Ways of improving language skills on learner autonomy

Key words: learner independence; language learning; learner autonomy; learner involvement; learner reflection; within and beyond the classroom.
There are four main advantages to becoming an autonomous learner. First, as noted above, you may not always have the support of your teacher, and you will therefore need to be able to learn by yourself. Second, autonomous learners are likely to be more efficient in their learning, because the learning will be more personal and focused. Third, the skills required in autonomous learning are ones which will be needed in future, for example in the workplace. Finally, since autonomous learners are more proactive in their learning, they will usually succeed even though they may not always feel positive towards their learning or may sometimes lack motivation.

Developing learner autonomy involves learning how to learn, and is a gradual and sometimes difficult process [1, 126]. In order to become autonomous, learners need to be exposed to a range of useful learning activities, and have the opportunity to evaluate and reflect on these. This will be achieved by a combination of efforts by the teacher, peers and the student. Assessment of learning, by all three groups, will also be important. Working with others in this way can be difficult for some students, who may not be used to viewing learning as a social activity, and the autonomous learner therefore needs to develop social skills such as empathy, tolerance and understanding of difference, as well as the ability to explain, discuss and negotiate with the teacher and other learners [2, 27]. In short, developing learner autonomy means developing a wide range of academic, intellectual, personal and interpersonal skills, requiring engagement with cognitive, affective and social dimensions.

Does autonomy in language learning imply that learners should decide what they learn, or can autonomy legitimately be restricted to how, when and where they learn?

In educational institutions, constraints on autonomy are chiefly of two kinds: those concerned with student behaviour and discipline (encoded in rules, regulations and fixed routines) and those that are more directly concerned with teaching and learning. The former are essentially concerned with the personal autonomy of the students within the everyday life of the institution, while the latter are more directly concerned with autonomy in learning [3, 257]. Focusing on the latter, we might say that designing pedagogies for learner autonomy is largely a question of creating situations in which students are able to some control over when, where, with whom, how, what and why they are learning. A further useful distinction can be made between constraints related to learning methodology (the when, where, with whom, and how of learning) and constraints related to learning content (what and why). The question arises from an assumption that, in most educational settings, constraints on student control of learning content are less easily relaxed than constraints on control over learning methodologies [4, 69]. The question is, essentially, whether learner autonomy without control over the content of learning is really autonomy at all.

The nature of learning and learner differences in employing learning strategy does not hinder autonomy learner to be promoted. Learner autonomy impacts learner English proficiency, language awareness and sustainable in learning. These advantages should take into account in the learning process [5, 31].

Learner autonomy initially promoted in the classroom setting. Learner autonomy should be encouraged and reinforced through autonomous classroom. Autonomy reinforcement starts from classroom which set to enable students to learn independently. This situation is initiated by the teachers to their students with clear direction, responsibility and instruction [5, 37].

In the classroom context, teacher set the classroom to support learner autonomy. In the first place teacher should create an autonomous atmosphere. Classroom culture such as valuing learner independence to have an idea and do the task with their preferred learning style may be stimulated. Little (2006) suggest teacher’s roles as follow:

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  use the target language as the preferred medium of classroom communication and require
  
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  the same of her learners;
  
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  involve her learners in a non-stop quest for good learning activities, which are shared, discussed, analysed and evaluated with the whole class – in the target language, to begin with in very simple terms;
  
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  help her learners to set their own learning targets and choose their own learning activities, subjecting them to discussion, analysis and evaluation – again, in the target language;
  
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  require her learners to identify individual goals but pursue them through collaborative work in small groups;
  
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  require her learners to keep a written record of their learning – plans of lessons and projects, lists of useful vocabulary, whatever texts they themselves produce;
  
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  engage her learners in regular evaluation of their progress as individual learners and as a class – in the target language [6, 48].
  

Autonomy in improving English language skills is a process. It is not a product that many students seek today. It is impossible to teach learners everything they need to know in class so that the class activity should be driven to the development of learner autonomy. To be able to follow the development, language learner should learn continuously whether there are some advantages and disadvantages of learner autonomy [2, 26]. Being an autonomous learner has a parallel relation with the awareness of one‘s responsibility as a member of a society.

Learner autonomy has generally been perceived and interpreted positively by both the EFL teachers and students involved in this study, with teachers highlighting the belief in both the questionnaire and interviews that autonomous learners will be more effective, more motivated and can more easily relate their classwork to their life and experiences with English in general. This result parallels similarities to the previous studies of Camilleri (1997), Reinders & Lázaro (2011), Borg & Al-Busaidi (2012) and Shahsavari (2014), who all found teachers' perceptions of autonomous learning to be very positive. Similar to Shahsavari's study, our questionnaire data reveals differences between teachers and students concerning the extent to which they believe autonomy may help learners to learn more effectively than they otherwise would. In both studies, teachers have strongly agreed that autonomous learners will learn better, while the student results were more unclear.

Autonomous students’ beliefs on learner autonomy are very important components of their future teaching practices. Therefore, teacher educators play a salient role in autonomous students’ experience with learner autonomy by allowing more room for greater motivation, negotiation and decision making. On the basis of the findings, it would make sense to offer some suggestions for teacher educators to lift barriers in students’ minds concerning learner autonomy [4, 71].

We can present the following recommendations: In light of evidence suggesting that learner autonomy may be a far more gradual and adaptable concept than individuals may first believe, my principle recommendation for EFL practitioners and learners alike is to consider 'controlled' degrees of autonomy which may be more easily implemented into existing EFL classrooms and courses, with students who may or may not have experienced some degree of autonomy previously. When considering autonomy as a notion always 55 in change and in motion, EFL professionals can be more realistic and appropriate in their expectations and desires for autonomy.