Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2004. Vol. 4. Eger Journal of English Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 30)
KARIN MACDONALD Promoting a Particular View of Learner Autonomy Through an English Language Syllabus
Promoting a Particular View of Learner Autonomy 133 think critically, an essential part of the definition of autonomy offered here. Ridley argues in favour of developing learners' thinking skills and states that learners need to develop the ability to reflect both on the learning process as a whole and on individual tasks, for planning, monitoring or evaluation purposes (1997: 1). Referring to students in a higher education setting, Heron also argues that a learner needs "the capacity to learn, the capacity to know how to learn, the capacity to know that he has learned" (1988: 78). Little defines autonomy as "a capacity —for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making" (1991: 4) but, although similar, the definition in this paper goes further in underlining the argument that the decision-making process does not occur randomly but takes place within the constraints of a particular context. Hie promotion of learner autonomy, as defined here, is also dependent on the role of the teachers involved in the language programme in question. An atmosphere of 'positive interdependence' between learners and teachers means that teachers will need to allow learners to play an active part in some of the decisions regarding their learning. The definition of autonomy here particularly favours the teacher's role as facilitator, as it is associated with motivating learners, raising learners' awareness, and helping learners to plan and carry out learning and to evaluate themselves effectively (Voller 1997: 102). The role of counsellor is also a useful one in the higher education setting in question as it refers to one-to-one interaction for consultation and guidance (Voller 1997: 103-104). The view of autonomy in this paper also favours collaboration between teachers, mirroring interdependent roles in the classroom. Collaboration in the context in question will involve coordinating elements of teaching to ensure continuity across the programme, negotiating possible changes and sharing ideas and materials. This might resemble a, "Coordinated Team Type" of team teaching where there is some joint planning by teachers teaching the same curriculum to different learners (Bailey et al. 1992: 163). The definition of autonomy developed for the college in question is a contextually constrained one and is appropriate only for a specific educational setting. However, this raises the question whether the type of learner autonomy to be promoted here can actually be referred to as the promotion of 'autonomy' in language learning. The fact that "autonomy is not a single, easily described behaviour" (Little 1991: 7) means that certain aspects of autonomy will be emphasised in different contexts. Benson discusses three versions of autonomy: technical, psychological and political (1997: 19). He refers to technical versions as those involved in equipping learners with the skills and techniques for taking charge of their learning. The psychological versions, on the other hand, are concerned with
