LEARNER AUTONOMY
What I learned ...in a nutshell
Be specific. Go beyond just discussing and sharing the typical ideas that will help them be more autonomous. Provide them with precise tips and tools.
The combination Google translate / Quizlet is very powerful!
Reading is a fluency exercise.
Specific tips for students to make the most of youtube features so as to improve their listening skills.
HOW MY LEARNERS WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS
VOCABULARY & QUIZLET
What I do
QUIZLET has been a key app in my classes. I have always told my students that if there was one app I would definitely try, it is quizlet. I have used it in class to model and show students its potential, and it adapts wonderfully to all language levels: From words in isolation, to words in context and collocations.
But I have mainly encouraged learners to use it as a way of keeping record of new words or semantic fields and create their own sets. But the two aspects I absolutely love about quizlet is: 1) They can share their sets and work collaboratively 2)They can edit their own sets as they advance in the language. The vocabulary they learnt is always going to be easily accesible for them to revise and expand.
What I'll do from now on
I will definitely use the combination of quizlet and google translate. It's is amazingly convenient for learners to create more personalized and effective learning sets. II will make easy instructional videos for them to feel confident using these two tools together.
Easy to organize and create sets with more contextualized language.
More complete.
Pronunciation + listening are used in longer chunks of language.
Translating has a meaningful role for students.
CLASS WORK
What I do
I try to promote discussion and reflection for learners to develop habits and actions to make them more autonomous. I happen to have some samples available to illustrate.
At the beginning: The outcome of the discussion and class work is a list of ideas of habits and actions that should help them be more autonomous and keep motivated to learn English outside the class. The classroom presentation is available here. I will post the handout shortly. Also, some Classroom language tips for group work and pair work.
Mid-term: revising the habits we talked about at the beginning .In intermediate/adv I have found it useful to talk about the learning plateau for them to reformulate their habits, if necessary.
At the end of the school year, we look back and check what specific apps or activities that have been more useful for them to gain autonomy as language learners and keep motivated. I have a couple of samples of this. It's almost as beneficial now as at the beginning, in my opinion, because if they verbalize and actually share what they have or have not done, they will be more sure of going on in the future, or keep adapting. They also take pride in becoming expert learners and sharing their own tips for others.
What I'll do from now on
I'll incorporate more specific actions to help learners being more autonomous:
Set up a specific chart or checklist of habits that students can use. I will try to check with them on a regular basis how those activities are working with them.
Do class work and discussion based on the chart or checklist. And ask them share with each other what specific actions they have found to be more useful or not. It will be interesting that they can help each other and realize that for being autonomous there is really no "one size fits all" because they might have different needs or contexts, and that they need to learn to adapt. Make time for students to share their learning sets and glossaries, if they haven't done so yet.