Autonomy - where is the limit?

ZOUHAR LUDVÍKOVÁ, Lenka. Autonomy - where is the limit? In The 10th Brno Conference of English, American and Canadian Studies. 2015.

Basic information

• Original name: Autonomy - where is the limit?
• Name in Czech: Autonomie - kde je limit?
• Authors: ZOUHAR LUDVÍKOVÁ, Lenka (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: The 10th Brno Conference of English, American and Canadian Studies, 2015.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 50300 5.3 Education
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14640/15:00083680
• Organization unit: Language Centre
• Keywords (in Czech): autonomie učícího se; autonomie učitele; metakognice; pyramida potřeb
• Keywords in English: learner autonomy; teacher autonomy; metacognition; hierarchy of needs

Abstract

Planning, monitoring and evaluating, traditionally perceived as the teacher´s responsibility gain a new dimension in the hands of our students. In language learning, probably more than in other disciplines, they usually are capable of accepting the responsibility and taking charge of their learning. The paper is based on research conducted in a course English Autonomously that is offered by the Language Centre of Masaryk university. The students in this course tailor the content to their needs and requirements, they make the choices themselves and attempt to achieve the goals they set. They reflect on the learning process and feel involved in it. Nevertheless, the teacher is still there with his/her role diverted into a facilitator and counsellor. The students find the autonomy challenging and they proof that they can handle it when given the opportunity. The opportunity comes with a framework that supports and leads them and at the same time compensates the guidance from the teacher. Autonomy seems to work best for the students when they have a structure that helps them plan the learning, achieve the goals and concentrate on the learning situation.