Students who are actively involved in deciding what and how they learn are typically more engaged and motivated.
That鈥檚 not surprising, because independent learners are extremely focused on their personal learning objectives.
, independent learning is 鈥渁 process, a method and a philosophy of education whereby a learner acquires knowledge by his or her own efforts and develops the ability for inquiry and critical evaluation."
听
Play
In the context of language learning, independent learners can recognize their learning needs, locate relevant information about language and develop the required language skills on their own or with other learners.
There are many advantages of encouraging independent learning among your students:
Not only will these benefits help your students while learning English, but they鈥檒l also benefit them at school, university and even in their day-to-day lives.
Some of your students may already be independent learners; however, most will need your support to become more autonomous.
Here are seven ways you can help:
Sharing learning goals with your class helps students to see what they鈥檙e aiming for and they鈥檒l also be able to assess afterwards听 whether they鈥檝e achieved it or not. This can be done at the beginning of a lesson or series of lessons or even as a lesson progresses.
Although many teachers set the goals themselves, if you want to create a really independent learning experience, elicit them directly from the students. A simple question could be, 鈥淲hat do you think this activity is helping you get better at?鈥�
Another thing to consider is setting different goals for different learners, depending on their strengths and weaknesses. This will be much easier if the students are setting their own goals. For example, when doing a task focused on the speaking paper in an exam course, one student鈥檚 objective might be to give extended answers, while another might want to use more discourse markers.
Once your students have set their goals, they need to start thinking about how they鈥檒l reach them.
One way to help them get on track is to provide them with a set of 鈥榮uccess criteria鈥�, which acts like a roadmap for the different tasks they need to complete. If your students understand what they need to do to be successful, they鈥檒l progress much faster and be more motivated when they see how far they鈥檝e come.
If one of your student鈥檚 goals is to improve their grammatical accuracy in the C1 Advanced speaking exam, for example, you could give them a rubric (like the one below) which they can use to assess their own performance.
Keep your assessment categories as positive as possible (for example, 'solid', 'good' and 'acing it') and link it to the official exam criteria where possible.
Students should constantly be encouraged to reflect on their performance and whether they鈥檝e met their learning goals. This will help them become more aware of their strengths, weaknesses and the progress they鈥檙e making. Recognition of progress will help build confidence and motivation.
Opportunities for assessment and reflection don鈥檛 need to take a lot of time. Spending two minutes at the end of the class asking students questions like 鈥榃hat can you do better now than at the start of the lesson?鈥� will help learners develop critical meta-cognitive skills.
Teacher feedback also helps students develop the skills needed to become more independent. Offer feedback in a supportive and sensitive manner, making positive observations alongside any criticism.
Effective feedback should allow learners to understand where they currently are in their learning, where they鈥檙e heading and how they鈥檒l get there.
Feedback shouldn鈥檛 only come from the teacher. You should also get students to evaluate each other鈥檚 progress during and after an activity. Peer feedback is not only advantageous to the student receiving it, but there are also many reflective benefits of giving feedback to someone else.
It鈥檚 impossible for students to become independent learners if you make all the decisions for them. Giving students the opportunity to make decisions about their learning will give them greater autonomy. However, this should be a gradual process and not all students will be ready to take 100% control from the outset.
Start with small decisions first and ask questions such as:
This devolvement of responsibility built up over time will help learners to become more independent.
Technology has radically changed the way people are able to access information and learn. As a result, there are a great number of tools to facilitate online language learning 鈥� an area that鈥檚 been the subject of many myths. Here we highlight (and debunk) some of the bigger ones鈥� Myth #1: You wil...
My journey with English began in the unlikeliest of places: a mining camp in southern Peru. As a child, I was fascinated by American culture 鈥� the movies, the music, the seemingly limitless world that English opened up. For me, the language was a gateway leading to a deeper understanding and feelin...
We feel that game-based learning (GBL) is a waste of time鈥� if not properly understood. Even then, one could argue that "wasting time" is a vital part of learning and perhaps we need to stop insisting that every second counts. Game-based learning vs. Gamification: Understanding the difference Let鈥...
