Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal

http://sisaljournal.org

Fostering Self-directed Learning through Guided Tasks

and Learner Reflection
Chris King, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New
Zealand
ISSN 2185-3762

Corresponding author: cking2@unitec.ac.nz

Publication date: December, 2011.

To cite this article

King, C. (2011). Fostering self-directed learning through guided tasks and

learner reflection. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 2(4), 257-267.
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http://sisaljournal.org/archives/dec11/king
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SiSAL Journal Vol. 2, No. 4, December 2011, 257-267

Fostering Self-directed Learning through Guided Tasks and

Learner Reflection
Chris King, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract
This article reports on the potential impact on learner attitudes and behaviour
from the use of a set of guided self-directed learning worksheets. The study
consisted of a before and after questionnaire with a portfolio of activities that
became progressively less teacher directed. Each activity had a section for learner
reflection. Final reflective comments were captured at the end of the portfolio.
Data collected from both questionnaires and from reflective comments was
analysed using a grounded theory approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). While it
is recognised that this study is a classroom-based research project with a small
number of participants, and that the data collected is learner-reported, the findings
are nevertheless important and suggest that such portfolios can be successful both
in promoting the use of self-access centres and in fostering learner autonomy.
Keywords: self-access centres, learner autonomy, portfolios, success story

The importance of fostering learner autonomy is widely accepted. Despite

wide and varied definitions, learner autonomy is recognised as having a central
place in the language-learning journey (Benson, 2001; Nunan, 1996) because,
essentially, it allows learners to take charge of their own learning (Chan, 2001;
Little, 2007). Self-access centres have an important role to play in the
development of learner autonomy and are seen to be an increasingly important
aspect of language learning provision (Gardner & Miller, 2010, p. 161). Learners
who make use of self-access centres have the potential to become able to take
responsibility for their own learning, to develop effective strategies for
independent learning and to devise their own programs of study (Littlewood,
1997; Sheerin 1997).
Induction to self-access centres is often fundamental to success. While the
benefits that self-access centres can provide are widely recognised, Sheerin
(1997) is among many researchers who note that the mere existence of self
access centres does not ensure independent learning (p. 64). Likewise, it is
recognised that ongoing learner training and development that provides effective

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support for learners, be it from a classroom teacher or a learning advisor, is
critical to the success of self-access learning (Sturtridge, 1997). Little (2002)
states that it is usually necessary to provide learners with some kind of advisory
service (p. 2). This notion is supported by Gardner and Miller, who note the
trend towards an increased provision of advisory services in self-access centres
(2010).
The Present Study
This study reported on here was born from a belief in the value of
fostering and supporting learner autonomy, and the in value that self-access
centres can have both in developing autonomous learning and in supporting
language development. At the inception of this project, there seemed however to
be a perfect storm of constraints. A combination of one-off and ongoing issues
such as department budgets, teaching load and class numbers meant that it was
not possible to provide an incoming group of learners with one-on-one support
from either the classroom teacher or from a language-learning advisor, nor was it
possible to provided learners with individualised learning plans. The critical
problems then, were how learners could be introduced to the self-access centre
and how self-directed learning could be supported under such conditions. To this
end a scaffolded self-directed portfolio project was developed. Guided portfolios
were selected as being able support a progression of tasks from teacher-directed to
semi-directed to self-directed while providing learners with a summary of
completed work. It was felt that learner reflection and review could also be
incorporated in a portfolio structure to encourage the development of the
capacity for critical reflection on learning (Murphy, 2008, p. 215) which is seen
to be crucial in facilitating the ability for learners to to learn from the experience
and shape next phase of learning (p. 200). To evaluate the project and gain
information about any possible benefits of using a set of guided worksheets in
fostering learner autonomy, the following research questions were investigated:
Do the above attitudes and behaviour display any change after the
completion of a set of out-of-class directed, and semi-directed tasks over a
course of language study? If so, what is the nature of these changes?

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Was the self-directed portfolio project an effective way to introduce
learners to the self-access centre?
Were portfolios useful for supporting self-directed learning and fostering
learner autonomy?
The Self-Directed Learning Project
Participants in the study consisted of seventeen intermediate-level adult
migrant learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL) enrolled in a
sixteen-week course at a New Zealand tertiary institution. The age of participants
and length of time in the country varied. Nationality and ethnicity also covered a
wide range, including learners from Asian, African and Middle-Eastern countries.
Project Design
The self-access portfolio was comprised of a set of ten worksheets
that were given to learners at the beginning of the course. Learners were
instructed to complete the worksheets outside of class time. As one of the aims of
the project was to foster learner autonomy, it was decided that coursework and
homework should be seen to be separate from the portfolio project. To this end,
while all students were given a copy of the self-access portfolio, participation in
the project was voluntary. A decision was made not to refer to the portfolio
throughout the course, but rather to leave the completion of the worksheets to the
discretion of individual learners. This is in line with Cookers (2010) principle of
learning at self-access centres truly being self-access with learners not required
to use the facility (p. 7). On the cover of the portfolio were a set of guiding
questions that promoted learners to reflect on their learning needs and their
attitudes to learning outside the classroom. Inside the portfolio there were ten onepage worksheets to complete over fourteen weeks of the course. The first six
worksheets in the portfolio consisted of structured tasks designed to introduce
learners to the range of language learning activities that could be done in the selfaccess centre, such as reading an article from a newspaper produced for L2
learners, listening to a song and completing an exercise, finding a relevant
grammar workbook exercise or making an appointment with a peer tutor. Tasks

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gradually became less structured and less teacher-directed. The final tasks in the
book simply asked learners to choose a language learning activity at the selfaccess centre. At the end of each task were a set of guided questions intended to
prompt learners to reflect upon the activity they had completed, with the aim of
encouraging an evaluation and planning of learning as well as an ongoing
assessment of needs. Both the guided reflective questions and the scaffolded
progression can be seen in figure one below.

Figure 1. An example of a teacher-directed task and a self-directed task.

The Practice Makes Perfect task above on the left is strongly teacherdirected, with further instructions about the task printed on the second page of the
portfolio. The task required learners to find a particular reading practice book,
choose a story to read and complete the exercise in the book. Extra Task Four
task on the right is an example of one of the final tasks, which simply asks
learners to do something at the self-access centre. In this way scaffolded support
was provided as the tasks progressed from being strongly teacher-directed, to
semi-directed to self-directed.
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Data collection and analysis
A two-pronged approach was used to data collection, with pre-project and
post-project questionnaires and a series of reflective comments that were
completed by participants at the end of each task and at the end of the portfolio
project. To enable a comparison of responses, the same five questions were used
in both the pre and post questionnaires. Figure two below shows the questionnaire
on the left and the final page of the portfolio with the reflective comments on the
right.

Figure 2. Data collection tools: survey questions and reflective comments

The data collected was largely qualitative and open-ended, and an in-depth
iterative analysis of leaner comments was conducted. The analysis was conducted
in an open manner to allow for the possible emergence of unexpected themes and
relationships between comments were explored in order to allow a theory to
emerge from the data.

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Results and Analysis
Survey questions
The comparative results of the two surveys, given to learners at the start of
project and after the completion of the self-access portfolios at the end of the 16week project, provides insight into both learner perceptions and behaviour with
regard to learning beyond the classroom. The extracts presented here are unaltered
with errors left intact to preserve the richness of the learner responses.
For the first question, how much time do you spend learning English out
of class each week, nine learners reported an increase in the amount of time spent
studying outside of the classroom, four learners reported a decrease, and one
learner reported no change in time spent studying outside of class. The overall
average for all learners of 9.18 hours spent outside of the classroom in the first
pre-portfolio survey increased only modestly to 9.32 hours at the end of the
project. However when the nine learners who reported an increase were isolated,
the average change in time spend studying outside of the classroom was an
increase 3.28 hours per learner.
For question two, what do you do to learn English outside of your
classroom, there were no marked changes in overall response. While a number of
students reported an increased range of activities, a similar number of students
listed fewer activities on the second survey. It was clear, however, that on the
second survey learners gave more articulate responses. Rather than simply
providing a list of activities, in the second questionnaire, learners often provided
reasons for why they engaged in particular activities. One example of this related
to reading a newspaper written for EAL learners is that this task can help me to
read and understand some new words because there is vocabulary list in the
article.
For the third question, is doing your own English study and learning
outside of class time important, although all learners responded with a yes in
both surveys, the reasons listed by learners in each survey differed. Responses in
the first survey were linked to themes of time and revision, and responses in the
second survey linked to themes of planning of study and selection of activities.
Comments such as you need more time and more chance to practice and I can
review and consolidate learning of class were typical of the open-ended
comments in the first survey, while comments such as when I go to the LLC, I
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chiose the weak subject, you can spend your time on your weak skill, I can
focus on what Im interested in and we can choose many subjects you like are
representative of responses to the follow-up survey.
For question four, how do you feel about learning English outside of the
classroom, a thematic shift in leaner perceptions was also evident. Typical
comments from the first survey were its useful for me, your Englishwill be
improved and developed with responses focusing on the necessity and utility of
study outside of class. In contrast, responses to the second survey focused largely
on affect, as illustrated by such comments as its very enjoy, sometimes happy,
sometimes frustrated, this is my best time to study without teacher, when I
got new knowledge from out of class I am very happy and I feel it can revive
my self-confidence.
The final question in the survey required learners to complete the sentence
learning English outside of the classroom is like to form a metaphor. No
thematic shifts were evident, but as responses are nonetheless illustrative of
learner perceptions of autonomous learning, a section of responses is listed below.
I buy shoes and choose that suit one
traveling which can bring unexpected happiness and disappointment
exploring, you dont know what youll find out
learning to walk for kids
learning driving
plant a flower, need the sun and water
a key that makes you improve English quickly
swimming in English
second teacher
a person not only needs to have meal but to drink water
auxiliary verb
to drink coffee
Reflective comments
The second method of data collection was the reflective comment sections
that learners completed at the end of each task and on the final page of the selfdirected portfolio. While it was evident that learners used the reflective comments
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at the end of each worksheet to respond to the task in an affective way, gauge the
effectiveness of each task and plan further study, no specific themes or patterns
emerged. The reflective response to the overall project on the final page of the
portfolio however, provided much richer data for analysis. For the first question,
have these self-study worksheets helped you improve your English, thirteen
students responded positively with yes, one student responded negatively with
no, and three students gave a mixed in some ways response. For question two
what was the most useful task and question three what task wasnt useful,
responses were varied and no clear pattern was apparent. Comments made
however were often thoughtful and reasons were well articulated. Regarding
which task was not of use, one learner commented:
Read the book. Because Id like interesting books, short stories, novels
and history but the books are old and little bit not interesting for me.
For question four, did you do any other learning after you finished the four
extra tasks, twelve learners responded with yes. The response Yes, I did. I often
read some articles from Password and listen types. Visit Languge Tuotor is
representative of eight learners who reported doing further study in the self-access
centre. An alternative response watching TV and searching internet about
current issues is representative of five learners who stated that they continued to
do autonomous study outside of the classroom but focused on activities beyond
the self-access centre. Five learners reported that they did no further study outside
of the classroom. One of these learners stated no because of lazy while four
learners responded with a comment such as no because we have no time and lot
of examination!!!.
For the final question, will you continue to study by yourself in the future,
all seventeen students stated yes. While the open-ended comments were varied,
most learners simply stated what kind of activities they would do and what skills
they would study. Only two learners gave reasons: studying by yourself and
study with teacher are auxiliary to each other and yes, because English will be
very useful for me in the future.

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Discussion
The main research question, whether learner attitudes and behaviour
display any change after the completion of the portfolio project is answered by the
data presented above; for nearly all learners both changes in attitudes and
behaviour were apparent. After the completion of the portfolio, a majority of
learners spent more time studying outside of the classroom and felt that the
portfolio project helped them to improve their English and stated that they would
continue to study outside of the classroom. Learners were also more able to
articulate both the reasons for and the benefits of studying outside of class. Finally,
learners seemed to be more able to take responsibility for planning their own
study activities. As the portfolio project progressed learners indicated both what
they would study in the future I will listen to Tv and radio, why they would
study must study hard to get good level to become more confident if I meet with
kiwi people. At the end of the portfolio learners made comments such as I want
to focus on listening the tapes again because I found its a good way for
improving my English.
The project reported upon here was a case study investigating the use of a
set of worksheets that progressed from teacher-directed to semi-directed to selfdirected in fostering learner autonomy. As such it is worth noting that the project
was limited in several ways; the number of participants was relatively low, with
17 students completing the entire portfolio project and 14 of those students
completing both the pre and post project surveys. It also needs to be noted that
although learners were made aware of the separation between the portfolio project
and classroom work, performance and assessment, the study relied on selfreported data. Furthermore, participants were not required to articulate why they
felt the portfolio had or had not contributed to improving their English nor were
they required articulate why they would or would not continue to study in the
future. Modifying the design of these questions may provided a more useful
response.
These above limitations notwithstanding, the study reported here shows
that, for this particular group of learners, the guided self-access portfolio project
appeared to have a positive impact on both the attitudes that learners held and on

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the behaviour in which the learners engaged regarding language learning beyond
the classroom.
Conclusions
The aim of the portfolio project was to introduce learners to the self-access
centre, cultivate an awareness of the importance of studying outside of the
classroom, and promote knowledge of the kind of study options available in an
overall attempt to foster learner autonomy in a situation where little individual
student-teacher contact was possible. In this respect the portfolio project can be
considered to be a success story. While the particular constraints in the context in
which this project was established meant that one-on-one support from a teacher
or language-learning advisor was not possible, this is not to say that scaffolded
self-access portfolios such these should be used in isolation. Indeed, the strong
suggestion of this author would be that they be used in concert with a range of
other support measures. Regardless of the availability of other support options,
the clear implication is that such guided portfolios can be a useful tool for
teachers who wish to foster self-access learning, and can contribute towards
making learners journeys towards autonomy stories of success.

Notes on the contributor

Chris King has been teaching EAL, both in New Zealand and overseas, for what
sometimes seems like quite a long time. He works at the Department of Language
Studies at Unitec Institute of Technology, and is currently teaching on an
Intermediate-level course. His research interests include Task-Based Language
Learning, eLearning, and Learner Autonomy.

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