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 139 semester 2. The topics have also been chosen to coincide with topics covered by the main textbook, Jones (1998), and other material already available at the college. In addition, the existing academic writing textbook, Oshima and Hogue (1991), can still be used to develop student writing skills and written discourse analysis. Current practice at the college is for teachers to be assigned to one unit and teach all groups that unit (usually four different groups of students). First semester first year students are thus exposed to four different teachers in a week (i.e. LP units 1 to 4) and they can therefore experience different styles of teaching, ways of speaking etc. Planning time for the teachers is also saved, as essentially the same lesson is taught more than once in a week by the same teacher. Due to the existence of these norms, the four LP units are treated as separate entities, but analysis of the existing syllabus has revealed a lack of cohesion resulting from such treatment in the past. The issue of cohesion between the units is therefore addressed on the proposed syllabus by contextualising language work and using the same topic areas across the units and by repeating some discourse-based themes. Collaboration among the teachers is a prerequisite for the implementation of the alternative syllabus as the units need to be managed as a cohesive whole and teachers will need to consult each other, share materials etc. Figure 2 Principles upon which Proposals are based The promotion of the learner as an active participant in the language learning process within an instructed environment, where his/her active participation is to be encouraged through the development of the learner's ability to make decisions, think critically, work collaboratively and on an individual basis in a way which will help his/her studies in the educational setting in question. Learner Autonomy Communicative Approach to Language Teaching communicative <—> study competence competence