Our next Twitter chat will take place on Thursday 4th September at 8.30pm Sydney time (check here to see the time where you are) and will be on the zeitgeisty topic of ‘learner autonomy’. We are privileged to have this chat guest-moderated by Phil Benson, who is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Macquarie University, and has researched and published in the area of learner autonomy and informal language learning beyond the classroom for many years. Phil has put together a few questions to whet the appetite and we look forward to discussing them on Thursday. Enjoy!
Pre-chat thinking
1. What does ‘autonomy’ mean to you, personally, in your own learning, teaching, or professional development?
2. If you are interested in autonomy and another teacher isn’t interested in it at all, how do you think that would show up in your teaching?
3. In Autonomy in language teaching and learning: How to do it ‘here’, I listed 10 pedagogical strategies that I think contribute to learner autonomy in the classroom (NB: there’s a brief explanation of each on pp. 10-11 of the article):
- encouraging student preparation
- drawing on out-of-class experience
- using ‘authentic’ materials and ‘real’ language
- independent inquiry
- involve students in task design
- encouraging student-student interaction
- peer teaching
- encouraging divergent student outcomes
- self- and peer-assessment
- encourage reflection
So my questions are:
- Which strategies have you used in your own teaching?
- Which strategies could you use more?
- Are there any strategies that you find problematic?
- Any strategies to add?
4. Autonomy can be defined as ‘the capacity to control one’s own learning’ with 98 characters to spare. What would you add?
Pre-chat reading (optional!)
Benson, P. Autonomy in language teaching and learning: How to do it ‘here’.
Smith, R (2008). Learner autonomy. ELTJ, 62(4), 395-397.
Looking forward to discussing these questions and others relating to learner autonomy in Thursday’s chat!
#AusELT 