Learner autonomy learning circle week 2(Betul, Tira, Dona, Mike )

From the examples of Dickinson’s article, the teachers play crucial role in terms of raising learners’ awareness in language learning strategies and their needs and wants. Actually, learners have their own strategies when learning a language and the role of teacher is helping students to find out the most useful strategies of learning.


With regard to the similar experience of playing the role of promoting learner autonomy, our group members tried to raise the learners’ awareness of affective factors. She shared her personal learning experience of language learning and mentioned she was not a successful language learner when she was in junior high school. The purpose of sharing her previous learning experience is to introduce the factors which help or hinder language learning. Realizing that there is nothing impossible in terms of mastering a target language and the most important thing of learning is effort and believe. After that, she also introduced some learning strategies to her students. Another example from my group member, she imposed social strategy on promoting learner autonomy in her class. Asking students who gets higher marker of exams to share their learning strategies with class. Also, asking students to take note in terms of one listening task and ask them to share what strategies they use for taking note(e.g. mind map or write down key points). We agree that near peer role model and also social strategy might help learners to be more autonomous.


After discussion, we all agree that there are three key points in terms of learner training:

1. What to learn?
2. Why to learn?
3. How to learn?

In order to help learners become more autonomous, the above points should be considered by teachers before the class. However, it is still difficult if we want to apply learner training for the vast majority of the time in our context. For example, it is a tough test for language teachers to teach linguistic knowledge and promote learner autonomy at the same time, particularly given the restrictions on time.