As EFL teachers most of us have experienced a profound feeling of frustration especially when we have spent long hours designing activities to maintain our learners motivated and engaged. We then discover that our students are reluctant to use the language in pairs or groups or to participate in collaborative activities. And to our deepest disappointment, students do not reflect on their learning process and are not able to learn from their errors.
The main cause of this problem is the passive role that learners assume concerning their learning process. They tend to rely on their teacher and do not seem able to take responsibility for their learning outcomes. Moreover, we must acknowledge that even genuinely motivated students do not always attain their full potential. It is also unrealistic to assume that encouraging and motivating learners to participate actively will turn them into autonomous learners.
What's learners' autonomy?
According to the British Council, "Autonomy means the ability to take control of one's own learning, independently or in collaboration with others...an autonomous learner will set their own goals, reflect on their progress, and seek opportunities to practise outside the classroom" (2022). However, learners MUST be taught "how to learn".
First, learners need to become aware of the ways they learn best, which involves their learning styles and strategies (Brazis, Kavaliauskienë, 2000). This might take time and teachers ought to guide them in this process to find out which activities and techniques are suitable for them.
Second, learners need to make significant decisions about what, how, and when to learn (Van Lier, 1996). The teacher's role is to encourage students to search for interesting materials such as websites, online magazines, blogs, podcasts, video tutorials, etc.
Finally, students need to be given more chances to work in a student-centered classroom and more opportunities for self-assessment. This involves the students in the elaboration of tasks and activities and the administration of assessment instruments.
Associated to A-ssesssment and A-utonomy, the topics in this entry, I found an interesting research paper in which Bhattacharya and Chauhan (2010)investigated the effects of blogging in the development of autonomy in an EFL context. A group of 35 students was asked to create blog reports at the end of a project in order to study the relationship between learner autonomy and blog-assisted language learning. Their findings revealed that blogging impacted positively the development of learner autonomy constructs such as independent decision-making skills, independence, and intrinsic motivation, among others.
In my personal experience, I can assure dear colleagues that blogging has given me the power of self-reflection and great insight. As an abecedarian in this field, I found writing and sharing my thoughts quite gratifying and I am also eager to start this empowering project with my students in order to foster autonomy and reflection.
What about you? Are you ready to initiate a blogging project with your students?
There are many free recommended apps on the web to begin a blog, but so far my favorite has been blogger, and I assume that many of you are now quite familiar with Google suite. Thus, why not give it a try?
References:
Bhattacharya, A., and Chauhan, K. (2010). Augmenting learner autonomy through blogging. ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal,64 (4)
Brazis, R and Kavaliauskienë, G Application of Multiple Intelligences Theory to Teaching English, in 'Network', A Journal for English Language Teacher Education, Vol. 3, No 2, April 2000, pp. 47-51.
Van Lier, 1. (1996). The AAA curriculum interaction in the Language Curriculum: Awareness, autonomous, and authenticity. London, New York: Longman.
