The Teacher’s Role in Developing Learner Autonomy

By Candlin & Mynard ePublishing Limited

As the title suggests, it is the teacher who is in the spotlight of this volume on learner autonomy. The issues addressed herein include the specific and ever-changing role of teachers within the context of autonomous learning; an impassioned promotion of professionalism, creativity, reflection, and ability to tune into the minds of students; the effectivity of teaching in general; and, last but not least, the teacher’s own autonomy.

In autonomous learning, learners become “researchers of their own learning”. Likewise, teachers should become “researchers of their own teaching” and, as this book attests, they indeed do. When the focus of their explorations is learner autonomy, the results can include theoretically grounded research papers with practical applications, action research and exploratory practice, and good practice papers which emphasize how learner autonomy is being promoted.

This book is not only written by teachers but also addressed directly to them. Teachers at all levels, in different teaching contexts, and of various languages can benefit from the ideas and adapt them to fit their unique teaching situation and benefit their own students.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Candlin & Mynard ePublishing Limited
• Release date: Jan 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463438138

Book preview

The Teacher’s Role in Developing Learner Autonomy

Edited by Kateřina Sedláčková, Barbora Chovancová and Štěpánka Bilová

Candlin & Mynard ePublishing

Hong Kong

Published by Candlin & Mynard ePublishing Limited at Smashwords

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ISBN: 9780463438138

The Teacher’s Role in Developing Learner Autonomy.

Copyright 2020 Kateřina Sedláčková, Barbora Chovancová and Štěpánka Bilová (Eds.)

Authors of the individual chapters retain copyright over their work.

Candlin & Mynard ePublishing Limited was founded in 2012 and is incorporated as a limited company in Hong Kong (1830010). For further information, please see the website: http://www.candlinandmynard.com

Cover image: Masarykova Univerzita, Brno, by Martin Novacek

This book is copyright material and may not be copied, reproduced, printed, distributed, transferred or used in any way that contravenes the relevant copyright law without written permission from the publishers.

12% of royalties will be donated to IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG in order to support events and scholarships for teachers.

CONTRIBUTORS (in alphabetical order)

Štěpánka Bilová is the Head of the Language Centre Unit at the Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. As an ESP instructor, she specializes in teaching English for Legal Purposes and English for Mathematicians. Her main academic interests include designing syllabi and course materials as well as developing students’ professional skills. She has been involved in activities encouraging autonomous learning, e.g. counselling. She is also keen on using information technology both in and outside the classroom.

Barbora Chovancová teaches English for Legal Purposes at the Masaryk University Language Centre, Brno, Czech Republic. She holds a PhD in English linguistics, having specialized in pragmatic aspects of courtroom interrogation. Apart from her extensive experience in ESP teacher training, she has also been active in the area of designing and developing ELT materials. Her professional interests include mediation as a language skill, counselling, and promoting autonomous learning in and outside the classroom.

Leni Dam began developing language learner autonomy in her own English classes at secondary level in a Danish comprehensive school as far back as in 1973. The experiences gained from her own teaching as well as from her work as an in-service teacher trainer and advisory consultant have resulted in numerous articles and books. Language Learner Autonomy: Theory, Practice and Research (David Little, Leni Dam and Lienhard Legenhausen) was published in 2017. Linked to the development of language learner autonomy, her interests include differentiation, inclusion, and teachers and learners as researchers. Although she retired officially in 2007, she is still active running courses, giving talks and publishing.

Monika Hřebačková is the head of Language Studies and an academic lecturer at MIAS School of Business, Czech Technical University in Prague. She teaches courses on Business English, English for Specific and Academic Purposes, Intercultural Communication, Social Competences and Presentation Skills to B.Sc. and M.Sc. students. She also supervises foreign language teacher training and development. She publishes on these topics in academic journals and presents at international conferences. She has been involved in several national and international projects and recently coordinated the international Erasmus+ project on Intercultural Communicative Competence – A Competitive Advantage for Global Employability (ICCAGE).

Alena Hradilová is responsible for studies and the quality of education at the Masaryk University Language Centre. She is also in charge of internal teacher training (CPD). As an ESP teacher, she is based at the Language Centre's Unit at the Faculty of Law where she specializes in teaching English for Law. Her academic experience covers mainly the use of videoconferencing technology in teaching ESP, ESP methodology and teaching soft skills.

Jana Kubrická teaches English for Specific Purposes and English for Academic Purposes at the Masaryk University Language Centre, Brno, Czech Republic. Her research interests include textbook research and syllabus design in ESP, aspects of identity in language learning and plurilingualism.

Michaela Klírová is a lecturer at the Language Centre of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague. Her professional interests are practice of learner autonomy; the use of authentic materials in the ESP/ESAP courses; and the implementation of personalized, learner-active, and life-long learning habits promoting pedagogical process in compulsory university classes.

Joe Lennon is Assistant Professor at the Masaryk University Language Centre in Brno, Czech Republic. He holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Denver. He has taught English language, literature, and writing in the US, China, and the Czech Republic. For the last three years he has been an active part of the Language Centre’s English Autonomously course, counseling students and leading modules on academic writing.

David Little is a Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Ivana Mičínová is currently based at the University College of Business in Prague. She teaches courses in English for Management, Tourism and Civil Aviation. She has been publishing articles on ESP and EAP related topics such as testing reading comprehension skills, enhancing motivation in academic writing, teaching publishing and presentation skills and using peer feedback to support autonomous learning.

Linda Pospíšilová works as a lecturer at the Language Centre, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic. She teaches ESP and EAP courses in Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral programmes of the Faculty of Chemical Technology. She also deals with LMS Moodle course management, ePortfolio Mahara training and implementation, and mobile assisted learning; with ePortfolio and autonomous learning being her research focus.

Kateřina Sedláčková is Assistant Professor in French and Deputy Director for Research at the Masaryk University Language Centre, Brno, Czech Republic. She teaches French for Lawyers, academic skills in French for Social Science and a CLIL course focused on current political events in France. Her research interests involve motivation to learn languages other than English (LOTEs), learner autonomy, CLIL and portfolio evaluation.

Ladislav Václavík is a teacher-researcher at the Masaryk University Language Centre, Brno, Czech Republic. Specialising in both Business English and French for Specific Purposes (academic, medical), he is mainly interested in creativity, motivation, course-building, ICT, and blended-learning areas.

Jana Zvěřinová is a lecturer at the Department of Language Studies at MIAS School of Business, Czech Technical University in Prague. She teaches courses in English and Spanish with the focus on communication and competence development such as Intercultural Communicative Competence and Social Competences. At MIAS she introduced an international virtual exchange course for M.Sc. students Global Virtual Teams. She also actively partook in the ICCAGE international Erasmus+ project (Intercultural Communicative Competence – A Competitive Advantage for Global Employability). She publishes on the topics of her interest in academic journals and presents at international conferences.

INTRODUCTION

The Teacher’s Role in Developing Learner Autonomy

Kateřina Sedláčková, Barbora Chovancová and Štěpánka Bilová

Masaryk University Language Centre, Brno, Czech Republic

Since its conception in the 1980s, learner autonomy has gained prominence in language learning and teaching both among educational authorities and in hands-on teaching practice. While it has become firmly established in some countries, such as the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Finland, it is still a relatively new concept in others. Teachers with a penchant for autonomy in education as well as in everyday life gathered in Brno in September 2018 for the IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG conference held at the Masaryk University Language Centre. There, all the authors of the chapters printed in this book presented their ideas and theories to a professional audience of like-minded colleagues from several different countries and a range of professional backgrounds. The papers presented herein are based on workshops and presentations held at the conference and were to a greater or lesser extent shaped by the discussions and reflections that followed.

As the title suggests, it is the teacher who is in the spotlight of this volume on learner autonomy. The issues addressed herein include the specific and ever-changing role of teachers within the context of autonomous learning; an impassioned promotion of professionalism, creativity, reflection, and ability to tune into the minds of students; the effectivity of teaching in general; and, last but not least, the teacher’s own autonomy.

In autonomous learning, learners become researchers of their own learning. Likewise, teachers should become researchers of their own teaching and, as this book attests, they indeed do. When the focus of their explorations is learner autonomy, the results can include theoretically grounded research papers with practical applications, action research and exploratory practice, and good practice papers which emphasize how learner autonomy is being promoted.

This book is not only written by teachers but also addressed directly to them. Teachers at all levels, in different teaching contexts, and of various languages can benefit from the ideas and adapt them to fit their unique teaching situation and benefit their own students. It was a real pleasure to be the editors as we had the unique chance to read and re-read all the presented articles and learn from our cooperation with the individual authors.

The main strength of this publication is the variety that it presents, ranging from general thoughts on autonomy to very specific situations and problems that writers faced while facilitating autonomy with their students. Due to this diversity, the reader will have ample opportunity to reflect and think about their own teaching context in light of the ideas presented herein.

In terms of the composition of chapters, the book is structured from the general to the specific. First, it introduces broad topical issues and conceptual themes pertinent for the field of autonomy, both theoretical and practical. The practical themes lead to discussions and descriptions of action research concerning learner autonomy. An interesting issue is raised when looking closely at the concept of teachers, especially in their role as counsellors. A reflection on different facets of the notion demonstrates a diversity in understanding of their roles and functions. The reader will also get a chance to compare teaching situations with various degrees of learner autonomy and then explore several specific tools which foster learner autonomy, such as learner portfolios, information technology, and virtual worlds. These specific topics are then completed with action research investigating the relationship between academic identity and autonomy and with reflexions on the Dogme method.

Here is a brief overview of the individual contributions, including the specific topics of focus:

David Little presents his beliefs and considerations on the role of autonomy in second language learning and identifies key tasks for the future. First, he outlines his own understanding of language learner autonomy, and then he links his theoretical argument with current theories of second language acquisition and dialogic pedagogy. Little argues that second language learning is not only an individual cognitive process but also a social-interactive one. He calls for promoting language learner autonomy and finding ways to firmly integrate it into the language teaching mainstream, teacher education, as well as research. He also proposes questions related to the role of the teacher, embedding the techniques of action research and exploratory practice in the classroom, teacher education, and second language acquisition research.

Leni Dam points out a significant disparity between the fact that even though in many countries autonomy is officially sanctioned by the educational authorities in real life schools report a lack of support, encouragement and space for learner autonomy within foreign language teaching. According to Dam, this discrepancy can be reconciled by the teacher becoming an action researcher. Dam’s paper presents valuable insights into what action research both is and could be. Illustrated by instructive examples, she gives a detailed description of what the research cycle involves and shows how to document action research, structure lessons, and support the learners’ documentation of their learning. She explains that the role of the teacher is to involve students actively in their own learning and provides tools how to overcome the main challenges encountered by the teacher.

Joe Lennon discusses various terms which might be used to describe teachers in their various roles. The debate was first initiated by reflecting on the English Autonomous course at Masaryk University, where students are involved in multiple interactions with teachers. To indicate a shift in the power dynamics in one specific type of interaction, it was felt that a special term should be used. The word chosen was counsellor and the question that arises is whether this is the best title for the specific role. Lennon first summarises existing research into the terminology and then shares his own insights associated with the names and roles teachers could have. He also reports on students’ views on different terms used to describe teachers and the expectation that the word creates in their minds.

Barbora Chovancová, Alena Hradilová and Štěpánka Bilová set out to illustrate how autonomy can be fostered in different teaching contexts, ranging from ones where autonomy is at the forefront to ones where the teacher has to find ways to allow for autonomy within constraints of standard, compulsory ESP courses. Apart from experiential learning, the authors are also firm believers in the effectivity of task-based language learning. In fact, maxi-tasks, which result in real-life-like outcomes, feature in all presented case studies. Students who are involved in all stages (e.g. planning, preforming and reflection) reap such benefits as improvement of fluency and soft skills acquisition. The article concludes by expressing the authors’ belief that students should be trusted and that, if given sufficient framework to work in, they will enjoy autonomy and thrive in it.

Michaela Klírová shares her experience with language journals in an English for Sociology course. When developing the format of the journal, Klírová based her approach on David Little’s three pedagogical principles, namely the principles of learner empowerment, learner reflection and target language use. By keeping language learning journals, students are involved both in the planning of course content and in its assessment. Klírová describes the structure of the journal and gives examples of students’ reflections. She also shares with readers invaluable insights that she has gained while using the journals in her courses.

Linda Pospíšilová presents a detailed account of research aimed at enhancing the level of student autonomy and self-reflective learning via learner portfolios in various ESP courses. The concepts are theoretically grounded in design-based research conducted within a repeated learning cycle. In the courses students use e-portfolios designed by Mahara software. Apart from being a place for creating and gathering learning outcomes and assessment, the software also provides a space for collaboration and interaction. Pospíšilová identifies the most difficult stages of the learning cycle for students and gives several examples from students’ e-portfolios. Even though the learning cycle can be challenging and difficult for students as well as teachers, students often reflect on positive aspects of how it transforms the learning process.

Monika Hřebačková and Jana Zvěřinová have several years’ worth of experience under their belts with running virtual exchanges in their English for Intercultural Communication Course. They describe the framework of virtual exchanges as the grounds for developing learner autonomy because it helps students set their learning goals, organise their work, present their outcomes and participate in the assessment. The authors describe the tasks which students need to perform, identify autonomous learning skills supported by these tasks, discuss external and internal forces influencing the character of virtual exchanges, and provide examples of students’ reflections as well as descriptions of teacher roles.

Ladislav Václavík’s chapter demonstrates new ways that online tools, namely Quizlet, can help promote learner autonomy in Business English classes. The paper explains