Department of English Studies, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts
Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz
and
Institute of Modern Languages, State School of Higher Professional Education, Konin
are happy to announce an international conference:
Autonomy in language learning and teaching:
Techniques, strategies and resources
supported by the AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy (http://www.ailarenla.org/)
Konin, May 8th-10th, 2012
CALL FOR PAPERS
Theme: The conference will be devoted to promoting learner autonomy in the language classroom and it will be a follow-up to three similar events that have taken place over the last eight years. It will be organized by the Department of English Studies, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland and the Institute of Modern Languages, State School of Higher Professional Education, Konin, Poland. The languages of the conference will be English and Polish, with most of the plenary talks being given in the former.
PLENARY SPEAKERS
The following scholars have agreed to participate in the conference and deliver plenary talks:
· Danuta Gabryś-Barker (Institute of English Studies, University of Silesia);
. David Little (Trinity College, Dublin);
· Kazimiera Myczko (Institute of German Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University);
· Weronika Wilczyńska (Institute of French Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University);
· Maria Wysocka (Institute of English Studies, University of Silesia);
· Richard Smith (Center for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick).
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
We welcome contributions related to the theme of the conference which could, among other things, focus on the following areas:
· ways of fostering autonomy in different age groups and at different educational levels;
· evaluation of various techniques and strategies that can be employed with the purpose of developing learner autonomy as well as examples of their practical application;
· developing resources serving the purpose of promoting learner autonomy;
· using information and computer technologies to develop learner autonomy;
· strategy training and the development of learner autonomy;
· learner autonomy, learning strategies and teaching various foreign language skills and subsystems;
· language policies of the Council of Europe and the development of autonomy;
· interdependence of learner and teacher autonomy;
· individual differences and the development of autonomy;
· methodology of research on learner autonomy.
Abstracts of proposed papers in the range of 200-300 words should be submitted by e-mail to konferencjaautonomia2012@gmail.com by March 20th, 2012. The proposals should include the title, name, affiliation, e-mail address and a short biographical note, about 60-80 words in length. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by April 10th, 2012.
PUBLICATION OF PAPERS
After the conference selected papers will be published in a peer-reviewed volume and efforts are currently under way to ensure that this will be done with a leading international publishing house. Further information concerning the publication as well as the submission guidelines will be sent after the conference.
VENUE
The venue for the event will be the Conference Center of State School of Higher Professional Education in Konin, Poland at Popiełuszki 4 St. where all the plenary and parallel sessions will be held and meals and refreshments will be served.
REGISTRATION AND CONFERENCE FEE
All the participants are requested to return the registration form and pay the conference fee by April 20th, 2012. The fee, which covers organization costs, conference materials, lunches and refreshments is 100 euro. We will be able to refund 50% of the fee before May 1st 2012 and after that date no refunds will be possible. The fee should be transferred to the following bank account:
Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa w Koninie
Ul. Przyjaźni 1
62-510 Konin
Kredyt Bank SA
BIC (SWIFT) CODE: KRDBPLPW
IBAN number: PL 65 1500 1461 1214 6004 7669 0000
The title of the payment: Autonomy 2012 + name of the participant
ACCOMMODATION
The participants are requested to book their own accommodation in the Konin Hotel which has consented to offer a discount on its regular room rates:
Hotel Konin, Al. 1 Maja 13, 62-510 Konin, Poland, tel. + 48 63 243 76 00
e-mail: recepcja@hotelkonin.pl
http://www.hotelkonin.pl/
Rooms available from May 7th to May 10th. Rates: single room 125-145 PLN (ca. 35 euro), double room 150-170 PLN (ca. 40 euro), triple room 205 PLN (cs. 50 euro). Breakfast is included in these prices. The name of the conference should be mentioned at the time of the booking.
For further information participants are requested to contact Conference Secretary:
dr Mariusz Kruk
Institute of Modern Languages
State School of Higher Professional Education
ul. Przyjaźni 1
62-510 Konin, Poland
tel. (63) 2497240
e-mail: konferencjaautonomia2012@gmail.com
Information about the Conference and important updates can also be found on the conference website https://sites.google.com/site/konferencjaautonomia/.
CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS
Professor Mirosław Pawlak (Adam Mickiewicz University) pawlakmi@amu.edu.pl
Developing learner autonomy in foreign language learning: Getting learners actively involved
9th September 2011
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy), Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies
Place: Auditorium Santa Margherita, Campo Santa Margherita.
“Few teachers will disagree with the importance of helping language learners to become more autonomous as learners” (A. Wenden 1991).
But what is learner autonomy? How can we develop it in the linguistic field? How can we help learners to be responsible for their learning, to take decisions, to develop language and self-awareness day by day? The conference will give some answers.
This one-day event is organized by the Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy) in cooperation with LASIG (Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group) within Iatefl (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language). The aim of the event is to explore the different aspects connected to learner autonomy when approaching foreign language learning, reflecting on future development in research on learner autonomy and multilingualism, and trying to expose practical ideas to be used in class. Prestigious experts and scholars of learner autonomy and foreign language education will present suggestions and proposals with the intent of promoting learner autonomy research and practice, by creating an opportunity to share experiences and pedagogical implications to be adapted to learners of different age and competence.
For further details on the conference venue see the conference official websites:
I’m looking forward to a mini conference/series of workshops in Thailand, organised by KMUTT, King Mongkut’s University of Technology in Thonburi (Bangkok). Unlike most such events, this one is very specific, and probably of more interest to people who already have experience with self-acces: Consultation, Evaluation and Implementation. I’ll be doing a half-day workshop on self-access evaluation, which I am quite excited about. Peter Voller from Hong Kong will talk about consultation and Sonthida Keyuravong and Chada Kongchan will cover implementation. If you are in the neighbourhood, do consider joining us. From past experiences I know KMUTT will do a great job with the organisation, and they are one of the leading self-access centres in the country.
IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG: events at the Brighton IATEFL conference, April 2011
There will be two important Learner Autonomy events at this conference:
First of all, the Learner Autonomy SIG’s pre-conference event on Friday, 15th April 2011:
Developing learner autonomy: Success stories, constraints, and the role of practitioner research (with Anne Burns and Dick Allwright as guest speakers). Further details here: http://brighton2011.wordpress.com/pce/
The second event is the LA SIG day of presentations on Sunday, 17th April – the second day of the main conference. There will be a varied programme, with a number of presenters well-known for their work in the development of learner autonomy, including Felicity Kjisik, Alex Ding and Barbara Sinclair. The SIG’s ‘Open Forum’ will end the day.
Registration for the PCE and/or the conference is via IATEFL’s website: www.iatefl.org
AILA World Congress Beijing, August 2011: ReNLA Symposium and other presentations
The AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy Symposium will be held at the 16th World Congress of the International Association of Applied Linguistics in Beijing 23rd – 28th August 2011. The theme of the symposium is ‘Social Dimensions of Autonomy’ The names of the presenters and the titles of their papers, accompanied by full abstracts, can be seen here: http://ailarenla.org/events/beijing2011
We would like to provide details of other autonomy-related presentations by members via our next Bulletin. If you are presenting a paper at the AILA Congress, please contact Garold or Richard with the details.
Kanda University of International Studies Japan / IATEFL LA SIG: Advising for Language Learner Autonomy, November 2011.
Kanda University of International Studies and the IATEFL Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group (LASIG) are delighted to announce that they will be holding a conference in Japan on November 12 2011. This event has also been organized in collaboration with the Japan Association for Self-access Learning (JASAL), Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages (KIFL) and the JALT Learner Development SIG.
Invited speaker: Dr. Marina Mozzon-McPherson, University of Hull, UK.
Deadline for proposals: June 30 2010
See the website for more details: http://learnerautonomy.org/advising2011.html
The message below was just sent out by the convenors of the Learner Autonomy Research Network - in case you are not subscribed to this, please find it below:
Dear ReNLA Members,
We are writing to wish you a Happy New Year, and to tell you that the latest AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy Bulletin is now available on the ReNLA website: http://ailarenla.org/bulletins/
In this Bulletin we would like to honour the memory of Sergio Valdivia, an enthusiastic ReNLA supporter, and moderator of AUTO-L discussions, who sadly passed away in September last year. You will find a tribute to Sergio by Jo Mynard in the latest edition of Learner Autonomy in Language Learning, also on the website.
Here are the full contents of the Bulletin:
1. Tribute to Sergio Valdivia
2. Other articles in Learner Autonomy in Language Learning (August 2010 and January 2011 editions)
3. Membership Update
4. Upcoming Events
a. IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG: events at the Brighton IATEFL conference, April 2011
b. AILA World Congress Beijing, August 2011: ReNLA Symposium and other presentations
c. Kanda University of International Studies Japan / IATEFL LA SIG: Advising for Language Learner Autonomy, November 12 2011
5. Recent Publications
We look forward to receiving more contributions for Learner Autonomy in Language Learning : http://ailarenla.org/lall/ Please browse back issues to see examples of the kinds of report, review and article (short or long) that we would like to publish. There are no set deadlines, and we will upload relevant contributions as and when we receive them.
Also, if you have relevant event announcements or notices of recent publications that you would like us to bring to members’ attention, please let us know and we will include them in the next bulletin. Until you hear from us again, we invite you to consider exploring the website from time to time, and leaving comments or questions where appropriate: http://ailarenla.org/
Best wishes
Garold Murray and Richard Smith
(Convenors of the AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy in Language Learning)
Luciano Mariani just self-published an interesting book on communication strategies, using the excellent Lulu (www.lulu.com) website.
From the author:
Communication Strategies
Learning and teaching how to manage oral interaction
Published by www.lulu.com, also available in downloadable format
ISBN 978-1-4457-7953-9
For a preview of the book go to:
http://www.lulu.com/content/libro-a-copertina-morbida/communication-
strategies/8906511
Communication strategies is a book about the verbal and non-verbal ways and
means that learners and users of a second or foreign language can employ when
they have to face problems due to gaps in their linguistic, communicative or
intercultural competence. Strategies also enable them to deal with uncertainty
in personal and intercultural contacts and to increase their autonomy in using
languages.
Communication strategies is both a handbook for teachers, teacher trainers and
educators, providing them with a sound methodological background, and a
collection of 30 practice activities, games and tasks for language learners and
users. Photocopiable worksheets are provided, as well as freely downloadable
recordings of native and non-native speakers of English.
CONTENTS
PART ONE – Methodological background
1. Communication strategies: defining the area
1.1 Introducing strategies
1.2 Focus on oral interaction
1.3 Strategies as problem-solving behaviour
1.4 Communication vs compensation
1.5 Product vs process
1.6 The consciousness issue
1.7 Intra- and inter-cultural strategies
Further reading
2. Types of strategies
2.1 Reduction vs achievement
2.2 Reduction strategies
2.3 Achievement strategies at the word and sentence level
2.4 Achievement strategies at the discourse level
2.5 Factors affecting strategy choice and use
2.6 A proposed typology
Further reading
3. Strategy learning and teaching
3.1 Strategic competence
3.2 The teachability issue
3.3 Approaches to strategy education
3.4 Designing learning tasks
Further reading
I was at the BALEAP annual meeting last week and was given a copy of the ‘competency framework for teachers of English for academic purposes’. This is a very useful document to help teacher trainers and preservice/inservice teachers receiving tuition or mentoring to identify and plan training needs and to monitor progress. The framework is available here: http://www.baleap.org.uk/teap/index.aspx - I hope you will find it helpful for your own personal development or for your teacher education courses and workshops.
The one aspect that I was less than fully convinced by was section 4 of the framework which deals with ‘personal learning, development and autonomy’. These are reflected in the follwing knowledge and understanding of:
• the importance of
continuing professional
development
• appropriate professional
terminology
• current issues in teaching
and researching EAP
• the role of ambiguity in
academic enquiry
• the importance of critical
refection on own practice
the ability to:
take appropriate decisions
based on own knowledge and
understanding
write and speak clearly,
coherently and appropriately
engage with academic research
and literature to inform own
practice and communicate thes
ideas to colleagues
and possible indicators are listed as:
relate personal approach to
teaching to a specifc EAP
teaching context
review an article/book/teachi
journal or provide evidence o
• action research
• conference presentation
• published paper
These are not actually at all directly related to autonomy; although professional development and research etcetera may foster autonomy, they are not indicators of autonomy themselves. This rather imprecise use of the term autonomy is very common in general documents and literature. Autonomy is in fact one of only three terms in the framework that are glossed (the others being academic discourse and competency), as ‘both independence and interdependence (Little, 1991; 1994 cited in Blin, 2004). Independence entails taking responsibility for one’s own learning, setting objectives,
and making informed pedagogical decisions based on some form of self-evaluation. The
development of learner autonomy can be seen not only as the development of ‘individual’
autonomy but also as the development of a social, and even political autonomy through
which a group of learners will collectively take responsibility for and control their learning.
(Blin, 2004).
Apart from the fact that it defines autonomy as independence (which I don’t agree with) and interdependence without explaining what the latter means, it does not actually allow an easy operationalisation - surely crucial in a framework for teaching competencies. How do we masure ‘political autonomy’, for example? (It is also odd that it references secondary sources cited in an article specifically on the relationship between autonomy and technology).
I guess this is a problem that is inherent to the term autonomy - in the general (language education) domain perhaps the term is just not clear enough to be terribly helpful?
An interesting recent article by Grace Lee Amuzie and Paula Winke investigated the effects of study abroad on learners’ beliefs, in particular about the teacher’s role, learner autonomy, and self-efficacy. The first two of these were found to have changed when comparing belifes before and after the overseas stay. In addition to a questionnaire to gauge beliefs, they also conducted interviews and found that students felt they had fewer opportunities to use the language than they had expected before leaving, felt a dissatisfaction with the amount of language learning accomplished thus far, and experienced difficulties as a result of perceived cultural differences in classroom management and learning expectations. This confirms my own experience with students in New Zealand.
The specific questions the study asked were:
1. What language learning beliefs change due to study abroad?
2. Does the length of study abroad affect how beliefs change?
3. What aspects of the study abroad experience account for the changes?
The abstract of the study is below. The full details of the paper are:
Amuzie, G. and Winke, P. (2009). Changes in language learning beliefs as a result of study abroad. System, 37, 366-379.
Learner beliefs have traditionally been considered stable and static. According to recent research, however, they are dynamic and variable. Under this theory, the current study explores the effects of study abroad on beliefs. Belief questionnaires were administered to 70 English language learners while studying abroad in the United States. Learners were asked to reflect on their beliefs prior to arrival and at the time of the questionnaire administration to investigate what beliefs may change due to study abroad. The learners were divided into two groups according to their amount of time thus far abroad
to see if amount of time abroad has an effect on belief changes. Factor analysis identified three underlying dimensions of the learner belief system, which concerned the teacher’s role, learner autonomy, and self-efficacy. Comparisons between pre- and during study-abroad beliefs revealed that learners experienced changes in their beliefs on learner autonomy and the role of the teacher. Those with more time abroad had significantly more changes in their belief systems, suggesting that learning context and length of context exposure influence belief changes. Interviews provided insight into how study-
abroad influences beliefs. This study supports the view that beliefs are dynamic, socially constructed, and responsive to context.
It is always interesting to read about autonomy in general education publications. A lot of interesting work is being done that, in my opinion, we do not draw enough on in language research. An example is a recent article by Michael Ponton and Christine Schuette in the international Journal of self-directed learning, titled ‘learner autonomy profile: a discussion of skill combination to measure autonomous learning’. In the article the authors describe how they built on previously developed measures for autonomy to create new, integrated autonomy scale (‘the Learner Autonomy Profile’) that measures an adult learner’s desire, initiative, resourcefulness and persistence. They performed a statistical analysis of well over 2000 participants of previous studies that used the individual autononomy measures and found a strong linear relationship between the different economy measures.
It is refreshing to see this type of scientific approach to the study of autonomy where, at least in language learning studies, the use of statistics seems to be avoided at all costs.
Has anyone used the Learner Autonomy Profile?
Ponton, M., & Schuette, C. (2008). The learner autonomy profile: a discussion of scale combination to measure autonomous learning. International Journal of Self-Directed Learning , 5(1), 55-60.
