Week 10 Reflection

Learner Autonomy and Tandem Learning: Putting Principles Into Practice in Synchronous and Asynchronous Telecommunications Environments

This article is mainly about learner autonomy and how various computer-mediated forms of language learning can implement learner autonomy principles.

Learner autonomy is defined as “a learner’s capacity for critical self-evaluation and self-determination, an ability to take control over and responsibility for his/her learning”. There are three approaches to learner autonomy. The first one is the individual-cognitive perspective which emphasizes that learners constantly try to improve their existing construct system. The second one is called social-interactive. Social interaction is regarded as a tool to increase consciousness, or conscious awareness which can be achieved through scaffolding or corrective feedback. The third approach views learner autonomy from an experimental-participatory perspective. Experimental work with tools and artifacts can raise awareness which learners can use to monitor and evaluate their learning progress.

Although learner autonomy means that learners should take control over their learning process, I think it does not mean that the role of teachers is no longer important. We have to help learners to build up their “capacity” so that they can assume responsibility for their own learning. For my students, in order to promote learner autonomy, the first step would be to arouse their interest in learning since most of them have very low motivation. I think rewards and positive reinforcement can help. Once they are motivated in learning, they would become more active in and take more responsibility for their learning.

Week 9 Reflection

Practical Considerations for Multimedia Courseware Development: An EFL IVD Experience

This article addresses the practical aspects of multimedia courseware development. It suggests that teachers should know the media, the institutional needs or constraints, and design principles before using multimedia or CALL courseware in teaching. It also mentions that we should incorporate three perspectives including the language, the learner and the language learning when we set our objectives.

I agree with the author that using CALL can strengthen individualized instructions because students can learn flexibly at their own pace without interfering with others. However, I think CALL should not be used alone without any linkage to the normal classroom activities. It should be integrated to our regular lessons. We should also incorporate cooperative learning when we use CALL to allow students to learn from both CALL and their peers. I think that evaluation during the development and actual practice is also important for improving the CALL and finding out its effectiveness.

I think it is really good for the author to have so much help in developing the IDV courseware. In the school setting, I think that it is almost impossible for us, teachers, to develop our own CALL courseware as we don’t have the skills, time and resources to do that.