3.5.

Learner Autonomy
3.5.1 Autonomy
We touched on autonomy previously. It’s a critical element in successful teaching, so let’s draw it all
together.
Effective learners generally take responsibility for their learning, both inside and outside the classroom.
Therefore, effective learners take steps to become autonomous.
Autonomous learners:

 are aware of learning strategies and learning preferences

 do not hold back from the learning task at hand
 are willing to take risks, i.e., to communicate in the target language at all costs
 are good guessers
 address the form and structure of the language as well as content; that is, accuracy and
appropriateness are both essential to them
 are willing to revise and reject hypotheses and rules that do not apply

Studies have shown that as learner autonomy increases, so does learner motivation. And, thus, so do learning
results.
While the competent teacher will always try to get his learners to become autonomous learners, learners can
also learn to become more autonomous on their own.
These days, in some schools, there are just as many learner resources available as there are classroom
materials. For example, learners can access grammar reference books, dictionaries, lexis exercise books, and
CD-ROMs that supplement the main textbook series. There are also endless online learning resources.
And, remember that there are also many ways for learners to get exposure to English outside the classroom,
even if they are living in a non-English speaking context.
Here are a variety of ways in which you can increase learner autonomy.

1. Learner Journals
Use journals for different purposes. Here are some examples:
Encourage your learners to keep a learning journal of new words and their meanings (with a sentence
showing the usage of the word), then learn these and later test them out in the classroom in pairs.
A dialogue journal is an ongoing written dialogue between the learner and you, akin to writing notes or short
letters to each other. It is used specifically for assessing writing ability, but it is also useful for gaining insight
into the learner’s views, goals, motivation, and attitude to learning.
An open-ended journal allows a place for learner reflection and commentary. The learner chooses what they
feel they should address in their learning, e.g., what they should read, questions to ask, how they might apply
the learning to their personal experience, etc.
2. Self-And Peer-Assessment
In self-assessment, the learners are asked to reflect and rate themselves on their performances.
In peer assessment, a learner assesses another learner’s work. Remember this: The youngest of learners,
though, are not able to give very detailed peer feedback because they are not yet ready to think in-depth.

3. Self-Access Centre (SAC)

A self-access centre is simply a place in your classroom or another designated room, where your learners can
work independently or in pairs at their own pace.

4. Outside-Classroom Activities
Allowing your learners to practise activities outside the classroom will enhance autonomy. For example, they
may discuss the route to the park or public library with their peers. They may say hello to passers-by or talk to
the librarian in the public library and ask for a book. Or they may discuss road signs amongst themselves, and
so on.

5. Strategy Training
We have already explored several strategies for better learning. The more learners use these strategies, the
more autonomous they will become.

6. Goal Setting
If you aim to get the best out of your learners, it’s important to remember that setting learning goals is not all
down to you.
You should encourage your learners to set their own goals in some areas. What do they want to be able to do?

7. (Online) Dictionaries And Resources

Demonstrate the value and benefits of utilising a good English language dictionary, in hard copy or online.
Then encourage them to use this resource independently – and frequently. The same applies to other language
resources.

8. Homework
Teachers have different opinions on the use of homework.
Our long experience tells us that it is a potent activity for increasing autonomy – and learning.
It needs to be issued regularly, and there should be open-ended pieces, allowing the learners to respond as they
wish to the content and length.
To get the best out of it, it needs to be well-planned and inspiring. And, wherever possible, it should involve
the learners’ parents or caregivers – even where the parents or caregivers do not speak English.
Here is an activity we have used on many occasions with young learners whose parents did not speak English.

1. We encouraged the parents/caregivers to supply their child with a memory stick. We ‘bought’ the
parents/caregivers into participating – merely listening to the child’s pronunciation of the
words/expressions on the stick and encouraging the child.
2. For pronunciation practice, we recorded lots of relevant and practical words and short phrases onto
each stick. The content progressed from easy to hard.
3. The only ‘rule’ was that the learners needed to practise the words/expressions in order. There were no
‘rules’ as to how many they needed to practise and no timescale was set.
4. The results were remarkable. The class learned much more in a quicker timescale than classes where
this activity was not used. This kept us well ahead of the syllabus.

9. Learner ‘Experts’/ ‘Helpers’

You will increase your learners’ autonomy if you encourage them to be ‘experts’ and ‘helpers’.
An ‘expert’/’helper’ who has finished first could, for example, help others in her group who are struggling a
bit.
Remember this! It’s essential to try and get everyone involved in a role. Don’t just choose the seemingly
higher achievers all the time. Learners have different attributes. The seemingly high achiever in listening and
speaking may not be so good at writing skills or pronunciation.