Autnomous

Learner
Presented by:
Ziane Nawel

Tahrat Mahjouba
Ben aibout Amina
The Out Line:

Learning :
Definitions
 of learning
Active vs passive learning


Individual differences in learning



Why the move towards learner autonomy



Autonomous learner


Definition
Characteristics of an autonomous learner
How does the teacher foster autonomy in the classroom
Challenges in learner autonomy
What learners need to become autonomous?
What are the strategies of good language learners?
Does fostering learner autonomy affect the teacher’s position?
 Definitions of Learning

“Education is not an affair of telling and being told

but an active constructive process. ”
John Dewey
.

“We define learning as the transformative process of

 taking in information that—when internalized and mixed
with what we have experienced—changes what we know
and builds on what we do. It’s based on input, process,
and reflection. It is what changes us.”
–From The New Social Learning by Tony
Bingham and Marcia Conner
Active vs Passive learning
Passive learning:
 Passive learners may quietly absorb information
and knowledge without typically engaging with the information
received or the learning experience.
 learners are seen as 'container[s] to be filled with the
knowledge held by teachers' .
 Students memorize knowledge mechanically, lack thinking
capacity and be unable to apply practically.
 Active learning:

 Students take an active or participatory role in the learning process,

Knowledge is not passed on by the teacher

 Students have the opportunity to lead learning activities, participate

more actively in discussions,

 Design their own learning projects.explore topics that interest them

and to make choices about their own learning .

 Bonwell (1991) "states that in active learning, students participate in

the process and students participate when they are doing something besides
passively listening."
 
Individual Differences in Learning
Intelligence:
 Each of us exhibit different levels of intelligence (IQ)
 Dr Howard Gardener suggest nine multiple intelligences .
 He argue that no two people have the same intelligences in the same
combination all human beings posses the nine intelligences
in a varying amount.
Aptitude :
 is expresses in interest and current performance which is
expected to be improved over time with training.

Types of Learners:
 There’s no one size fits all when it comes to how you
comprehend information. Everyone is different .
Visual learners:
 Best comprehend information by visualizing
relationships and ideas. Maps, charts, diagrams …
Auditory learners:
 They tend to prefer listening to information rather than
reading it or seeing it .
Kinesthetic learner :
 learn best when they can participate in activities or solve
problems .
Does Learning Occure only at school ?
Why Move Towards Learner
Autonoumy
 constructivism 'leads directly to the proposition that
knowledge cannot be taught but only learned (that is,
constructed)', because knowledge is something 'built up by the
learner' (von Glasersfeld & Smock, 1974: xvi, cited in Candy,
1991: 270).
constructivist approaches encourage and promote self-directed
learning as a necessary condition for learner autonomy.
Teachers should emphasize the guidance of learning strategies .
Once learners grasp suitable learning skills and strategies, they
will be occupied in effective and autonomous learning.
Constructivism learning theory holds that "learning" is the
center and learner autonomy should be given full play. During
the whole learning process, teachers mainly play the role of
organizer, guider and assistor.

 As teachers may not always available to guide and instruct

the learners, it is important for them to be self-motivated
and seld-independent in finding sources as well as in
problem solving.

learners are unique. With different genetic predisposition,

social environment, family condition and life experience.
;This individual difference should also be respected
 The traditional thinking of non-
autonomous learner ( dependent learner)
What does it mean to be an autonomous learner ?
Definition :
An autonomous learner is the one who takes
responsibility for his own learning that is he sets his own
goals, reflects on his progress, and seeks opportunities to
practice outside the classroom. In other words, he is self-
directed in the sense that he acts independently of the
teacher without remaining passive or waiting to be told
what to do. However, this does not mean that the
teachers are totally not needed yet they are facilitators
and guiders for the learners in learning process.
The term "learner autonomy" was first introduced in 1981 by Henri
Holec, the "father" of learner autonomy. After that many definitions
have been given to the term, depending on the writer and the
context.
According to these scholars, learner autonomy is:

1. " the ability to take charge of one's own learning " (Henri
Holec,1981 )
2. "Autonomy is a situation in which the learner is totally responsible
for all the decisions concerned with his [or her] learning and the
implementation of those decisions." (Leslie Dickinson)
3. " Autonomy is your capacity to take responsibility for, and control
of, your own learning, whether in an institutionalized context, or
completely independent of a teacher or institution. " (Thornbury,
2006)
Characteristics of an autonomous learner:
Autonomous learners are:
 Able to monitor and evaluate their own learning.
 pro-active (i.e. they don’t wait for things/people to come to
them).
 Risk takers, i.e., they dare to speak in front of the others even
though they are not fluent .
 Curious and they seek out ways to explore inside and outside
the classroom.
 Critical thinkers, they think critically and there are capable of
working creatively with complex situations.
 Good guessers and they comprehend with little or no
instructions.
 Self-motivated ,they are driven by setting internal goals to
achieve.
 how does the teacher foster autonomy in
the classroom
Talking to students about autonomy and its value from the start.
Provide to the students tasks to do outside the classroom.
Asking students to maintain diaries of their learning experiences
and teaching them how to use tools such as dictionaries to encourage
autonomy(self-monitoring).
Giving students non-classroom responsibilities to accomplish such
as writing instructions, notices, new words on the board for the
teacher.
Encouraging students to use only English in class and telling them
that this is the only opportunity for them to use pure English.
Advancing slowly from being
dependent students to independent.
Praising students for doing well on their
assignments and for putting in extra effort. 
Challenges In Learner Autonomy
 According to Turloui and Stefansdotir (2011), the problems students may
encounter due to this shifting from teacher-dependence to teacher
independence can be classified into two aspects
A discouraging environment :
as mentioned by Holden & Usuki (1999) is where a teacher-
centered class depends on the grammar-translation method
where the students are required to memorize and learn about
mechanical approaches.
Students will not be able to put their learning strategies into
practice in such a discouraging environment. Thus, Holden &
Usuki (1999) concluded that “these learners are not less
autonomous, but the educational and behavioral norms and the
goals of language study had the effect of discouraging learner
autonomy”. Besides a discouraging environment.
Reluctant teachers:
Turloui and Stefansdotir (2011) stated that group work is one of the
foundations of the learner autonomous environment. However,
according to Little (2000), teachers are still not aware of its advantages
and they think that they do not have time for this kind of activities and
that they have syllabus to cover.

. What makes the teachers reluctant? According to Turloiu and

Stefansdottir (2011), a real fear among many teachers was that they
would lose the respect of their learners‟ if they were not in complete
control of the classroom.

 They also added that, these teachers were also worried whether the
learners would be capable of taking control .
 Dickinson (1987) identified eight criteria that can be used as a guide to
distinguish differing degrees of learner autonomy . The criteria are as
follows :

1. Decision to learn : made by learner or by parent /academic system.

2. Method of learning : chosen by the learner ,group or by the teacher .
3. Pace: according to the learner or a set timetable .
4. When/Where: in the home or in an academic or work environment.
5. Materials : chosen or owned by learner or by teacher.
6. Monitoring: progress evaluated by the learner and peers or by the
teacher.
7. Internal assessment :success determined by learner .
8. External assessment : exam board certification or other external
recognition.
Dickinson (1987)
 What do learners need to become
autonomous ?
 The belief that they can learn independently of the teacher and
the classroom setup.
 A willingness to undertake independent learning i.e.to take on
the responsibility in terms of goal setting, time management,
selecting materials and conducting self/peer assessment.
 A realistic and positive attitude to language learning .
 Strategies :this is where the teacher becomes invaluable as a
resource to the aspiring learners.There is a need for learner
training ,as autonomy does not happen overnight .
What are the strategies of the good language learner?
In recent years the intuitions of experienced language teachers
about what makes for successful learner have been backed up
by the findings of research into learner strategies.
Oxford (1990 ) claimed " learning strategies are steps taken by
students to enhance their own learning. " She proposed a more
specific definition of learning strategies as “ Specific actions
taken by the learner to make learning easier ,faster, more
enjoyable ,more self directed ,more effective,and more
transferable to new situations”.
Cognitive strategies: are thought processes used directly in
learning which enable learners to deal with the information
presented in tasks and materials by working on it in different
ways.They refer to resourcing,reasoning,guessing,inferencing
and deducing .
Metacognitive strategies: planning for learning ,goal-setting,self-
management ,organizing and monitoring of one’s own learning.
They involve overseeing regulating or self-directed learning.
Socio-affective strategies:they provide learners with opportunities
for practice.Examples include initiating conversations with
native speakers ,collaborating on tasks ,listening to the radio or
watching TV programmes in the language .
Facilities a self-access centre might contain:

autonomous learning

Using
written texts

Using language Using listening

games cassettes

Using radio Using the

and TV library
 Doesn’t fostering learner autonomy remove the teacher from
the learning process?
• Many learners come to the language class from a background of
authoritative teaching .They are reliant on the teacher for
approval , direction , instruction , organization and learning
strategies .Eventually the learner is equipped to conduct his/her
ongoing learning outside the classroom .
• However ,they should see the teacher as a facilitator and
resource rather than the ‘unquestionable authority’.
Furthermore, although a learner may develop skills of
autonomous learning ,this doesn’t preclude him from
participating in language classroom lessons.
• Autonomy does not equate with working in isolation .The
teacher ,the class and the school are still part of the learner’s
environment.
“ A society with too few independent thinkers is vulnerable
to control by disturbed and opportunistic leaders. A
society which wants to create and maintain a free and
democratic social system must create responsible
independence of thought among its young.”
. John Dewey
‘If a teacher is indeed wise he does not bid
you enter the house of his wisdom,but
rather leads you to the threshold of your
own mind.’ Kahlil Gibran
References
• Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy in foreign language learning.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jones, J. (2001). CALL and the Teacher's Role in Promoting

Learner Autonomy. CALL-EJ Online, 3(1), 1-15.

Wenden, A. L. (1991). Learner strategies for learner autonomy:

Planning and implementing learner training for language
learners. Hertfordshire, UK: Prentice-Hall International.
• Toyoda, E. (2001). Exercise of learner autonomy in project-
oriented CALL. CALL-EJ Online
  - Boud, D. (ed.). 1988. Developing Student Autonomy in
Learning. New York: Kogan Press
• . Holec, H. 1981. Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning.
Oxford:
The end
Thank you for your
kind attention