AUTONOMY LEARNING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 1

Strategies for helping students to become in autonomous learner in a foreign

language.
Angela P. Montaa.
Erlenzy Quintero
Universidad Pedaggica y Tecnolgica de Colombia

AUTONOMY LEARNING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 2

Strategies for helping students to become in autonomous learner in a foreign

language.
From our own perspective and experiences as preserves teachers, we know that

Comentado [MIG1]: IS THIS A TITLE? IT SHOULD

LOOK LIKE THIS.
Comentado [MIG2]: Preservice

there are a strong network among the following aspects: cultural context, teaching and
learning autonomy, which we pretend to analyze in this essay in order to show some
strategies for becoming the students in autonomy learners, emphasizing, in the learning of a
language.
There are many different concepts about autonomous learner meaning. According to
Crdenas (2006), the autonomous learner is the person that is able to analyze possibilities,
to make choices and effecting changes and activities including individual and collaborative
actions. Besides, this person is aware to define goals, specify objectives and identify
resources which could help to live up those goals (Cotterall, 2000).
We think that the characteristics before mentioned are very challenging for our

Comentado [MIG3]: PUNCTUATION

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cultural context because this context determines the human behaviors. It means, that
everyone has different social relationships, which encourage behaving in a particular way.
Thus, in most cases, we state that in our country we do not have the culture of autonomy
learning.
Our perceptions in teaching teenagers in a public school show us the students want
to learn nothing from intrinsic motivation, in contrast, they are worried about scores. Those

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students make us think they do not have an awareness in how and what they are learning.
Apart from our culture and students awareness, we consider that teachers have an
important role for developing students autonomy.

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paragraph is conformed by 5 lines at least.

AUTONOMY LEARNING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 3

Teachers have no only to show the society as a example of learner autonomous but

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also to work for encouraging students to reflect and learn on their own. It means, in words
of Thavenius (1990) that the autonomous teacher have the capacity and own way to aid

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learners take the responsibility for their own learning.

To help students to be autonomous learners in learning a language, teachers could
utilize the following advice and strategies:
According to Harmer (2007) using journals where students write, for instance, what
and how they learn. We think that question is very hard without the explanation of previous
concepts; thus, teacher should teach terms such us: learning styles, metacognitive strategies
and then the student could have ideas for reflecting and doing introspection for becoming in
autonomous learner.

Comentado [MIG9]: Knowledge is there for those who

are ready to look for it

In that way, teacher have to give the students feedback about their writing, mainly,
with positive comments, advice and suggestions in order to motive the students to continue
writing.
Other advice that Harmer give teachers is to offer the students the opportunity to
choose from different activities, resources that they can develop and take advantage of
spaces outside the classroom for the own learning. He mentions a specific place called SAC
(Self Access Centre) an open learning Centre, this place has computers, software, a
physical material organized by levels skill and topics.
In the same direction, we think, teachers could make a list of websites and internet
resources for the students. Working with a technological resource does mean an individual
learning, a student alone in front of a computer; students can work in groups, for instance,
designing a blog where students discuss certain topics. Alwright (1990) points out that

Comentado [MIG10]: No reference at the end.

AUTONOMY LEARNING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 4

autonomy is not an individualistic behavior. This involves independent and collaborative
learning(p.12).
Teachers should establish activities that involve students to work in research
projects. Investigation entails observation, reflection and understanding; planning,
monitoring and assessment, those features are necessary for autonomy learning.
In short, teachers might be leaders in the promotion of autonomy learning. They
improve their way of teaching from analyze observation and reflection in their job, they
search the resources for their self- learning, they taste the autonomy learning and then guide
the students from different strategies. When teachers are able to become students in
autonomous learner boost changes in the culture and the society.

AUTONOMY LEARNING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 5

References
Cardenas, R. (2006). Considerations on the role of teacher autonomy. Colombia
Applied

Linguistics Journal, 8, 183-202.

Harmer, J. (2007). Learning Autonomy:Learning to learn. In The Practice of

English language teaching (4th ed.) (pp. 394-409). Harlow: Pearson Education.
Little, D.

Learning autonomy:Drawing together the threads of self assessment,

goal- setting and reflection

Comentado [MIG11]: Why do you include this reference if

you did not use it in the paper?

AUTONOMY LEARNING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 6

AUTONOMY LEARNING PAPER
JULY 2ND 2016
CRITERIA

OBSERVATIONS

1. CONTENT: The paper

answers the questions. How
to become an autonomous
learner?
What strategies should we
use?
The content is connected to
a critical and personal
reflection more than a
summary.
2. The paper has 2 pages
long as it was stated, and
writers included authors to
support ideas.
3. The paper has an
appropriated APA style, for
the content and the
references.

The paper needs more

work, and effort, the ideas
need to be refined and you
should read more and
reflect about what you read.
This was an assignment
about autonomy so your
paper should have reflected
that autonomy.

0,7

There were authors.

0.7

There were references

which were not included in
the list of references, and
there some on the list of
references which were not
used on the text, so why did
you write them?
You need to connect more
your ideas, and use linking
words.

0.5

There are several grammar

and punctuation mistakes
along the paper.
Final score

0.7

4. There is coherence,
development, support of the
ideas and reflection.
In addition, it was
submitted on time.
5. Language: use of
cohesion devices, grammar,
spelling, punctuation.
Each aspect is 1.0 units

SCORE

0.8

3.4