Question:
Submitted by Urip, Indonesia
What is meant by an autonomous learner?
Dr. Richards responds:
Learner autonomy refers to the principle that learners should take an increasing amount of responsibility for what they learn and how they learn it. Autonomous learning is said to make learning more personal and focused and, consequently, is said to achieve better learning outcomes, since learning is based on learners’ needs and preferences. It contrasts with the traditional teacher-led approach in which most decisions are made by the teacher. There are five principles for achieving autonomous learning:
- Active involvement in student learning.
- Providing options and resources.
- Offering choices and decision-making opportunities.
- Supporting learners.
- Encouraging reflection.
In classes that encourage autonomous learning:
- The teacher becomes less of an instructor and more of a facilitator.
- Students are discouraged from relying on the teacher as the main source of knowledge.
- Students’ capacity to learn for themselves is encouraged.
- Students’ awareness of their own learning styles is encouraged.
- Students are encouraged to develop their own learning strategies.
An example of the application of the principles of learner autonomy is the Council of Europe’s European Language Portfolio, which is intended to help support autonomous learning on a wide scale. The ELP has three components: a language passport, which summarizes the owner’s linguistic identity; a language biography, which provides for a reflective account of the learner’s experience in learning and using the foreign language; and a dossier, in which the learner collects evidence of his or her developing proficiency in the language. The ELP involves regular goal setting and self- assessment.
For many teachers, learner autonomy is an important facet of their teaching, which they seek to realize in a number of different ways – for example, through careful analysis of their learners’ needs, through introducing and modelling strategies for independent learning, through giving learners techniques they can use to monitor their own learning, through regular consultation with students to help learners plan for their own learning and through the use of a self-access centre where a variety of self-directed learning resources are available.