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1 Towards autonomous learning: some theoretical, empirical and practical issues David Nunan Introduction In this chapter I shall look at some of the theoretical, empirical and practical issues associated with the concept of learner autonomy. In the first part of the chapter , I shall provid e m y interpretatio n o f som e o f th e ke y term s associated wit h learne r autonomy , a s well a s providin g a rational e fo r autonomous learning. The second part of the chapter contains a selective review o f som e researc h whic h illuminate s issue s o f relevanc e t o autonomous learning . Finally , I shal l loo k a t som e o f th e practica l implications of fostering autonomy in language learning. This final section will be illustrated wit h materials for developin g autonomous learning i n both ESL and EFL contexts. The central point I would like to make in the chapter is that autonom y is not an absolute concept. There are degrees of autonomy, and the extent to which it is feasible o r desirable for learners to embrace autonomy wil l depend on a range of factors to do with the personality of the learner, their goals in undertaking the study of another language, the philosophy of the institution (if any) providing the instruction, and the cultural context within which the learning takes place. Each of these factors will, of course, interact, so that a learner whose personality and preferred learning style is positively oriented towards autonomy might, in an institutional or cultural context in sympathy with autonomy, become largely autonomous, and, in a context antithetical to autonomy, develop little in the way of autonomy. A second, related point, is that some degree of autonomy can be fostered in learners regardless of the extent to which they are naturally predisposed to th e notion , by systematicall y incorporatin g strateg y trainin g int o th e learning process. 14 Davi d Nunan Defining terms In this first part of the chapter, I should like to explore some key terms that have been variously interpreted by different practitioner s and comment ators at different times . These terms are 'learner-centredness', Tearning centredness ' an d 'autonomy' . To begin with learner-centredness: the basic idea behind the concept is simple, although not, I trust, simplistic. A learnercentred curriculum will contain similar components to those contained in traditional curricula. However, the key difference is that in a learner-centred curriculum key decisions about what will be taught, how it will be taught, when i t will be taught , an d ho w i t will be assesse d wil l be mad e wit h reference to the learner. Information about learners, and, where feasible, from learners, will be used to answer the key questions of what, how, when, and how well. Other themes to emerge in writings on learner-centredness include an emphasis on the active involvement by learners in communicating in the classroom (Scarcella an d Oxfor d 1992) , a focu s o n th e us e o f authenti c material s (Cathcart an d Vaugh n 1993) , an d incorporatin g int o th e curriculu m learning-how-to-learn goal s alongside languag e goal s (Elli s and Sinclai r 1989). My ow n interes t i n seein g thing s fro m th e learner' s poin t o f vie w developed when I realized that I could not do the learning for my learners — that in the final analysis, they would have to do their own learning, and that the best thing I could do was to help them find way s of doing thei r own learning. Supporting this notion is the realization of the complex and indirect relationship between instruction and learning. When I began as a language teacher, I thought, perhaps with the arrogance of the young, that my learners ought to learn what I taught. It was a shock to discover ho w naive was the idea that learners learn what teachers teach. It is a fact of life that learners do not learn what teachers teach in the simplistic one-to-one way implied by many curricular specifications and assessment tools. However, it is a serious error to leap from an acceptance of the notion that learners must ultimately do their own learning to embrace the doctrine of...

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