Dr Giovanna Tassinari teaches Italian at the Language Centre of the Freie Universität Berlin. She is the head of the Independant Language Learning Centre and is the author of the case study “Tandem programme at the Language centre of the FUB“. She published in 2010  Autonomes Fremdsprachlernen, Peter Lang Verlag.  As a specialist of learner autonomy, she agreed to participate to this forum and sent us this article. More are to come. Thank you, Giovanna !

Promoting learner autonomy in the classroom: a motivating experience both for teachers and learners

Learner autonomy is the buzz word of the moment. It’s considered to be one of the musts in language learning and teaching nowadays. It’s a prerequisite for life-long learning; it increases motivation; it contributes to individual development and increased social interaction, to critical thinking and much, much more. But what exactly is learner autonomy in the classroom? How do you implement it? Have you ever tried to foster it in your own classroom? Was it successful, effective? How do you feel about this?

Leni Dam has shown everybody that this is possible. And many other teachers are doing it in very different ways, at different institutions. I thought it would be interesting to start a discussion in this blog about this. Therefore, I’d like to start by telling you about the way I do it and I really would like to hear about your experiences.

I teach Italian alongside managing the self-access centre at the Freie Universität in Berlin. Our language modules are described in the study regulations for a range of study programmes that cater for specialist philology as well as non-specialist students from other disciplines (cf. I.Ortiz case study). Therefore, we have to deal with many institutional constraints. 60 contact hours per term, exams at the end of the term, demanding progression schedules, students busy with BA and MA study programmes, just to mention some of them. Nevertheless, my experience has shown me that there is always room for learner autonomy – and that this increases the quality of language teaching.

Core aspects of learner autonomy are:

-       choices (the opportunity and the ability to make choices),

-       awareness (language awareness, language-learning awareness)

-       and, more generally, the capacity to reflect on and review one’s own choices.

How to implement this in the classroom?

1. First of all, I give my students the necessary information to make an informed choice: I let them know about the learning outcomes of the course, about the goal of the task I’m proposing. This might seem time consuming – and it is, but it’s also worth doing because the students get more involved when they know what they are doing and why.
2. Then I let the students participate in making choices: for instance, I let them choose between two different tasks or two different texts in order to reach a goal.
3. I also let them participate in pedagogical decisions by asking them, for example, about whether we should review the past tense forms together or whether we should move on to a new topic?
4. I also try to “get off the stage” as a teacher and let students do things themselves. For instance, I let them do peer-reviewing and reflection on language structures in pairs, instead of doing it myself in plenum. This also increases their language awareness and promotes cooperation.
5. I plan sessions on language learning strategies for single tasks or skills, for example, how to do listening comprehensions.
6. I set aside time to discuss with them in the classroom their individual learning experience (also informally, e.g. I ask them to tell me about tasks they may have done, texts they may have read, grammar topics they may have worked on) and I give feedback on this. This makes them aware of what they are already doing outside the classroom and can help them in making new choices for their further learning.
7. I listen to the students, even if it’s difficult, respect them as individuals and acknowledge their work and efforts, even if they are not successful.

Of course, this may seem too much and too challenging if you think of this all together. But I do it gradually – of course with a wider plan in my mind, but I do not mind, let alone panic, if things turn out differently than I planned.

I have presently (fall term 2010-11) two wonderful classes, very different students, of course. And it’s really a pleasure for me to walk into the classroom and work with them. With the B1 class we worked on poetry last week and students came up with the idea that they should write each other a poem. Why not? Great idea (even if this is not part of the learning outcomes). And yesterday we had an impromptu poetry session in which the students read their own poems – and what poems! Autonomous language learning can be inspiring.

I’ve many other things to tell you about  learner autonomy, but I’d also be glad to hear about your experience. So, why not post a comment? I’m sure you’ve got lots to tell us about!

Contact G. Tassinari: tassinar@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Dam, Leni (1995): Learner Autonomy 3: from Theory to Classroom Practice. Dublin: Authentik.

Ortiz, Isabelle & Tassinari, Maria Giovanna (in press) Eine integrierte Lernumgebung zur Förderung von Lernerautonomie. In: Autonomes Lernen und Motivation. Beiträge des 2. Bremer Symposions zum autonomen Fremdsprachenlernen. Bochum, AKS Verlag.

Ortiz, Isabelle, case study ABV languages modules at the Language Centre of the Freie Universität Berlin

Tassinari, Maria Giovanna (2008) Wie schätze ich mich als autonomer Lerner ein? Ansätze zur Selbsteinschätzung von Strategien und Kompetenzen für Lernerautonomie. In: Martinez, Hélène / Meißner, Franz-Joseph / Mertens, Jürgen / Reinfried, Marcus (eds.): Lernstrategien und Lernerautonomisierung. Themenheft Französisch heute 2008/3: 249–266.