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The Role of Learner Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning

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 August 2022 – The Role of Learner Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning
HUMANISING LANGUAGE TEACHING (HLT) MAGAZINE
https://www.hltmag.co.uk/aug22/role-of-learner-autonomy

The Role of Learner Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning

Marhabo Avazmatova, Uzbekistan

Marhabo Avazmatova is a Ph.D student in Pedagogy at National University of Uzbekistan

named after Mirzo Ulugbek. She is working on methodology in language teaching online and
offline. At the same time, she is interested in implementing technology and using different tools
in teaching foreign language. Email: [email protected]
Abstract
This article reviews the theoretical basis and implementation of autonomous learning in foreign
language acquisition. Encouraging learners to create materials and being fully involved in the
process is a peculiar feature of autonomy in language learning. Thus, learners should be active and
responsible for their study, errors, and correction. Although this paper discusses the importance of
autonomous language learning, giving the responsibility of creating questions to students
thoroughly, it indicates the role of the teacher is undeniable in the learning process. In the article,
6 strategies are suggested for teachers to create autonomous learning environment. In addition, the
research work suggests and gives examples of how to adopt textbook materials that encourage
deep learning and active participation of students in the learning process.
Introduction
Autonomy in foreign language learning is considered important term in recent years, since learner-
centered approach gain popularity instead of traditional teaching. The concept of autonomous
language learning defined by many scholars over the years to clarify insight. Henri Holec (1981,
p.3), who developed autonomous learning, defined it as “the ability to take charge of one’s own
learning, to take charge of one’s learning is to have the responsibility for all the decisions
concerning all aspects of this learning”. However, Trebbi argues (2006, p.290) that “taking charge
of one's own learning” is a simultaneous action since no studying happens unless the learner is in
charge. Benson and Voller (1997) claimed that autonomous learning as self-regulated
responsibility in learning and it is the sign of good academic performance. Autonomous learning,
according to Little (2008), is the ability to do a task independently, with contextual adaptability
with awareness and reflection. Oxford (2003, p.111) defines autonomous learning more
comprehensively as it is “the ability and willingness to perform a task without assistance, with
adaptability related to the situational demands, with transferability to other relevant contexts, and
with reflection, accompanied by relevant action (the use, usually conscious and intentional, of
appropriate learning strategies) reflecting both ability and willingness”. According to Dam (1990),
autonomous learning is the ability and willingness to engage socially and responsibly both alone
and in collaboration with others. Autonomous learning is confused with the independent learning
in many resources (Najeeb, 2013); however, two of them is not the same in the usage. Independent
learning is studying without teacher, without peers, but it can be done with the aid of any app or
computer program. In autonomous language learning according to Kumaravadivelu (2003),
learners work collaboratively with their teachers and partners as well as administrates. By
reviewing research works, autonomous learning can be summarized as ability to learn
autonomously with a little contribution from the teacher and to socialize with peers to work

https://www.hltmag.co.uk/aug22/role-of-learner-autonomy Marhabo Avazmatova, Uzbekistan

cooperatively, to learn with each other, to reflect obtained knowledge and self- evaluate as well as
peer-assessment. This summary can be described as in the following figure.

Responsibility Reflection

Autonomous Language
Learning

Cooperative work Autonomy

Importance of autonomous language learning

Ping Wang (2011, p.275) argues, “It is much more important to let the students know about their
own learning style if they are to take responsibility of their learning process”. Supportive
involvement of learners' present autonomy is considered as a crucial foundation for its continuous
success. As Baume (1992) claimed it is one of the most crucial target in higher education, students
majoring learning foreign languages ought to be involved in the autonomous learning, take
responsibility for their academic progress. When implementing autonomy in their study, students
are expected to be able to associate their acquired knowledge to real world. Learning becomes a
manner of life rather than a method of memory in this way. Autonomous learners comprehend the
aim of their education process, take full responsibility, take charge in organizing and
performing activities, and critically examine their learning on a regular basis. Learner autonomy
involves awareness, the ability to reflect, and the willingness to be active in self-management and
interactions. The teacher's target is to prepare and keep a learning atmosphere in which students
can be independent and grow as autonomy. When the educational environment is accessible,
students will be more likely to make decisions and request support when required. Learners must
also be trained how to find information and resources even outside the lesson in order to increase
their ability to recognize what is and is not relevant.
Teachers’ role in autonomous language learning
One of the primary goals of teaching English as a foreign language is to promote student autonomy
by positioning the student at the core of the teaching process. In implementing autonomous
learning, teacher’s role is critical and play important role applying encouraged autonomous
environment to support students to make decisions and take control of their own learning. Teacher
should be facilitator and create appropriate atmosphere to encourage students to be more
independent and responsible for their academic achievements. We suggest following strategies for
creating true autonomous environment for foreign language teaching.

https://www.hltmag.co.uk/aug22/role-of-learner-autonomy Marhabo Avazmatova, Uzbekistan

 Develop
Adapt
student's
textbook
language
activities
skills
Compiling
Assessment autonomous,
emphasis valuable
activities

Usage of
Identifying Teacher's student-
learner's aim centered
role approach

a) Identifying learner’s aim – it is assisting students in comprehending their actual objectives

and formulating strategies to allow them to identify the information or feedback they
require in order to gain academic success. From the early stage of the learning foreign
language, students should know their actual goal and real purpose of studying foreign
language. If students struggle to clarify their purpose of learning foreign language, teachers
should help them to identify it by asking questions like:
Why do you want to learn English rather than Spanish or French?
What do you want to do after finishing the course or getting a language proficiency
certificate?
Do you need to learn English for getting a job or academic purpose?
What skill do you want to develop listening/speaking/reading/writing or all of them?
These questions are just examples, EFL teachers can give any other questions to contribute
learners their objectives of learning English.
b) Assessment emphasis – using a combination of peer and self-assessment to monitor
constantly the student learning progress. It is important to track learning progress in
teaching foreign language, as there will be a chance to improve weak points during the
process rather than after finishing the course. As mentioned in the article reflection is the
key element in implementing autonomous language learning, it can be achieved by
continues self-evaluation, peer-assessment and continuous assessment with thorough
feedback. When students able to find out their own and peer’s errors and learn how to
correct them, they are considered autonomous language learners.
c) Develop student's language skills – enhance the development of students’ language skills.
When applying autonomous language learning teachers may focus on studying
independently and working collaboratively but it should be always keep in mind that
primary purpose of the teaching foreign language is improving student’s language skills.
It should not be denied that at the end of the course students are tested how well they
learned foreign language rather that how well they work autonomously. In other words,
teachers should not underestimate importance of language skills while applying
autonomous language learning.
d) Adapt textbook activities – Adapt ready-made textbook materials to encourage students’
critical thinking and give them freedom to create activities themselves and motivate to
make decisions independently. Many recent textbook activities designed to trigger
student’s critical thinking skill and language skill at the same time. However, in many cases
ready-made activities for only remembering or understanding of the content in learning

https://www.hltmag.co.uk/aug22/role-of-learner-autonomy Marhabo Avazmatova, Uzbekistan

 foreign language, when applying Bloom’s taxonomy (Armstrong, 2010).

To adapt materials, students should apply learned knowledge and use given information in a
new situation. By reflecting their own learning process or during self-evaluation or peer-
assessment, students are expected to acquire analyzing and evaluating skills. To reach the top
of the taxonomy to produce new and original work, students should learn how to create
activities themselves. By doing these stages, future foreign language teachers learn how to
adapt activities as well as develop assessment skills. Following example can be given to
encourage students to create, analyze and evaluate materials.
Example 1
Original task:
“Listen to the four people talking about their jobs. After each one answer these questions.
1. What do they find stressful about their jobs?
2. What do they do to relax or stay calm?
3. What are they doing at the moment?” (Soars & Hancock, 2019, ex3, p.30)
Adapted task:
1. Listen to the four people talking about their jobs (audio given).
2. Create 4 comprehension questions for each person.
3. Work in small groups with 4 or 5 students. Collect created comprehension questions of
each student in the group.
4. Choose 5 best comprehension questions by deciding it as a group.
5. After choosing 5 best comprehension questions ask and answer chosen 5 comprehension
questions with another group.

Example 2
Original task:
“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. (Confucius).
Read the quote. Is this true for you or anyone you know?” (Soars & Hancock, 2019, p.29)
Adapted task:
1. Work in small groups with 3 or 4 students. Write short opinion essay (100 words) for the
quote by Confucius “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your
life.”
2. Swap essays with another group and check other group’s essay according to the given
“Opinion essay rubric”.
3. Indicate evidence for each mistake and prove that it is a real mistake.

e) Compiling valuable activities – organizing the portfolio of valuable activities that

encourage creating autonomous learning environment. When adapting activities it would
be better to take note that which one is successful or not. Successful ones can be
https://www.hltmag.co.uk/aug22/role-of-learner-autonomy Marhabo Avazmatova, Uzbekistan
 complied as a portfolio and use them for another group or revise it again. By collecting
adapted activities, teachers save time as well as have collection of resource.
f) Usage of student-centered approach – adapt autonomous method of teaching that
contribute to organize student-centered lessons and give a chance to work collaboratively.
In teaching foreign languages students should be at the center of the lesson, student’s needs,
interests and learning style always should be taken into consideration.
Disadvantages of autonomy learning
Even if autonomous language learning has many advantages and ubiquitous usage of teaching
foreign language, some disadvantages are obstacles to conduct effective language teaching.
 It might be challenging to get students to make decisions – since teacher make decision in
the classroom traditionally, in the beginning it seems difficult for learners to decide what
to learn and how to learn autonomously. Students can make wrong decisions and it may
take time to reach desired goal. Of course, in such circumstances teacher guide students to
correct their mistakes.
 Wasting time – teachers may not find enough ready-made exercises ideal for autonomous
learning in the course book and need to spend more time adopting or creating new ones. In
the initial stage it is obvious adapting or creating new activities take time but later when
teacher compile adapted/created materials as a valuable activity portfolio, it can be reused
for another groups with little change.
 Challenge in abandoning fossilized authoritative teaching habits – it may be challenging to
abandon old classroom management strategies in favor of new or modified ones. Teachers
use authoritative teaching habits traditionally and it may be tough for them to trust the
students' capacity to take control.
 Criticizing learners – teachers may criticize learners for failing to appreciate the amazing
chance they have been given. As a result, they may return to the traditional teacher-centered
classroom in order to regain control.
Conclusion
As the last word, it can be said that autonomous learning plays an essential role in teaching foreign
languages. Usage of autonomous learning encourages teachers to create materials themselves that
contribute to students reaching upper levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. For students, autonomous
language learning is essential with the features of active participation in the learning process. As
a result, students become more involved in their studies and the error-correction process. Instead
of doing ready-made activities to create questions themselves, students are encouraged to learn
deeply and actively engage in the learning process.

References
Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved
11.05.2022 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/
Baume, D. (1992). Developing learner autonomy, SEDA Paper 84. Staff and Educational
Development Association: Birmingham UK.
Benson, P., & Voller, P. (Eds.) (1997). Autonomy and independence in language learning.
London: Longman.
Dam, L. (1990). Developing awareness of learning in an autonomous language learning context.
In R.Duda & P. Riley (Eds.), Learning styles (pp. 189-97). Presses Universitaires de Nancy.
Holec. H (1981). Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon.

https://www.hltmag.co.uk/aug22/role-of-learner-autonomy Marhabo Avazmatova, Uzbekistan

 Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003). Beyond Methods: Macrostrategies for language teaching. New
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Knowledge about Language (pp. 247–258). New York: Springer Science.
Najeeb, S.R. (2013). Learner autonomy in language learning. Social and Behavioral Sciences,70,
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Soars, J & L., & Hancock, P. (2019). Headway 5th edition, intermediate student’s book, ex3, p.30.
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Learning: To what Extent does Theory Inform Practice? Theory and Practice in Language Studies,
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