Learner autonomy and self-access

While the existence of a self-access (or learning resources) centre is not a pre-requisite for learner autonomy, a degree of learner autonomy is necessary if such a centre is to be used successfully. Ryan (1997: 218–22) outlines a three-stage process designed to prepare students to use language-learning resources outside the classroom. This process is also applicable to students who are being prepared to use a self-access centre.

In the first stage of the process, students are engaged in a consciousness-raising discussion of available resources. As well as those resources that are physically available in the self-access centre, it is important to make students aware of the wealth of material available on the Internet. Not only does the Internet offer a wide variety of authentic material on the World Wide Web, it also offers opportunities for students to interact with the target-language community through e-mail, discussion lists and chat rooms.

In the second stage of the process, tutors need to present and practise techniques for exploiting the resources. Such techniques might include, for example, making predictions while watching news broadcasts, using language subtitles if they are available, summarizing key points and contributing one’s views to relevant discussion lists.

In the third stage of the process, Ryan believes that students should be introduced to some of the theoretical principles that underlie the selection of resources and techniques. For example, they should be aware of the fact that being understood when writing and speaking is often more important than producing formally correct language. They should also be alerted to the value of preparing themselves for a given task by recalling any relevant knowledge that they already possess.

If tutors and students believe in learner autonomy and work together to follow this three-stage process, then the students are likely to get the most from their self-access centre. It has also been found that self-access centres work best when self-access activities form an official part of the language-teaching syllabus (Littlemore, 2001a: 50–52).

Self-assessment

An important aspect of learner autonomy is having the ability to assess one’s performance against one’s learning goals. Ideally, these goals should, to some extent, have been set internally. Self-assessment is generally formative and concerned with the learning process itself. According to Dickinson (1992: 34), self-assessment may involve:

• the willingness and motivation to undertake it;
• the willingness to cure inadequate performance;
• the ability to set internal standards;
• the ability to measure one’s own performance against this standard;
• the confidence to make these assessments;
• The recognition that one’s ability to judge may be limited.

As well as having the ability to assess their language performance, students should be able to reflect on their general approach to language learning, and on the subjective factors (such as anxiety or confidence levels) that influence that approach. Several techniques have been suggested for encouraging students to self-assess. One approach is to use self-rating scales, on which students estimate their proficiency in various areas. Go to Appendix 1 to see an example of one such scale, which has been designed for use immediately after a language learning activity.

Another technique, suggested by Benson (2001: 158), is to ask students to complete a ‘record of work’ form on a regular basis. On this form, they would have to record the activities that they have carried out (in and out of class), what they have learned through these activities, how useful they have found them to be and any future plans that they may have for their language learning.

A more ambitious technique is to ask the students to keep a learner-diary, in which they keep a personal record of all aspects of their language learning, making note of what they have learned and how they feel about their learning. The problem with learner-diaries is that they tend to be time-consuming and enthusiasm often tails off after the first few entries. The best approach would be for the tutor and students to decide together what form of self-assessment would be the most appropriate for the particular learning context.