FROM BREASTFEEDING TO AUTONOMOUS LEARNING IN EFL PRACTICES

The term Breastfeeding is unknown in educational practices, but I heard it once from my
dear teacher called Kate Hyde during a teachers training related to autonomous learning
in second language teaching and it was really outrageous for me. In the first place, she
argued about this word, explaining that English teachers must leave the students learn,
discover the language, acquire freedom in order to avoid the breastfeeding which have
a huge impact in the learning process. In the second, autonomous learning promotes the
students willingness to acquire knowledge with specific purposes, demanding discipline,
planning and organization. Even though, the breastfeeding is really common nowadays in
some teacher's roles, it must be evaded giving rise to independent practices because
when a student has the eagerness to learn a language everything will flow smoothly.
Reading the interesting book of Mr. Slomov, I found myself dealing with two trendy topics:
the autonomous learning and how to teach my students the self-study in life. Then, I read
carefully the chapters and I reminded my experience during a training where the topic in
discussion was the effective strategies to make our students learn a second language
without the insistence of English language teachers. Provided that, the English teacher
demonstrated us how a student depend entirely of the English teacher, and how the
educational process end in the moment the ring sounds to change over to another
subject.
The concept of breastfeeding is frequently defined by experts as the affective bond
between the mother and the children in early ages; but also, this connection must finish in
the precise biological moment for avoiding the dependency and encouraging in the
human being the world discovery. At school, the teachers support students in the
language acquisition and also see themselves as the leaders in a population thanks to the
knowledge power to lead an amount of illiterate people. In contrast, the vision of todays
teachers is inspiring a society with self-determination to choose their own paths in life
based on critical thinking, making decisions and transforming the future.
Meanwhile, the second language learning and teaching is not an exception; the Slomovs
book make evident how preponderant is the teachers role with the purpose of
stimulating the self-study in pupils. The communication in any language establishes your
place in a society, but the most remarkable is conveying ideas and at that point express
those notions into written texts. In other words, teaching a second language strictly
entails the comprehension of the difference between acquisition and learning.
The process of acquiring and learning English requests not only active strategies for
achieving the final goals and levels according to the Common European Framework, but
also need practice, words, grammar, memory, relevance in vocabulary and one of the
most significant is the fascinating insight into the culture of the target language.
The autonomy in a second language depends on entirely of the learners responsibility in
its own organization, goals, definition of methods, selecting tasks and communicative
needs. However, the beginners level described by Mr. Slomov says the more quality you
have in your speaking from the very beginning the better performances you will have in a
foreign language in the future. In my educational context, I will apply all the principles
suggested for this period (A1 A2) in childrens learning, but I will also take into account
that we as English teachers and learners must support independent learning and finally
understand that only in basic levels the teacher is the key player in its language
acquisition.
In conclusion, the breastfeeding is not a constructive strategy in learning and teaching a
foreign language but in the beginners level is compulsory to lead the student with the
intention of grasping the main features involved in a language. Nevertheless, in
intermediate and advanced levels, the autonomous learning attached to discipline and
hard work are components which will guarantee the students successful performance in
the second language.
In my opinion, the autonomous study of a language at any level will motivate students to
speak a language without frustration and drama, because they will be accountable of its
own achievements, goals and products in communication.