If the learner is to take increasing responsibility for progress and the teacher aims to facilitate, not control, the language-learning process, then autonomous learning becomes crucial. Autonomous learning does not mean self-instruction or learning without a teacher. Rather it is a way of complementing face-to-face tuition which makes learning more productive and develops independence. Educational research has long recognised that learning is less effective the more learners depend on the teacher and the less they take responsibility for their own learning. Therefore the emphasis currently being placed on the role of the learner in the pedagogical process is to be welcomed (see Chapter 2).
In a world which is changing so rapidly students need not so much to accumulate a set body of knowledge as to learn how to acquire knowledge both now and in the future. Language teaching thus implies the development of transferable language- learning skills based on an understanding of what makes an effective language learner. There are four essential elements here.
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1 Understanding how languages are learnt
Providing students with an insight into the nature of language learning means explaining to them the reasons for engaging in particular classroom activities but also teaching them proven strategies for:
• learning vocabulary:for example, using word roots and affixes, guessing strategies, word cards, imagery or other mnemonics (Nation, 2001);
• learning grammar: colour-coding structures, using mnemonics for rules;
• reading: activating background knowledge, making use of titles or illustrations, skimming and scanning texts, spotting cohesive and coherence markers (Nuttall, 1996);
• listening: listening with a purpose, practising gist listening by using background knowledge, listening with and without a text (Broady, 2002);
• writing: producing drafts, checking written work, spotting errors (Sharpling, 2002);
• speaking: reading and repeating after a tape for pronunciation, learning phrases and techniques for seeking repetition/explanation, exploring ideas for increasing oral interaction outside the classroom (Tyler, 2003);
• making the most of CALL and the internet: working in pairs/individually, focusing on personal weaknesses, using FL spell-checkers, accessing online dictionaries and using the internet as a source of information and means of communication (Dudeney, 2000;
Davies et al., 2005).
Such strategies and techniques can usefully be listed in a course or module guide at the start of the year but should also be integrated into language-learning tasks themselves in order to demonstrate their relevance and applicability and to encourage their transfer to similar tasks beyond the classroom.
2 Identifying preferred learning style
Learning styles denote students’ individual approaches to learning. They are largely determined by a person’s psychological make-up but are also shaped, to a lesser extent, by upbringing and education. A distinction is normally made between cognitive styles (how we process information) and learning styles (how we acquire and retain information). Although research has found distinct strengths and learning preferences for such major cognitive styles as ‘field independent/field dependent’ and ‘holistic/analytic’, there appears to be no overall advantage in language learning for either style.
There have been various attempts to classify learning styles, including analytical, concrete, communicative and authority oriented or visual, auditory and haptic (for an overview and an established learning styles questionnaire, see Littlemore, 2002). We should remember, however, that any style identified in a particular student is only ever a ‘preferred’ style and that the most effective learners apply different styles strategically 332 ❘ Teaching in the disciplines
for different purposes, in different contexts. Furthermore, a learning approach can be strongly affected by such factors as assessment.
While style classifications can help explain elements of student behaviour that may otherwise remain perplexing, research suggests it is impossible to effect any significant change in students’ learning styles. When confronted with a group of students who evince different learning styles, language tutors can therefore at best ensure that learning activities both in and out of the classroom are varied, so that all styles are accommodated for at least some of the time. (For a list of helpful ideas, see Littlemore, 2002: 13.3.4.)
3 Understanding the role of affective factors
Important though learning styles are, students’ motivation is ultimately the major factor in successful language learning (Dửrnyei and Csizer, 1998; Dửrnyei, 2001; see also Chapter 3). Lambert and Gardner (1972) distinguish ‘integrative’ from ‘instrumental’ motivation;
the former indicates a genuine interest in the foreign country and the speakers of L2, while the latter denotes greater concern for the practical benefits of learning the language, such as gaining a qualification or using it to further one’s career. Integrative motivation and close identification with the target culture seem to be more successful in motivating learners to persist with the long, demanding process of L2 learning. The further students move towards the integrative end of this continuum, the more likely they are to succeed.
However, the importance in HE of ‘resultative’ motivation should also not be forgotten:
self-reinforcing successes and achievements are often a key motivator for advanced learners, suggesting that motivation often derives from successful language learning rather than being at the root of it and that the cause/effect model is thus often more blurred than many assume.
Unlike other disciplines, language learning requires students to forsake part of their own identity: their sense of self as defined by their relation to a particular language community. They also have to adopt once more the uncertain role of the imperfect speaker with its inevitable sense of insecurity and anxiety (see Oxford, 1999). Success will depend to a considerable extent on how they cope with these two factors.
Teachers need to be sensitive to all these motivational issues, both in the image they present of the foreign country and its people, and in the way they structure classroom activities to handle students’ uncertainties.
4 Being involved in shaping the course
Involving students in the organisation of the course implies some or all of the following:
• seeking student preferences as to topics
• allowing students some say in the choice of materials
• engaging students in independent information-gathering
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• involving them in individually chosen project work
• linking tuition to a range of activities in open learning facilities.
In summary, learners need to accept responsibility for their language learning, to develop the capacity to reflect on their individual learning style and to use that reflection to shape the content and process of subsequent learning.