Resultados de desempeño general de los niños y niñas

Active learning has become an increasingly recognised term in the higher education system in Vietnam. There are a number of perspectives on active learning in the

literature. In this chapter, six key features of active learning are discussed. They are student involvement, shared knowledge, links to existing knowledge, student roles, integration of skills and a reciprocal teaching and learning process. These features reflect the Vietnamese government goals of reforming teaching and learning in higher education.

Firstly, active learning generally refers to student involvement in the learning process (Armstrong, 1983). By nature, this involvement implies that students take an active role as owners and generators of new knowledge rather than being merely passive receivers of information delivered by the lecturer.

Secondly, active learning involves building on shared knowledge of a specific event rather than passive knowing, so it is characterised by the idea of a communal act (Palmer, 1987). This concept suggests that learning can be more active if there is an interchange of knowledge between the lecturer and students (Boyer, 1991; Meyers & Jones, 1993; D. E. Pedersen, 2010) or if it involves an interactive learning environment and feedback on students’ ideas (Holtzman, 2005). In addition, active learning occurs when students of different educational backgrounds and contexts bring to class different ideas and experiences about what they know (personal knowledge) and share with peers their understandings about the contents of a particular subject area. This type of

knowledge makes learning an integral part of student life (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). It is necessary for students to accumulate knowledge of a specialised subject. Learning can become active and meaningful only when students know how to connect new knowledge with their personal knowing.

Thirdly, on a higher level of Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy with regard to cognitive process (applying knowledge), Hutchings (1990) states that active learning is associated with not only what students know but also what they can do with that content. This

perspective leads to an understanding of the usefulness of new knowledge and how to use that knowledge in a meaningful and relevant way. Such meaningful learning (Michael & Modell, 2003) seems to suggest that students have the ability to apply or to translate knowledge into practice rather than receiving knowledge passively. Students are therefore required to have skills to connect new and prior knowledge rather than just

memorizing information (Biggs, 1999) for their enhanced learning. Therefore, lecturers need to understand about student background knowledge in order to develop appropriate skills or strategies that will aid students in actively learning new information.

Another perspective of active learning is that students are engaged in doing activities and thinking about what they are doing (Bonwell & Eison, 1991). The key idea in this view embraces the higher order thinking levels of cognitive processes (analysis, synthesis and evaluation) highlighted by Bloom (1956). Coupled with critical thinking skills, improved student attitudes towards their learning may occur as a result of active learning (K. A. Smith, Sheppard, Johnson, & Johnson, 2005). Thus, these perspectives imply the responsibility of learning lies with students.

Active learning is related to behavioural, cognitive and social dimensions (Watkins, Carnell, & Lodge, 2007). Watkins and his colleagues argue that all learning is active (behavioural), that learning requires construction of knowledge (cognitive), and that learning entails interaction with others (social). All of these interpretations, as reflected in Bonwell and Eison (1991), provide lecturers with insights into the use of skills, strategies and tasks in their practice to promote effective student learning. However, these lines of reasoning are at the conceptual level only rather than being put into practical application in Vietnamese higher educational contexts.

Another view of active learning is that it “provides opportunities for students to talk and listen, read, write, and reflect as they approach course content through problem-solving exercises, information small groups, simulations, case studies, role playing, and other activities, all of which require students to apply what they are learning” (Meyers & Jones, 1993, p. xi). In this definition, active learning is particularly associated with the integration of skills mediated by the lecturer to help students to learn. Although students can be engaged in performing tasks in several ways with a strong emphasis on the role of the lecturer (Auster & Wylie, 2006; Keyser, 2000; Panitz, 1999), the student roles in their learning process cannot be ignored.

A more recent perspective of active learning suggests that students learn by doing things (Capel, Leask, & Turner, 2009). This view positions the lecturer as more of a stage

manager (Ciaccio, 2004). In this role, the lecturer can establish a closer rapport with the students, identify what they need to learn and observe how they learn in order to tailor the pace and instructional methods. In other words, reciprocal teaching and learning processes are addressed. Thus, if students are aware of their desired goals, they will be more likely to take responsibility for their own learning and become dynamic recipients of knowledge. An awareness of the value of the active participation of students and providing them with opportunities to reflect, analyse, synthesise, evaluate, and process information (Fink, 2003; Machemer & Crawford, 2007; C. V. Smith & Cardaciotto, 2011) is now seen as an important dimension of effective teaching.

In this study, the term active learning is used to refer to an interactive learning approach in which students construct and utilise knowledge in critical and meaningful ways.

The underlying features of active learning literature above, such as student involvement and skills integration, are relevant to the Vietnamese government goals for higher education. Thus, to align with the need for curriculum and instruction change prioritised by the university strategic plan of 2010-2020 (Vietnam University, 2010), lecturers are encouraged to change their thinking from traditional views towards a more active learning approach. In order to move students beyond passive learning, consideration of learner autonomy is now examined.

Learner autonomy

The notion of learner autonomy has been widely introduced for more than three decades within the context of language teaching and learning (Benson, 2001; Cotterall &

Crabbe, 1999; Holec, 1981; Littlewood, 1996). There are a number of views on learner autonomy in the literature.

Learner autonomy is defined as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning” (Holec, 1981, p. 3). This implies that students take responsibility for the decisions in the learning process which includes choices of subjects, content papers, learning

preferences, and future orientations. This view also suggests other pedagogical insights into the role shift of the lecturer and that of the student in relation to active learning. In the context of language learning and teaching methodology, the notion of autonomy has

given an emphasis to the student as the centre of teaching and learning process rather than being passive recipients of knowledge from the lecturer. In actively engaging students in an autonomous learning environment, the lecturer is assumed to take a facilitative role.

Another view of learner autonomy is that it involves “the capacity for the detachment from the teacher, critical reflection, decision-making and independent action” (D. Littlewood, 1991, p. 3). This concept suggests that students are thought to become independent from the lecturer in making decisions and choices of not only what they want to learn but also how they find their own ways to learn. Another line of reasoning for the importance of learner autonomy is confirmed within the context of teaching foreign languages (Cotterall & Crabbe, 1999; Nunan, Lai, & Keobke, 1999). This view allows students to think about their process of learning and to modify the learning process over time. The underlying ideas of reflection and independence also imply that students learn for the sake of their personal attainment and professional future and that their awareness of the roles (Inozu, 2011; Kohonen, 2003; Lamb & Reinders, 2008) is considered in the learning process.

However, learner autonomy depends mostly upon the relationship between the lecturer and the students (Ganza, 2008; Lamb & Reinders, 2008; Poskitt, 1994). It is worth noting that the autonomous learning in an Asian context such as Vietnam is largely rooted by the cultural view of interdependence rather than independence (Littlewood, 1996, 1999). In Vietnamese culture, learning is predominantly described within the context of collectivism that focuses upon the interdependence between personal attainment and value of social relationships.

Moreover, learning may be influenced by a “de facto acceptance of relationships based on power and authority” (Littlewood, 1999, p. 78). Influenced by Confucian traditional learning, there may be some distance between the lecturer and students in Vietnam as a result of saving face for both (Littlewood, 1999). Despite the influence of power and authority that may be imposed on students, Trinh (2005) found that in his empirical experiments of designing curriculum for the first-year students of teaching English as a Foreign Language, autonomous learning could be developed within the Vietnamese

context and students had positive attitudes towards this development. Thus, enabling students to be willing to interact with the lecturer and other students in the learning process (Littlewood, 1996; Scharle & Szabo, 2000) is of crucial importance. For these reasons, autonomy can occur if students are motivated to learn.

Drawing on these perspectives of learner autonomy, an awareness of how to help students to develop their autonomy through active learning is examined within the context of teaching ESP. Attention to lecturer beliefs that inform their encouragement of active learning in ESP classes is discussed in the next section.