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Date Posted: 09:34:11 10/16/05 Sun
Author: Jane Queiroz
Subject: Re: Final Draft - Autonomy in Second Language Acquisition
In reply to: Eduardo Miguel 's message, "Final Draft - Autonomy in Second Language Acquisition" on 12:45:32 10/15/05 Sat

>Autonomy is an important factor that influence(1) Second
>Language Aquisition. In general it can be described as
>a deliberate capacity which people have to take more
>control over their own lives. In Second Language
>Acquisition is the conscious learners´ control over
>the process, (2)his/her intention for which they learn a
>second language and what he/she does to acquire it
>better.
>Autonomy can also be described as a faculty to take
>more responsibility for our own learning process. From
>this point of view, autonomy involves abilities,
>attitudes and motivation that people must have, or can
>develop according to their needs.
>There are different points of view about autonomy in
>Second Language (3)acquistion. These differences explain
>why it is so hard to state the exact meaning of
>autonomy in this process. The most common prospect in
>the literature is one from Holec (1981, apud Maláter,
>2002,) who defines autonomy as “the ability to take
>charge of one’s own learning”. According to Dickinson
>(1994)(4), “autonomy in language learning is essentially
>a matter of attitude to learning” (4)(p. 4). Autonomy
>has become an important concept since the appearance
>of the communicative approach, which advocates more
>responsibility for the learner as well as changes in
>teachers’ role (Larsen-Freeman, 1986 apud) . A good
>language learner (5)have to be autonomous. Thus, all the
>studies have their importance in the language
>education. Melo, 2000, p. 29), who are not at the
>center of the language learning process anymore (6). The
>communicative approach gives less emphasis on teaching
>and more emphasis on providing the student with
>opportunities to recognize what makes sense to(2) his/her
>life, (2)his/her reality and his/her future (Almeida
>Filho, 1993, p. 42).
>Students come from different backgrounds and have
>different needs and goals. With second language
>learners, factors such as motivation, attitude, and
>the level of teacher support (7)can strongly affect the
>desire and ability to learn a second language.
>According to Deci and Ryan (1985), intrinsic
>motivation is related to basic human needs for
>competence and autonomy.
>Autonomy is also related to individuality and
>independence. However, the autonomous process does not
>mean learner isolation or no role for the teacher.
>Much to the contrary, because we are social beings and
>language is social, the classroom has an important
>role in the autonomous process. It is the place where
>the teacher and the students share their knowledge. It
>is important to mention that the teacher has an
>essential role in the autonomous language learning,
>because (2)he/she is responsible for teaching the
>learners how to be autonomous, how to find their own
>way for learning a foreign language. The teacher must
>give opportunities for his/her students to learn on
>their own, once the teacher is not the center of the
>language learning process. However, sometimes when
>dealing with students’ autonomy, teachers tend to hold
>the belief that their “power” is threatened. This is
>not true, since (2)his/her “power” is an illusion. In my
>opinion, the learning of a foreign language lies
>mainly in the students' hands. Thus, the teacher
>cannot be the center, once (2) he/she does not have the
>“power” to teach a foreign language. However, it is
>important to keep in mind that the teacher has an
>essential role in the language learning process, once
>students’ autonomy means effective learning with the
>teacher’s assistance.
>(8 )when the teacher gives the opportunity for (2)his/her
>students to become autonomous (2)he/she is giving them
>the opportunity to make their own choices. Each
>student must have attitude to find out what is his/her
>best way of learning, what are the best learning
>strategies that he/she should use and how much effort
>(2)he/she should employ in order to learn the target
>language. The student will become autonomous when
>(2)he/she feels that he/she is responsible for (2)his/her
>own learning.
>In conclusion, it is important to point out that the
>autonomy have a tremendous impact on second language
>learning. The development of autonomy in the language
>learning process is a value aim that teachers and
>students must share. The learners must be aware that
>they are responsible for their own learning and the
>teachers have to try to help the learners to develop
>their autonomy. But even if learner autonomy is
>amenable to educational interventions, it should be
>recognised that it 'takes a long time to develop, and
>simply removing the barriers to a person's ability to
>think and behave in certain ways may not allow him or
>her to break away from old habits or old ways of
>thinking' (Candy, 1991: 124).
>
>REFERENCE LIST
>
>ALMEIDA FILHO, J. C. P. (1993) Dimensões comunicativas
>no ensino de línguas. Campinas: Pontes.
>
>BENSON, P. & VOLLER, P. (1997) Introduction: autonomy
>and independence in language learning. In: BENSON, P.
>& VOLLER, P. (eds.). In: Autonomy and independence in
>language learning. (pp. 1-12) London: Longman.
>
>DICKINSON, L. (1994) Learner autonomy: what, why and
>how? In: LEFFA, V. J. (ed.) Autonomy in Language
>Learning. (pp. 2-12) Porto Alegre: Editora da
>Universidade / UFRGS.
>
>LITTLE, D. (1995) Learning as dialogue: the dependence
>of learner autonomy on teacher autonomy. In: System,
>vol. 23, n. 2. pp. 175-181. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
>
>MALÁTER, L. S. de O. (2002) (em preparação) Questões
>de autonomia na formação de professores de língua
>estrangeira: afinal, quem somos? Submetido para
>publicação referente ao FILE II. Pelotas: UCPel.

Hi Eduardo, here are my comments.
1 - an important factor that influenceS
2 - I've read that this kind of repetion should be avoided. Try to change teacher / student / learner / for their respective plural form and use the pronouns them / their.
3 - Capital letter in Acquisition
4 - I think it would be better if you join these two parts together in the reference (1994, p.4)
5 - a learner HAS to be ...
6 - I'm sorry if I didn't understood it correctly, but this sentence doesn't seem to be conected to the rest of the paragraph.
7 - what do you mean by "level of teacher support"?
8 - Capital letter

Regards,
Jane

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Replies:

  • Re: Final Draft - Autonomy in Second Language Acquisition -- Jefferson, 11:30:42 10/16/05 Sun
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