálogo de sordos’. This idiomatic expression (which can be offensive to some, for which I apologize but dare to include for the purpose of clarity) basically means that the dialogue is between two people that can’t hear. On the one hand, research shows us that the learning of writing (or any other skill in a second language) takes place under conditions that are totally different to those present at most educational contexts. On the other hand, policy-makers seem to blatantly ignore this fact and continue pushing teachers and students towards failure.  This seems to be the case of standardized testing here in the US (and probably everywhere).

In order to understand this one must look at the bigger picture and consider all the stakeholders involved in the decision-making processes. I will not discuss this further but my whole point is that it is probably necessary that the academia should start thinking about the ways to make their voices heard at the government level. It is my deep belief that whatever research or study scholars do should have as its ultimate and central goal the improvement of society, or at least, a very small portion of it. This is particularly true of education. I see no point in conducting studies will be stock in a library and will be read by new students year after year, without any pragmatic implication for those outside academic communities.

I do understand however that this is no easy task. Having their voice heard by policy-makers can be a nightmare for anyone. But, if scholars do not commit to social change, who will do? The answer to that is simple: companies. And companies will very rarely try to bring benefit to someone but themselves. Behind standardized testing and benchmarks are the biggest multinationals in the world and it is working pretty well for them. I guess what I’m saying here is that there’s a need to think of something like ‘scholar activism’. In Ferris article we see the gap between academia and the processes of standardized testing. Her suggestions on the teaching of writing are very interesting, but unfortunately very difficult to implement in k-12 settings due to the constraints imposed by all the stakeholders in the educational system. In other words, if the trajectory of our best research studies, of our best ideas on the teaching of ESL/EFL writing don’t reach the policy-making level I believe we are throwing our effort in (to continue with the Spanish idioms) ‘saco roto’ (which basically means to store your thing in a bottomless bag).

P.S.This is probably way out of line for our discussion, I recognize that.

Application project

For my application paper I would like to do a book/lit review (haven't decided yet) on the teaching of English as an International Language. In particular, I would lilke to look at two things:

1. What has been written on the nature of EIL, what it looks like, what it sounds like, whether there are descriptive studies on the shapes English takes in countries in the outer circle.
2. The ways different varieties of English are visible in teacher development/education programs particularly in the case of Non Native English Teachers (NNET'S) interact.