A historical overview

The development of autonomy gained support a long time ago in cognitive psychology through philosophers’ ideas such as Galileo, Rousseau, and Dewy.

Galileo, for instance, believed that “you cannot teach a man anything you can only help him find it within himself” (Benson,2000, p.22).

Similarly, Dewy (1933) emphasized the importance of autonomy in learning stating: “The starting points of activities must be the learner’s own felt needs so that educational aims must be those of the learners rather than those of the teachers” (cited in Benson,2000,p.22).

In the same vein, the development of psychology started to focus more on the individual, claiming that the latter should be given a central place in his/her development.

Constructivism, a learning theory was dominating as a reaction against the 1950s and 1960s behaviourism that defines learning as a passive accumulation of information. It advocates the shift from the transmission model of learning to the experiential model where learning is discovered rather than thought (Benson & Voller, 1997).

With the development of learner-centred approaches to teaching, teachers’ and learners’ roles were changing. Learners are no longer considered passive recipients of knowledge, but active participants who are involved in the teaching-learning process.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a variety of approaches that fit beneath the umbrella of student-centred learning emerged;  all of which include autonomous learning among them the learner-centred curriculum, the negotiated syllabus, project-based learning, etc.

These approaches aim to offer greater flexibility of timetable and syllabus while making learning more centred, more motivating, and more efficient.

The development of the internet and the advancement of digital technology have stimulated individuals’ interest to learn, discover, and search for information for themselves.

Such attitudes are required to respond to the globalization challenges which are imposing a new paradigm in education where ‘the self’ plays a significant role in the learning process.

Learner autonomy definition

Learner autonomy has been defined as the ability or attitude to take charge of one’s learning.

An autonomous learner is one who independently sets aims and goals for his/her learning, and exercises a choice over the learning materials, tasks, and methods. He/she also reflects regularly on his/her learning, selects and uses effective learning strategies, and monitors his/her learning progress.

This means, that to get autonomous, learners need to build up a skill set that allows them to control their learning.

So, learner autonomy needs to be fostered mostly by formal learning where learners are provided with the necessary tools which may help develop their autonomy. This process is labeled ‘autonomization’ (Little, 2003).

However, the learner’s possession of knowledge and skills does not necessarily pave the way to autonomous learning if they are not provided with a context that supports their feelings of autonomy. Learners need to feel motivated and self-efficacious to use such skills and knowledge effectively.

To foster autonomy, we need to help our students develop the ability to have certain control over their learning (through modeling and providing practice) and also boost their feeling of motivation and self-confidence to engage successfully in its process (through feedback and incentives).

This also implies that autonomy depends on the context where learning is taking place. If this context restrains learners’ freedom of choice they may not develop their autonomy even if they are willing to do so.

So, autonomous learning cannot be practised without giving authority to this feeling and recognizing students as legitimate members who can involve in making decisions over their learning process.

Learner autonomy and other related concepts

Autonomy in learning has been related to terms like self-instruction, self-direction, self-access, and independent learning. Yet, these relate to autonomy but they are not synonyms of it since they describe various ways and degrees of learning by yourself.

What is then the difference between learner autonomy and these terms?

Self-instruction

Within self-instruction, the learner, with others or alone, is working without the direct control of a teacher. Still, the teacher remains the one who makes decisions concerning what and how to learn, in addition to how it is assessed.

This is not autonomy since learners have to be involved in making such decisions.

Besides, learner autonomy does not imply working alone. Nor does it negate the teacher’s role. Students need to receive guidance to develop effective strategies so that they do not “waste a lot of time through the use of ineffective strategies and eventually come to the conclusion that autonomous approaches simply do not work“(Sheerin, 1997, pp.63-4).

Self-direction

Self-direction is a particular attitude to the learning task, where learners accept responsibility for all the decisions about their learning but they act independently unless they are told how to do that. They are, thus, in need of an expert’s instructions (not possessing the knowledge/skills to control their learning).

Also, learners can make such decisions without being conscious of this process. Unlike autonomous learning which involves conscious reflection and decision-making, (meta-cognitive processes).

So, the type of choices autonomous learners make is more likely to be efficient and used effectively than those made by self-directed learners. Because they are based on ‘their conceptual understanding’ of their way of learning, their knowledge, and the different learning strategies (Reinders, 2000).

Self-access

It refers to the materials that are made available for learners to learn without depending a lot on the teacher. So, they can work without a teacher or with very limited teacher support.

Teachers can perform roles such as counselor, evaluator, assessor, manager, organizer, and information provider while learners can act as a planner, self-assessor, and organizers.

Self-access cannot be equated with learner autonomy since it refers to the materials that can help learners develop their autonomy.

Still, using self-access materials does not necessarily imply making learners autonomous since autonomy does not depend on learning in a particular way as pointed out by several scholars (Sturtridge,1997).

It depends rather on the freedom that learners have to take control of their learning. and on devising a system that provides them with the choice of learning in their way (Cook, 2001). So, if these are provided, self-access learning can support the development of learners’ autonomy.

Independent learning

Does learner autonomy mean being independent in one’s own learning?

There has been a misconception that learner autonomy entails absolute independence from the teacher.

Since it requires a set of skills and strategies, besides conscious awareness of the learning process, the teacher’s support is necessary to achieve that aim.

Thus, learner autonomy does not mean learning alone without a teacher. Learners have a role to assume which needs to be related to appropriate and environmental support, rather than with withdrawal or total detachment. Interdependence is crucial to the development of their autonomy.

Providing support to our students is necessary, but we should also allow certain freedom or independence to help them get autonomous.

This is so since autonomy also has an individual dimension, where learners’ reflection on their learning, motivation, their personal needs, learning styles, and self-assessment count.

Our support needs to guide, support, and nudge students to be autonomous rather than encouraging their passivity and reliance on us.

Therefore, we need to be well-prepared and well-equipped to know what kind of support our students need to develop their autonomy, in addition to when and how this support should be provided in accordance with the learning context.

References

Benson, P.(2000). Autonomy as a learners’ and a teachers’ right. In B. Sinclair, T. Mc   Grath & T. Lamb (Eds.). Learner autonomy, teacher autonomy:  Future   Directions. Harlow: Longman.

Benson, P., & Voller, P. (1997). Autonomy and independence in Language Learning.London: Pearson Education Limited.

Cook, V.(2001). Second language learning and second language teaching. London: Arnold.

Little, D.(2003). Languages in the post-primary curriculum. Dublin: NCCA.

Reinders, H. (2000). Do it yourself? A learners’ perspective on learner autonomy and self-access language learning in an English proficiency programme. Unpublished MA Dissertation. The University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

Sheerin, S.(1997). An exploration of the relationship between self-access and independent learning. In P. Benson, & P. Voller (Eds.), Autonomy and independence in language learning. London: Longman.

Sturtridge, G.(1997). Teaching and Language Learning in Self-access Centres: Changing Roles? In P. Benson & P. Voller (Eds.), Autonomy and independence in language learning. Harlow: Longman.