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Introduction Richard Pemberton The chapters that follow provide insights into a field of language learning that has been attracting an increasing amount of attention over the last 20 years. Numerous books for language teachers have appeared durin g thi s period on the subjects of learner autonomy, self-directed learning, self-access systems and individualized/independent learning (e.g. Harding-Esch 1976; Altman and James 1980; Holec 1981; Geddes and Sturtridge 1982a; Mason 1984; Riley 1985; Dickinson 1987 ; Wenden an d Rubi n 1987 ; Brookes an d Grundy 1988; Holec 1988; Ellis and Sinclair 1989; Little 1989; Sheerin 1989; Willing 1989; Gathercole 1990; Little 1991; Wenden 1991; Dickinson 1992; Page 1992; Esch 1994; Gardner and Miller 1994; Dam 1995); special issues of the journals Die Neueren Sprachen and System were devoted t o learne r autonomy i n 199 4 an d 1995, respectively; an d th e ai m o f developin g autonomy in language learning has been incorporated, to greater or lesser degrees, into many countries' national curricula. The reasons for thi s trend ar e varied, and hav e to do with factor s a s diverse as : educational philosophy ; language-learnin g theory ; politica l beliefs (fro m widel y differin g perspectives) ; the nee d t o adap t t o rapi d changes in technology, communications and employment and the increasing recognition that the ability to learn is more important in today's environ ment than a set of knowledge; the opportunities provided by technological developments and increased communication links around the world; and attempts to expand educational provision at the same time as cutting costs. However, with peopl e fro m a wide variety o f backgrounds usin g term s like 'autonomy' an d 'independence ' fo r a variety o f purposes, there is a massive potential for misunderstanding, and so we turn first to the question of terminology 2 Richar d Pemberton Terminology The word autonomy appears in nine of the titles listed above, and a glance in recen t languag e teachin g an d applie d linguistic s journals i s likely t o confirm th e impressio n tha t i t i s taking ove r th e buzzword statu s tha t communicative an d authentic hel d i n th e 1980s . There ar e a numbe r o f problems associated with this growing popularity (see, e.g., Little 1994c), two o f which concer n u s here. The first i s that, as can be see n from th e range of terms used in the book titles mentioned above, different terms are often used to refer to the same thing. The second, related, problem is that the sam e ter m i s often use d t o mean differen t things . Before w e g o an y further, then , we need to clarify wha t concepts we are addressing in this book, and what words we are using to express them. The goal of the contributors to this book is to help learners develop the potential to take control of every stage of their own learning, from the setting of goals through to evaluation. In this, they share some common groun d with proponents of learning systems which allow (or can allow) learner s varying degree s o f choic e ove r th e learnin g process , suc h a s 'distanc e learning', 'flexible learning', 'individualized instruction' , 'open learning' , 'self-access learning' and 'self-instruction' . Wher e they differ, however, is that the systems just mentioned ar e ways of organizing learning and no t approaches which have as their central aim the development of a particular capacity in the learner. Self-instruction, for example, is taken either to refer to learning without a teache r (e.g . Little 1991 : 3) or learning "withou t th e direct control of a teacher" (Dickinson 1987:5). Distance learning is a way of organizing learners which usually only allows learners control over access (the time, place and pace of their study). Open learning (of which distance learning is a subset) allows choices within the curriculum as well as in access; it does have taking responsibility for learning as a goal, but it appears fundamentally t o be an institutional response to the need to take on board more students while at the same time cutting costs (Lewis 1995). Individualized instruction involves the use of activities designed to meet...

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