wa.amu.edu.pl A DAM M ICKIEWICZ U NIVERSITY IN P OZNAŃ Faculty of English Self-assessment and Learner Autonomy in EFL Teacher Training: Why and How? Ewa Mruk & Julia Kopacz

wa.amu.edu.pl A DAM M ICKIEWICZ U NIVERSITY IN P OZNAŃ Faculty of English Outline: 1.Autonomy / self-assessment definitions. 2.Why autonomy & self-assessment is important in teacher education? 3.The role of autonomy and self-assessment in teacher training. 4.How is autonomy spread during EFL Teacher Training? 5.Conclusions.

3 Self-assessment Henner-Stanchina and Holec (1985:98) describe the process like this: Learners simultaneously create and undergo the evaluation procedure, judging their achievement in relation to themselves against their own personal criteria, in accordance with their own objectives and learning expectations.

AUTONOMY: DEFINITION ”The ability to take charge of one’s learning (...) to have, and to hold, the responsibility for all the decisions concerning all aspects of this learning’ and the specific decisions.” Holec (1981: 3) 4

AUTONOMY: DEFINITION Autonomy as ability: is not inborn must be acquired by formal learning or „natural means” (Holec 1981, p.3), full responsibility, may be applied outside the learning environment. 5

AUTONOMY: DEFINITION ‘ability’ sometimes replaced with ‘capacity’ in Little, 1991 ‘take responsibility for’ or ‘take control of’ substituting for ‘take charge of’ 6

AUTONOMY: DEFINITION the notion of ‘willingness’ to stress the point that irrespective of their capacity, learners will not develop autonomy unless they are willing to take responsibility for their learning (Dam, 1995) 7

AUTONOMY is NOT: self-instruction/learning without a teacher (Esch 1998); it does not mean that intervention or initiative on the part of a teacher is banned; 8

The importance of autonomy in education. autonomy as a means of feeling free and volitional in one’s actions is a basic human need (Deci 1995, p.2) autonomy enhances intrinsic motivation autonomous learners are able to take responsibility for their own learning situations outside the classroom; 9

Why is it important in education? acting in your interest while staying affiliated with the values of the organization, responsibility in what and how to learn; Self-direction, independent and proactive approach; 10

AUTONOMY IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ! 11

Learner autonomy According to Benson (1997), there are three different dimensions of autonomy in applied linguistics: technical -> positivism, psychological -> constructivism political -> critical theory 12

Teacher autonomy ‘right to freedom from control’ (Benson 2000) teachers’ capacity to engage in self-directed teaching (Little 1995, Tort-Moloney 1997), teachers’ autonomy as learners (Smith 2000, Savage 2000). ‘the capacity, freedom, and/or responsibility to make choices concerning one’s own teaching’. Aoki (2000) 13

The role of autonomy and self-assessment in teachers training. Learning – definiton. Student teachers of English = learners; Teaching and learning is not and should not be customer/attendant relationship. Autonomy developed since early beginning of child’s education. 14

Polish educational context 15 different levels of autonomy, basic questions: What autonomy is? Are you an autonomous learner? How can you be autonomous? Was your autonomy developed before entering the university?

The role of autonomy and self-assessment in teachers training. How to help learners become more self-regulated in order to promote their learner autonomy? 16

The role of autonomy and self-assessment in teachers training. not enough guidance to practitioners and practitioner trainers, However… teachers constitute the noble profession that shapes society; student teachers’ professional path more effective, openness to innovations and cooperation. 17

How is learner autonomy spread during EFL Teacher Training? At the heart of autonomous learning is the student’s perception of their own role as a learner. Self-reliant students can address their own individual needs and make ongoing progress. 18

How is learner autonomy spread during EFL Teacher Training? annotate assignments, tests and class plans on an ongoing basis. End-of-term summaries creating a teaching portfolio 19

How is learner autonomy spread during EFL Teacher Training? Encouragement tothink critically !!! 20

How is learner autonomy spread during EFL Teacher Training? Developing a teaching portfolio – benefits: provides a powerful means to document one’s teaching practices, philosophies, and performances. can also help to reflect on one’s teaching examine the development of teaching over time, portfolio can be used as a attachment to CV, 21

How is learner autonomy spread during EFL Teacher Training? What does it look like at Adam Mickiewicz University? didactics classes and seminars regarding teacher education, apprenticeships in schools, preparation to them beforehand, Practicum’s Journal, descriptors from EPOSTL, learner-centered approach, lecturer’s feedback and peer-assessment. 22

Conclusions: self-assessment and autonomy are crucial factors both for learner and teacher. That is why student teachers should be trained so that they take into consideration learner autonomy in their future teaching context. 23

References: 1.Australian Journal of Teacher Education, Issue 3 Article The Use of the EPOSTL to Foster Teacher Autonomy: ELT Student Teachers’ and Teacher Trainers’ Views. 2.Henner-Stanchina, C. and H. Holec ‘Evaluation in an autonomous learning scheme’ in P. Riley (ed.) Discourse and Learning. London:Longman. 3.Holec, Henri. Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. 1981Oxford, New York: Pergamon Press. 4.Little, David. Language learner autonomy and the European Language Portfolio: Two L2 English examples. Language Teaching Dam, L. (1995). Learner Autonomy 3: From Theory to Classroom Practice. Dublin: Authentik. 6.Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1995). Human autonomy: The basis for true self-esteem. In M. Kemis (Ed.), Efficacy, agency, and self-esteem (pp.31-49). New York: Plenum. 7.Benson, P. (1997). The philosophy and politics of learner autonomy. In P. Benson & P. Voller (Eds.), Autonomy and independence in language learning (pp ). London: Longman. 8.Esch, E. (1998). Promoting learner autonomy: Criteria for the selection of appropriate methods. In R. Pemberton, E. S. L. Li, W. W. F. Or & H. D. Pierson (Eds.),.Taking control: Autonomy in language learning (pp ). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 24

References: 9.Benson, P. (2001). Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Learning. Harlow: Longman/Pearson Education. 10.Little, D (1995) Learning as dialogue: The dependence of learner autonomy on teacher autonomy. System 23/ Tort-Moloney, D. (1997) Teacher autonomy: A Vygotskian theoretical framework. CLCS Occasional Paper No. 48. Dublin: Trinity College, CLCS. 12.Smith, R.C. (2000) Starting with ourselves: Teacher-learner autonomy in language learning. In B. Sinclair, I. McGrath and T. Lamb (eds.) Learner autonomy, teacher autonomy: Future directions. London: Longman Sinclair, B., I. McGrath and T. Lamb (eds.) (2000) Learner autonomy, teacher autonomy: Future directions. London: Longman. 14.Aoki, N. (2000) Aspects of teacher autonomy: Capacity, freedom and responsibility. Paper presented at 2000 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Language Centre Conference. 15.Perspectives from the European Language Portfolio: Learner autonomy and self-assessment.. Kühn, Bärbel and María Luisa Pérez Cavana (eds). London and New York: Routledge. 16.Moreira, M.A., F. Vieira and I. Marques (1999) Pre-service teacher development through action research. The Language Teacher 23/ , 36. Available online via: 25

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