How Building Learner Autonomy Aids Language Learning

August 2024

As teachers, our goal is for students to leave our classrooms (nests) and fly freely with the skills they’ve learned under our tutelage. Of those skills, perhaps the most important one we can help our students master is autonomy: the ability to take charge of our own learning. In this issue, we take a closer look at the different facets of autonomy and how best to encourage and practice this skill with our students.

“The feeling of flying is like no other; it’s freedom, exhilaration, and a reminder that anything is possible.” – Unknown

APA Reference for this issue

(author). (2024). (article title, sentence case). MindBrainEd Think Tanks: How Building Learner Autonomy Aids Language Learning, 10(8), (pages).

Watch before you read...

This Think Tank looks at ways language teachers can help students take charge of their own learning. In the Main video, Devi Sahny makes a compelling case for giving students a say in what they learn and how they learn it. In the More video, Samantha Lewis presents practical ways language teachers can help students become more autonomous learners. Then, Heather Kretschmer introduces the issue.

In the Think Tank, Curtis Kelly delves into what learner autonomy is. Harumi Kimura relates why some students feel helpless and describes three activities she uses to help them break away from this mindset. Next, Jamie Emerson evaluates a course he took on interoception and self-regulation, connecting the course content to learner autonomy. María del Carmen Arau Ribeiro, Aleksandra Sudhershan, and Alexia Schemien explain how students can support one another on their journey towards autonomy. Finally, Pinar Sekmen reflects on the crucial role curiosity plays in developing learner autonomy.

In the Plus section, we spotlight Think Tank editor, Stephen M. Ryan.

Our Thoughts on Learner Autonomy

Flying Towards Learner Autonomy Together Heather Kretschmer

The cover of this month’s Think Tank features a photo of a bird escaping from a cage, which reminds me of a learner escaping a classroom. That photo made me stop and ask myself some hard questions: To what extent is my classroom like a cage? In what ways do I constrain learners? Can I loosen these constraints a bit and maybe even open the cage door? What happens when the cage door opens?

Think Tank Articles

The Benefits of Learner Autonomy in Language Learning Curtis Kelly

Learner autonomy, a popular term in language education, is a relatively recent expression. It was coined in 1981 by Henri Holec; in his words it means the “learner’s ability to take charge of his or her own learning” (LearnUpon Blog). According to Wikipedia, this idea led to self-access learning centers all over the world, including the SALC at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan.

Unlearn Helplessness Through Learning Together and Alone Harumi Kimura

It’s been years since I started teaching repeaters’ English class in my school. Students who have failed regular courses in the previous semester have to register for this course. The idea behind this system lies in our understanding that these students need extra academic support to meet the requirements for passing the course. Teaching them together is preferred to individually as it is more efficient and effective since their needs are similar. Moreover, students may feel safer without high achievers in the same class.

Review: A Course on Interoception and Self-Regulation Jamie Emerson

I recently found myself taking a short online course on interoception and self-regulation. This was a happy accident, stemming from some thinking and writing I’d been doing on the subject of restorative practice. Here, I’ll outline how my view of learner autonomy has shifted, before reviewing the course.

Fostering Interdependence in the Language Classroom with Resources for Collaborative Autonomy María del Carmen Arau Ribeiro, Aleksandra Sudhershan, and Alexia Schemien

“Discuss with your partner…” is one of those common phrases in most language classrooms. We constantly ask our students to discuss, describe, and explain, in pairs and in groups. We hope to grow their meaningful communication and interaction, the essence of communicative language teaching and learning.

When Holy Curiosity Wires with Neuroplasticity Pinar Sekmen

In today’s “a click away” world, traditional approaches in education cannot be expected to be the one and only perspective in teaching and learning. Both learners and educators, who are also lifelong learners, are now seeking autonomy to attain the desired outcomes in their learning and teaching journeys. Here, I would like to activate our silent and/or somehow passivized neural voices on the importance and inevitable role of neuroplasticity—when ignited by curiosity—in building an autonomous learning environment. How can this interconnection of these three main actors—curiosity, neuroplasticity and autonomous learning—transform the learner’s brain while it is learning?

Think Tank Plus

Editor's Spotlight: Stephen Think Tank Team

Editors’ note: We thought this would be a good time to tell you who we are. Not counting our inner stable contributors, this magazine has a staff of seven, living all over the world, who gather at Think Tank Towers in Waikiki every month to produce this magazine. The MindBrainEd Think Tanks are not funded, nor are the contributors or editors paid, so they produce this magazine out of love for language teachers and students.

Call for Contributions: Ideas and Articles Think Tank Staff

Become a Think Tank star! Here are some of the future issue topics we are thinking about. Would you, or anyone you know, like to write about any of these? Or is there another topic you’d like to recommend? Do you have any suggestions for lead-in, or just plain interesting, videos? How about writing a book review? Or sending us a story about your experiences? Contact us.

The MindBrained Think Tanks+

is produced by the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) Mind, Brain, and Education Special Interest Group (BRAIN SIG). Kyoto, Japan. (ISSN 2434-1002)

Editorial Staff

Stephen M. Ryan Curtis H. Kelly Julia Daley Afon (Mohammad) Khari

Heather Kretschmer Matt Ehlers Marc Helgesen Nicky De Proost

Get issues delivered to your inbox at the start of each month!

Unsubscribe

Stop receiving issues in your inbox.

Reader's Survey

Take a short survey to help us learn more about our readers!