Following the focus on the notion of autonomy illustrating the understandings of autonomy that informed my study, this next section discusses further elements linked to the notion of autonomy specifically related to foreign language teaching and learning inquired into during the study. I will start by looking at the active role of the learner and the various perspectives of learner autonomy in FL teaching and learning and language use. I will then discuss links between autonomy and motivation and the role of autonomy within a differentiated teaching and learning approach. I will conclude this section with a focus on the social constructivist perspective of teaching and learning, noting aspects related to interaction and interdependence of learning, the role of metacognition and metalinguistic talk in the FL learning process and affordances in learning.
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2.3.1 Active involvement in learning: responsibility and control over learning
Autonomy is an attribute embedded within active engagement in learning that has been closely linked to language learner development (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001). Learner autonomy and the responsibility for learning required within such a process have proved significant in relation to FL learning gains (Legenhausen, 2003; 2001; 1999; Dam & Legenhausen, 1996). Language learning is essentially a matter of autonomous and active involvement (Little, 2007a; 2007b; Candlin, 1997). The central role learner autonomy plays in FL learning is attributed to
[…] the increasingly accepted view that high degrees of language proficiency cannot be achieved through classroom instruction alone […] and that successful foreign language acquisition depends upon learners achieving and exercising some degree of autonomy in respect to their learning (Benson & Huang, 2008, p. 424).
Furthermore, the development of that kind of learner who is able to guide the language learning journey forth and develop as a language learner and language user has been illustrated as a ‘valuable goal’ of language education (Vieira, 2009b, p. 18). Learner autonomy features as a necessary component within the process of guiding learners to develop their language learning skills and independent use of the language (Little, 2007a; 2007b). The general attributes of the autonomous language learner are widely recognised (Oxford, 2003; Wenden, 1991). As Benson claims, following the evaluation of a decade of research in the area,
(a) [l]anguage learners naturally tend to take control of their learning, (b) learners who lack autonomy are capable of developing it, and (c) autonomous language learning is more effective than non-autonomous language learning (Benson, 2011b, p. 16).
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This discourse furthermore hinges on the current shift in terminology from ´teaching´ to ‘learning curricula’ that reflects current philosophical perspectives in teaching and learning (Assis Sade, 2014, p. 158). It has been argued that,
the key-difference between learner-centred and traditional curriculum development [in foreign language learning] is that, in the former, the curriculum is a collaborative effort between teachers and learners since learners are closely involved in the decision-making process regarding the content of the curriculum and how it is taught (Nunan, 1988, p. 2).
This affirms the need for learner involvement and participation in the process of FL teaching and learning and the need that learners learn to accept and assume full responsibility for such a process (Holec, 1981). Such a process enables learners to pursue goals that they have determined and set within their capabilities (Locke, 1996, p. 123). FL learners need to develop their ‘independent capacities in relevant domains’ (Littlewood, 1996, p. 427). This refers to the learners’ active participation in decisions on the content and process of learning, the use of the target language and to the way learners ‘think, learn and behave’ (Littlewood, 1996, p. 427).
One of the main aspects that underpins the tenets of this discussion is the consideration that autonomy is the ability to take responsibility and charge of learning (Little, 1991; Holec, 1981).
We take our first step towards developing the ability to take charge of our own learning when we accept full responsibility for the learning process, acknowledging that success in learning depends crucially on ourselves rather than on other people (Little, 1991, p. 1).
In this vein, one needs to note that the development of autonomous learning hinges on the development of control over learning that, ‘enable[s] the learner to become increasingly self- directed and responsible for his or her own learning’, and leads to personal growth (Kohonen, 1992, p. 36). Autonomy is reflected in the learners’ ability to make independent choices in learning and to sustain the ‘motivation and confidence’ required to implement them
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(Littlewood, 1996, p. 428). It is central to the development of ‘skills of reflection and analysis that enable us to plan, monitor and be able to evaluate our own learning’ (Little, 1991, p. 1). The various facets of autonomy relate to the managerial and organisational, as well as the cognitive, situational and social aspects of learning (Benson, 2011a). These aspects capture what has been referred to as the various levels of control of learner autonomy. The managerial and cognitive aspects are clearly expressed in definitions of autonomy as 'the ability to take charge of one's learning’ (Holec, 1981, p. 3).
One needs to furthermore consider ‘the learner’s psychological relation to the process and content of learning’ (Little, 1990, p. 7). The cognitive and ‘psychological relation to the process of learning’ is expressed through the depiction of autonomy as a ‘capacity – for detachment and critical reflection, decision-making and independent action’ (Little, 1991, p. 4). Situational and social aspects are further aspects that need to be considered. The situational aspect refers to the freedom required by learners to be able to act autonomously and control their learning while the social aspect relates to the ‘learner’s ability to interact with others in the learning process’ (Benson, 2011a, p. 49).
2.3.2 Autonomy of language useand language learning
Developing confidence in language use is a main aspect that needs to be addressed as learners are given space ‘to generate own utterances’ in the foreign language classroom (Macaro, 2008, p. 51). Learners need to assume responsibility for a process that enables them to ‘move away from the language of others to the language of the self’ (Macaro, 2008, p. 52). To achieve such competence, the meaning of language use cannot be merely viewed as the replication of structured dialogues or teacher-learner led utterances ‘requir[ing] only brief
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and formulaic learner contributions’ (Little, 2007b, p.21). The development of foreign language proficiency requires learners to engage in the use of language through their own efforts as in the process of learning one’s mother tongue (Little, 2007, p.21). To help learners within such a trajectory they need to be enabled to take responsibility and control of a process that connects aspects of classroom learning to ‘the broader concepts of learners’ lives’ (Benson & Huang, 2008, p. 25).