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Student-teachers’ perspectives on

learner autonomy in the Turkish context

Cem BALÇIKANLI

Gazi University, Faculty of Education,

English Language Teaching Department

E-mail: balcikanli@gazi.edu.tr

Autonomy Symposium, IATEFL, 2008

Exeter, UK

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My motivation....My motivation....You can not teach an old dog

new tricks

... teachers will hardly be prepared or able to administer autonomous

learning processes in their students if their own learning is not geared to the same principles (Edelhoff, 1984: 189)

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ParticipantsParticipants

102 student-teachers at ELT Department, Gazi University

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Instrument Instrument

Camilleri’s questionnaire (1997) consisting of 14 items such as “How much should learners be involved in

decisions on classroom management?”

Sub-categoriesItem 6:

a) position of desks b) seating of students c) discipline matters

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Interview Interview

Twenty student-teachers in four groups

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Item 3: How much should the learner be involved in selecting materials?

Nunan (1999) suggests that learners canbe given a greater sense of ownership and

control over their learning by being encouraged to bring their own authentic materials into the

classroom.

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pearls by student teacherspearls by student teachersFor Textbooks

* Selecting textbooks is something professional, and the most beneficial materials can only be chosen by teachers.

For AVA * Students should comment on the materials to increase the

productivity of the lesson.* According to the topic and task, we can ask students about

this to motivate them and help their learning process.

For Realia * It is ideal to involve students in bringing in student

generated or found materials to increase motivation and involvement, but it requires lots of free time to do this.

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Item 4: How much should the learners earners be involved in decisions on the time, place and

pace of the lesson?

Accepting learners as equal partners and giving them opportunities for deciding on time, place

and pace of the lesson would increase their responsibility in the learning process

(Benson, 2001; Dam, 1995)

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pearls by student teacherspearls by student teachersFor Time

* ... It would be useful to ask students for their opinions, but we should not let students the decisions, rather a

decision should be made as a result of negotiation and interaction with students.

For Place * These are administrative decisions and even the teachers

do not have much say, let alone students.

* Having students decide on the time and place of the learning may help the development of motivation.

For Pace * ...The pace of the lesson should be established

considering the learning styles and understanding capacities of students.

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Item 5: How much should the learners be involved in decisions on the methodology of the

lesson?

Learners need to be involved as equal partners in the decision making process regarding the methodology of the lesson if they are expected to take initiatives that shape their own learning processes and accept control over more aspects of their own learning (Little, 2003;

Dam, 1995).

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pearls by student teacherspearls by student teachers

For ind/pair/group work * ...Teachers, as professionals, should take the responsibility in such areas. Students without the educational training and background would be ill-

equipped to contribute in any valid way.

For use of materials * ....The involvement of the students would bring not only

more motivation, but also an extended amount of success since they will do what they wanted to do.

For type of class activities * ...Learning styles of students should be matched with the

activities, so they should be involved.

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Item 6: How much should learners be involved in decisions on classroom

management?

Teachers should negotiate with learners in the establishment of rules to help them develop

responsibility of their own to cope with disciplinary matters (Voller, 1997: 168)

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pearls by student teacherspearls by student teachers

For Positon of desks * ...Students should sit in the position they feel most comfortable and with the student they can study well.

For Seating of students * The more relaxed students feel, the better the teaching

and learning would be.* Students can sit wherever or with whoever they want.

For Discipline matters

* To gain awareness about social matters and feel responsible with discipline matters, this must be discussed

together in a democratic atmosphere.

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Item 8: How much should the learner be encouraged to assess himself or herself,

rather than be tested?

Through self-assessment, learners can revise their learning goals, objectives, learning process and the

product based on their own feedback from their perceptions and goals (Little, 2003; Brown, 2001).

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pearls by student teacherspearls by student teachersFor weekly

* If the students assess their own progress constantly, they will see their progress, and it may help increase

their motivation.

For Monthly * After seeing some results from quizzes/exams or assignments, students may have an idea about their

success.

For Annually * This may help their awareness to increase for long

term objectives of their learning process.

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Item 10: How much should the learner be informed on how to study English

better on their own?

Learner training is increasingly being advocated as a way of preparing students to get the best out of

autonomous learning (Dickinson, 1988:47).

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pearls by student teacherspearls by student teachers

* It will be useful for consciousness-raising.

* Learner training is inevitable just because they may not know how to study effectively.

* It can lead students to become aware of the strategies they employ.

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Concluding remarks Concluding remarks 1- Teacher educators should design their activities in a way

to give more responsibility to their students.

2- Teacher educators should guide and encourage their students to engage in out-side-the classroom tasks so as

to increase their students’ autonomous behavior .

3- Teacher educators should involve their students in the decision making of the teaching process.

4- Teacher educators should add some strategy trainingsessions to their syllabuses to guide and

encourage students to experience the use of strategies.

5- Teacher educators should make use of portfolio assessment to provide student teachers with more insight

into the development of practical knowledge, teaching behaviour and thought processes.

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THANK YOU