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I-Literature review on learner autonomy in
education
«Precisely because autonomous learners are
motivated and reflective learners, their learning is efficient and effective
(conversely, all learning is likely to succeed to the extent that the learner
is autonomous). And the efficiency and effectiveness of the autonomous learner
means that the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom can be applied to
situations that arise outside the classroom.».(Little, 2006:2)
In fact, there are many reasons behind introducing the notion
of learner autonomy in language learning; psychological, social and practical.
First, most psychologists and educationalists agree that excellent learners are
necessarily motivated and independent individuals who are in charge of their
own learning. As Little (2006) defines autonomy as «a basic human need. It
is nourished by, and in turn nourishes, our intrinsic motivation, our proactive
interest in the world around us.» (Little 2006:2). Second, when taking the
social factors into account, autonomy is an essential aspect of a democratic
society which requires autonomous citizens able to make decisions and choices
regarding their everyday life. In this context, Knowles (1975) asserts that
when individuals are free to choose for themselves, their societies will be
healthier and happier. Thus, it is important to prepare learners for autonomy
from an early age since the conception of the individual in the society is no
longer that of man as a product of his society «but that of man as the
producer of his society.» (Jane, 1977: 15).
Third, autonomy allows learners to get the chance to be involved,
and thus they can practice the acquired knowledge outside school and apply it
in real life situations.
15-5-Benefits of Promoting Learner Autonomy in EFL
Classroom
Autonomy in learning is considered as an undeniable factor in
enhancing individuals' learning abilities which make learners more competent
and skillful to be in charge o their learning process, achieve their goals and
solve their learning problems. Hence, the primary purpose of autonomy is to
prepare students to take an activate role in order to gain the appropriate
skills and attitudes they need in both academic and social participation.
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I-Literature review on learner autonomy in
education
Recently, in the field of second and foreign language, there
has been a new change which shifts learning from teachers to learners, in focus
from how to improve the teaching situation to how individual learners go
through their learning. Hence, learner autonomy is very important idea in EFL
class whether at the level of theory or empirically where both teachers and
learners have the opportunity to be involved in the process of learning and
teaching.
According to Little (2003), learning is seen as a spiral
process where new levels of autonomy are acquired as the learners move through
new phases of independence. The importance of learner autonomy is being on
developing positive relation between the present and future learning targets.
In addition to that, autonomy helps learners to be better language learners due
to their intrinsic motivation and their reflective engagement with the learning
process. Thus they are being a lifelong (continuing) learning of constantly
developing awareness. In addition, Little (2004) demonstrates three beliefs
that elucidate learner autonomy in the EFL classroom. Firstly, the learner is
in total control of his or her own learning. Secondly, the capacity of the
individual learner to work alone develops learning language skills in
collaboration with the rest of the peers. Thirdly, both language learning and
language use are maximized throughout the process. Whereas, Dam (1995) sees
that promoting learner autonomy is a demanding task, according to him:
«Developing learner autonomy is a long,
difficult and often painful process, not least for the teacher. It demands
constant effort on the part of teacher and learners; not only as individuals
but in collaboration with one another... it is an experience-based learning
process for teachers and learners alike.» (Dam, 1995:6)
16-Language skills and attended competencies
The Language skills are classed in three main components as the
C.E.F.of Reference for
language teaching ,learning and assessment , that are :
? Understanding , which comprises listening and reading;
? Speaking, which comprises spoken interaction and spoken
production;
? Writing.
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