Teacher Role in Developing of Learners Autonomy in EFL Secondary School Classroom - Literature review Example

What is the role of the teacher in developing of learner’s autonomy in EFL Secondary school classroom in Saudi Arabia? (Name) (Institution) (Module) (Course) (Instructor) Introduction The number of students taking English as a second language in schools around the word has increased over the recent past. Their learning of the English is largely a function of their first language. In Saudi Arabia, the number of secondary school students taking English as a second language has grown significantly. However, the uptake and fluency in both the spoken and written language is largely influenced by the teaching methods applied. Facilitating learners’ autonomy is one such strategy which has been the subject in a number of discussions and studies. When applied to the case of Saudi Arabia, cultural issues that affect learning have to be addressed. For instance, Saudi Arabian learners and Asian learners in general are stereotyped as passive dictated by teacher-led and exam-oriented school learning experiences. There are three major themes that come up; teaching/learning culture, social cultural influences, and teachers’ experience/beliefs in understanding of autonomy. Literature review Learner autonomy holds many advantages as a key theme in EFL acquisition. Some of these advantages claimed by Borg and Al-Busaidi (2012) include improved quality of language learning, promotion of democratic societies, enhanced preparedness of individuals for life-long learning, and better utilization of learning opportunities in and out of classrooms. So what is learner autonomy? One of the early contributors to the topic of learner autonomy defined it as “the ability to take charge of one’s learning … to have, and to hold, the responsibility for all the decision concerning all aspects of this learning” Holec (1981, p. 3). These decisions include determining the objectives, identifying the contents and development of the language, choosing technique s to be used in learning, examining the approach of acquisition and constantly evaluating what has been acquired. Other definitions of learner autonomy suggested by Benson (2001) place more emphasis on the willingness or capacity of students as opposed to their ability in gaining autonomy. Sinclair (2000) notes that that autonomy is not a single easily identifiable behavior, but an idealistic goal that is characterized by various degrees as determined by personal attributes of the leaner, social, political, psychological, and cultural dimensions. However, students cannot accomplish this alone without the guidance of their teachers. Smith (2002) indicates that teachers themselves have to be autonomous in order to enable their students to be autonomous (Cited in Benson 2001). Nonetheless, teachers start out as students and as such, there should be more emphasis on student teachers of EFL to carry on with autonomy into their professional practice. Reinders and Balcikanli (2011) say there has been increased acknowledgment of the interdependent relationship between teacher autonomy and leaner autonomy. They continue to say that much of learners’ understanding of autonomy depends on the teacher’s understanding of autonomy. According to Holec, the role of teachers in enabling students to gain autonomy is to encourage them to “to determine the objectives, to define the contents and progressions, to select methods and techniques to be used, to monitor the procedures of acquisition and to evaluate what has been acquired” (Holec, 1981, p. 3). To Benson (1996), learners need to be equipped with a skill-set that will enable them gain autonomy in EFL acquisition since they do not readily have it. This view is seconded by Hurd (1998, p. 72-73) who clearly asserts that “…if learners are not trained for autonomy, no amount of surrounding them with resources will foster in them that capacity for active involvement and conscious choice, although it might appear to do so” (Hurd, 1998, p. 72-73). Therefore, teachers have the largest role to play in making facilitating learner autonomy. So what does a teacher require to accomplish the task? With an ambiguous definition of autonomy, the characteristics or requirements of a teacher with a sense of autonomy are not very clear. De Vries and Kohlberg (1987) attempted to describe an autonomous teacher as cited in Reinders and Balcikanli (2011) below The autonomous constructivist teacher knows not only what to do, but why. She has a solid network of convictions that are both practical and theoretical. The autonomous teacher can think about how children are thinking and at the same time think about how to intervene to promote the constructive culture. Autonomous teachers do not just accept uncritically what curriculum specialists give them. They think about whether they agree with what is suggested. They take responsibility for the education they are offering children (p. 380). Cultural differences influence how teachers and learners alike take up English as a foreign language. Rao (2002) investigated a sample of 30 Chinese university students on their perceived suitability of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in the classroom. The students comprised on 15 second-year and 15 fourth-ear students. All had been exposed to CLT both at secondary and university level. The research was driven by the need to ascertain that cultural variations between teachers and learners affected how they responded to the learning process. One aspect tested by the questionnaires distributed to the subjects was their perception on the effectiveness on autonomous EFL learning processes which included unmonitored student-to-student interactions. Learner autonomy was best captured by testing how learners understood and interpreted songs without guidance. The research by Rao (2002) revealed that Chinese EFL learners perceived the system of teaching English through CLT was best suited to western education systems and not the Chinese one. The learners thus suggested that the English teaching in China should be modernized and not westernized. Vyogsty’s (1981) sociocultural theory recognizes that learning is embedded in social events. This theory highlights that human intelligence originates from culture and society. This means that for English as a foreign language to be transmitted from student to teacher, it has to be contextualized to most to the local culture. Dang (2010) assessed the social cultural perspective in EFL learner autonomy among Vietnam students. The study involved extracting data and personal reflections from a large scale project in the country. The study viewed that the sociocultural context in EFL learning either hindered or promoted learner autonomy. In the case of the Vietnamese social cultural context, learner autonomy was suppressed in various ways. First and foremost is that the Vietnamese educational philosophy is engraved in “absorbing and memorizing than experimenting and producing knowledge” (Dang 2010, p. 5) which leaves little room for learners to carry out independent learning. Furthermore, the sizes of the classes do not allow individual students to make independent contribution or engage in class activities that will promote their EFL learning. The study recognized that learner autonomy n EFL learning is a function of the sociocultural factors and its development have to be addressed in the context of three major variables. These are resources, practices, and persons. Some practices deemed retrogressive were the rigorous testing oriented system and heavy learning workload. Attempts to put in place changes that give room to facilitating learner autonomy are hindered by the centralized national education system that leaves little room for customization of the syllabus. As such, EFL teachers have little freedom in diversifying class activities that can promote learner autonomy. In the Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region, there are numerous challenges to enabling learner autonomy in EFL learning. Seyd acknowledges a number o these challenges as below: EFL teachers in this region have identified student motivation, literacy, underachievement, reliance on rote learning and memorization, and dependence on high-stakes testing. These issues, coupled with outdated curricula and methodologies, insufficient support systems, and not enough qualified teachers, paint a very unflattering picture of education in the region (2003, p. 337). Nonetheless, the teachers in the region have acknowledged blogging as one way of encouraging and exercising learner independence according to Seyd (2003). This is in line with the Vytogskys’ (1981) sociocultural theory where blogging is viewed as a computer aided social activity. Research has been dedicated to understand the ability of computer-mediated-communication (CMC) to provide a forum in which learners can advance their skills. Blogging is one of the many ways. Fageeh (2011) carried out a study to assess the use of blogging as a tool for enhancing attitudes towards English learning in the region. A triangulated research approach and a descriptive research design were used examining the effect of blogging on writing proficiency and attitudes towards EFL learning in an intermediate level EFL college writing class at King Khalid University in Abha. A sample of 25 students was used with a similar control group. The study showed that students used the course blogs to interact with their peers and instructors. Students who did not contribute actively in the blog also benefitted from the discussion of the active bloggers. In the study, an overall of 31 students posted over 700 blog entries over the three month course period. The study subjects were subjected to a pre-test prior with scores recorded. No significant difference between experimental and control group was reported with the former with a mean of 22.3 and the latter higher at 28.8. At the end of the three months, a post-test was given. The experimental group had a mean score of 40.8 and the control group had a mean score of 28.8. This shows how much blogging improved on the performance of EFL learners in this particular research. As a key component of EFL learners’ autonomy, blogging is an important dimension in leaner autonomy testing. References Adamson, J 2012, Autonomy in learning English as a foreign language. International Journal of Global Education, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 23-27 Benson, P 2001, Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. London: Longman. Borg, S & Al-Busaidi, S 2007, Learner Autonomy: English Language Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices. ELT Research Paper 12–07 Holec, H 1981, Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. Pergamon, Oxford. Hurd, S 1998, Too carefully led or too carelessly left alone? Language Learning Journal, Vol.17, pp. 70-74. Dang, T 2010, Learner autonomy in EFL studies in Vietnam: a discussion from sociocultural perspective. English Language Teaching Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 3-9 Fageeh, A 2011, EFL learners’ use of blogging for developing writing skills and enhancing attitudes towards english learning: an exploratory study, Journal of Language and Literature, Vol. 2. No. 1. 31-48 Knowles, M 1975, Self-Directed Learning: a guide for learners and teachers. New York: Associated Press Sinclair, B 2000, Learner autonomy: The next phase? In B. Sinclair, I. McGrath & T. Lamb (Eds.), Learner autonomy, teacher autonomy: Future directions (pp. 4-14). Harlow: Longman. Syed, Z 2003, TESOL in the Gulf: The sociocultural context of English language teaching in the Gulf. TESOL Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 2, 337-340 Rao, Z 2002, Chinese students’ perceptions of communicative and non-communicative activities in EFL. System vol. 30, pp. 85–105 Reinders, H, & Balcikanli, C 2011, Learning to foster autonomy: The role of teacher education materials Studies, Self-Access Learning Journal, vol. 2 no. 1, pp. 15-25. Vygotsky, L S 1981, Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Read More