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 135 versions of autonomy but appropriate for the educational setting for which it is designed. 3 Designing a Syllabus for the Promotion of Learner Autonomy in the Specific Context 3.1 Establishing Syllabus Type The relevant department of the higher education institution in question currently has an, "interventionist approach which gives priority to the pre-specification of linguistic or other content or skills objectives" (White 1988: 45} for all the syllabuses in operation there. The tradition of the institution prioritises a teacher directed approach as part of a linear curriculum model, where the aims of the course are specified, the content is selected and organised and where evaluation takes place according to whether the aims have been achieved (Nunan 1988: 12). However, this is in direct contrast to syllabuses normally associated with learner autonomy, as learner autonomy "has been formalised in the idea of the process syllabus, in which learners are expected to make the major decisions concerning content and procedures of learning" (Benson 2001: 163). A process syllabus is typified by the fact that "selection and grading of communicative activities has been replaced by negotiating and planning of larger tasks which dictate their own content and the specific enabling skills that each student will need to achieve the task" (Gray 1990: 262). However, Clarke (1991) strongly questions the feasibility of implementing a fully negotiated syllabus into most teaching circumstances. He sums up the problems associated with such a syllabus as follows: Quite apart from difficulties engendered by the diversity of cultural expectations concerning the nature of a syllabus and the realistic demands of education authorities for a predetermined statement of objectives and means of reaching those objectives, there exists the equally problematic area of how consensus might be achievable amongst participants on a particular course. (1991: 19) The introduction of a process syllabus into a traditional institution would make heavy demands on the teaching staff in terms of managing groups of learners, organising banks of materials and being willing to relinquish duties normally associated with teachers (Clarke 1991: 20-21). In addition, the learners themselves may not be ready or willing to take on roles that they see as more appropriate for their teachers, particularly in a system where assessment processes are imposed on learners and where "a student's sense of self as a learner is most often constructed against evaluative criteria