Teachers’ roles have changed throughout the history of English Language Teaching. We must favor lessons that are student-centered, promoting learner training and fostering learner autonomy. This is of utmost importance in helping learners improve their confidence and language proficiency. Students become more confident and perform better when we encourage them to make decisions and take responsibility for their own learning.
How can you do that? Follow these tips.
PRESENT STUDENTS WITH LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES
Language learning strategies are a particular tool for students to enhance their own learning and to have “active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence” (OXFORD, 1990, p. 1). Language learning strategies are essential for helping students succeed and discover the strategies that work for their learning preferences and needs.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DIRECT AND INDIRECT LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES
In her book “Language Learning Strategies,” Rebecca Oxford (1990) states that strategies can be indirect and direct. The former type are those that literally direct learners to the target language, whereas the latter touches on the ones which help them learn, but without getting into the target language itself. Within them, they can be memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective and social strategies. All of them are imperative to help students improve their skills.
PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME AUTONOMUS
Promote learner training every single class, in all the stages of the lesson. This way, students can develop their own learning strategies and/or make use of the ones that cater to them, which should then foster autonomy. This means we need to raise their awareness of particular strategies they should try and make use of. Expose learners to a task in which they can make use of a particular strategy; then, show them how to apply it and let them do so. Once the activity is done, have a decompression moment in which they can evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy they have applied.
MAKE SURE LEARNERS UNDERSTAND ONE TRY IS NOT ENOUGH
Students have the tendency to try a strategy just once or twice before jumping to conclusions and saying it does not work for them, without giving it a second chance. Show them the importance of trying it out for a longer period of time, e.g., a whole week, and then analyzing whether or not it is an effective option for their development.
ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO USE TECHNOLOGY
Provide students with a list of apps and sites they can add to their study guides in order to make their lives easier and to enhance their learning. The less students depend on their teachers, the easier it is for them to have resources, flexibility, and opportunities to take control of their learning. Online platforms, self-paced learning environments, note-taking apps, gamified learning apps, social networking sites, journals and learning networks are great at helping students become effective language learners.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO SPOONFEED STUDENTS
There are certain attitudes that might be harmful to students’ learning process and autonomy. If we think we are the only or the main source of knowledge in the classroom, we do not give students the opportunity to share what they know or to make use of resources. Be aware of providing excessive support for fear of losing control. The more we encourage learners to improve and develop their own strategies, the better it is for their own development.
