The story of becoming an autonomous learner: a case study of a student’s learning management

2.1 Definitions and models of learner autonomy

Numerous definitions and models of learner autonomy have evolved since Holec (1981: 3) first introduced the concept as “the ability to take charge of one’s learning”. Little’s research and publications have emphasized both the psychological and social dimensions of learner autonomy. His (2007: 23) belief that language learner autonomy arises from “the use of the target language as the medium of task performance but also of metacognition and metalinguistic reflection” is strongly reflected in the design of English Autonomously as will later be explained.

Attempting to capture learner autonomy in its complexity, Benson (2001) distinguished three crucial “domains of the learner’s control”: learning management, cognitive processing, and the content of learning. In the course, students are encouraged to make decisions in all these domains and to beome familiar and experiment with various learning methods, styles, and materials.

Adopting an even wider, ecological approach, Larsen-Freeman (2019) used the complex dynamic system theory to expand the concept of learner autonomy into learner agency, a relational, spatially and temporally situated, and emergent phenomenon. Since the course incorporates diverse forms of interactions between students and teachers, the interdependence between the learner, other social agents, and their shared learning environment can be observed. This study analyses advising sessions as a specific form of interaction contributing to the dynamic system of students’ learner autonomy.

The theory of complex dynamic systems also influenced Tassinari (2010), who created a model of learner autonomy as a multifaceted structure of numerous components. Her dynamic model (2010: 203) comprises cognitive and metacognitive dimensions, affective and motivational dimensions, action-oriented dimensions, and social ones. Learner autonomy is understood as a metacompetence, that is, as a set of competencies, skills, and attitudes that learners need to self-regulate their learning. Furthermore, this model emphasizes the ever-changing interplay between these multiple factors. According to Tassinari (2012: 195), autonomous learners need to “balance among these dimensions in different learning contexts and situations”. Tassinari (2012) developed her learner autonomy model into a set of macro- and microdescriptors. As will be demonstrated later, these “can-do-statements” describing specific skills related to learner autonomy are instrumental in my research.

The complex and evolving nature of learner autonomy is reflected in Murray’s (2021: 98) definition of this concept, too. He understands learner autonomy “as a dynamic system comprised of goals, materials, activities, strategies, etc. nested within a network of the learner’s social, cognitive, and biological systems”.

The theoretical framework of learner autonomy as a complex dynamic system constitutes the foundation for my investigation of language advising and its relationship to self-regulated learning. According to the complex dynamic model, language advising is one type of cooperation contributing to learner autonomy. The understanding of language advising as a pedagogical tool based on cooperation is further explained below.

2.2 What is language advising?

Language advising is a specific form of interaction between students and language-learning experts that is usually introduced in self-regulated and autonomous learning scenarios. Language advising sessions are conceived as a resource that aims at helping learners to self-regulate their learning. Mynard and Carson (2012: 4) define advising in language learning as “the process and practice of helping students to direct their own paths so as to become more effective and more autonomous language learners”. Kato and Mynard (2016) state that interaction between a language advisor and a student should be a collaborative process focusing on and providing support for learning. According to Mynard (2020: 51), an advising session is an “intentionally structured one-to-one dialogue designed to promote metacognition through deep reflection”. An additional aim of this study is to observe whether advising sessions function according to this definition.

2.3 Supporting learner autonomy in the course

The main feature of the English Autonomously course is that the students are offered an opportunity to self-regulate and manage their learning. They create their own individual study plans and then engage in language-learning activities of their own choice. The course design also reflects theoretical and empirical findings on learner autonomy which indicate that complementary pedagogical support contributes to better outcomes. The pedagogical support is provided by Masaryk University Language Centre and takes different forms as explained below.

The course includes various components that provide students with assistance in managing their language learning. The course starts with two introductory group sessions, where the students become familiar with the concepts underlying the course, its structure, and the requirements. Apart from this input on learner autonomy, self-regulated learning, and metacognition, students receive a set of tools for self-assessment, needs analysis, and planning. To familiarize themselves with the tools and their aims, students also perform practical lead-in activities. After the introductory group sessions, the students should continue analysing their learning situation and planning appropriate learning activities by themselves. They are also encouraged to keep a learning log; this reflective practice is introduced as a tool students can use to monitor their learning.

3.1 Course feedback form

When the English Autonomously course started in 2013, a very general, brief feedback form was used to collect students’ opinions on the course. The course was well received, with students reporting diverse benefits and suggesting minor alterations to the course structure or organization. No significant aspects of the course in need of revision emerged. To check specifically whether the support provided to students is appropriate and corresponds with both the course design and students’ needs, a more detailed questionnaire was later designed.

The updated version of the form includes questions about progress in language and self-regulating skills, changes in attitudes, the impact of the course, and its different components. Students’ responses to the updated form continued to be positive. Course attendees report progress in various skills to various extents and also perceive the impact of the course in various ways. On a general level, the variety of responses confirmed that the course offers opportunities to individualize each student’s learning experience as intended and that the course components support students in self-regulating their learning. It was the fact that some of the perceived benefits were surprising that sparked the research interest. It was thus decided to focus on language advising as a tool to support learner autonomy. The aim was to investigate the pedagogical practice provided to students to help them self-regulate their learning. The questions related to students’ perceptions of advising sessions examined in the study are shown in Appendix 2.

4.1 The first steps

This paper depicts the student’s learning process chronologically, and the first subskills that it explores are self-assessment, goal setting, and planning. Just as in many literary stories, the young protagonist was given assistance at this stage because he needed to get to know himself better. At the introductory course meetings sessions, all students receive a set of supportive materials, including a CEFR self-assessment grid, a SWOT analysis form, a checklist for a needs analysis, and a study plan template. The students are asked to use these tools to analyse their learning situation, needs, and goals. They should write a short language-learning history as well as draft their study plan and bring all these materials to the first advising session. By comparing the materials produced by the student with the recordings of his advising sessions, it is possible to construct the narrative of his learning journey.

5.1 Learning log: overcoming a crisis

The student developed a certain routine in writing his learning log. Although he regularly added entries, they were descriptive and not detailed. Few refer to the student’s emotions or reflect on his learning. Even if he used the log mainly to keep track of his activities and to manage his time, some of his sparse comments document the affective dimension of his learning, too. When compiled and compared, the three log entries presented below (6a, 6b, 6c), which comment on different group activities, provide useful insights into the student’s learning experience:

These entries document a change in the student’s feelings about group meetings, but it is not possible to state whether he reflected upon any of the emotional stages or changes he had been through.

On the other hand, there is minimal reflection in the student’s entry about his first advising experience. He jotted down: “20 min of hell, teacher was disappointment of [disappointed in] me I think, I must working on my vocabulary asap!!!”. This comment demonstrates that the student not only realized the character and intensity of his emotions but also contemplated analytically the actions he needed to take. Therefore, Tassinari’s descriptors “can monitor his learning by keeping a learning log” and “is aware of their feelings when learning and can reflect on them” are applicable here. This comment uncovers a strong social dimension of the advising experience, as the student reflected on how his performance might have been perceived by the teacher and it seems that he considered the interaction during the first advising session to be a face-threatening act. The use of the strong term hell confirms that this was a moment of crisis on the student’s learning journey.

However, this reflective remark suggests that the student can use this critical moment to his advantage. In referring to the previously uncovered problem with his vocabulary, he demonstrated that he could “recognise when a language deficit prevents him from completing a task”. Furthermore, his mini reflection led into a planning statement resembling how a literary protagonist would approach a crisis. The log entry can be interpreted as reframing the critical experience, transforming it into motivation for the student’s future actions. In that respect, there is a special relationship between the student’s individual activity and the advising session. The student proactively reacted to the advising session, and harmonized the problematic experience with his goals. It will be shown that the student indeed focused on learning vocabulary and that his learning experience became more positive.

5.2 The second advising session

This section presents some observations on the student’s monitoring skills in relation to the second advising session. The following sequence from the transcript illustrates how the student reported his learning experience to the advisor. Individual statements related to different descriptors are noted in example (7) so that they can be referred to more easily:

In his short report, the student demonstrated several learning management subskills, and additional monitoring skills can be deduced from the information he provided. Examples (7b) and (7c) demonstrate that the student “can regularly check his learning progress, in particular whether he can stick to his learning plan”. Moreover, example (7e) implies that he is able to adjust his study plan and to “structure his learning, in particular set a time for learning”. The fact that the student addressed these skills during the advising session is important because they were not mentioned in his self-assessment from the beginning of the course.

In his SWOT analysis, the student listed “bad time management” and “lack of time due to further study” as threats to his learning. Although lack of time proved to be a limitation, both the learning log and the advising interview transcript show that he applied his monitoring skills to manage his time. In addition, monitoring skills were brought up in the following exchange between the student and the advisor:

This part of the advising session offered the student a chance to recognize his work in successfully applying his monitoring skills. First the advisor and then the student acknowledged that he could “state whether the activities used are suited to his learning and to the conditions (for example, the time available)”. In this case, the impact of the advising session on the student’s skills can be described as an emphasizing effect. The session helped the student better realize his monitoring skills; the skills that he had not been aware of were highlighted in the advising interview. In a parallel to coming-of-age stories, the protagonist was now more conscious of his skills.

6.1 Evaluating methods: an almost happy ending

In his final reflection, the student describes his main activity, vocabulary learning:

Since this comment does not assess the materials and methods used, the advisor prompted evaluation during the last session:

In contrast to the first advising interview, in this final session the student proved that he “can choose methods and strategies suited to the selected material”. The issue of how to learn vocabulary, which was first addressed with the advisor during the first session, was then resolved by the student on his own, which was eventually reflected on in the final advising session. The relationship between advising sessions and the development of this subskill is therefore a procedural one. The advisor acknowledged that the student was able to finalize the process started at the first session and to find methods that appropriately address his limitations in speaking. The final advising session plays yet another role; it provides the student with an opportunity to realize that now he “can evaluate his learning and in particular can state whether the methods and strategies used are suited to the goal and to their learning style”. It is the interaction with the advisor that allows the student to experience “Eureka moments” as shown in example (11):

Building on the advisor’s statement, the student evaluated his learning management skills in a new, more favourable way. These two sequences (10, 11) demonstrate that for the student the final session was a positive experience in which his new skills were acknowledged. In some literary works, such an achievement or transformation would make for the perfect conclusion. The story of the student’s learning, however, is more complex and thus cannot be reduced to a simple happy ending.

6.2 Evaluating materials: back to the start

The following section offers another, less linear, slightly less optimistic insight into the student’s varying capacity to manage his learning at the end of the course. During the final advising session, the advisor asked whether the student knew about areas that are difficult to control. The student described his problem with choosing resources as follows:

The student’s lack of skills in choosing materials and methods had been addressed at the first advising session, and at the second session the student demonstrated a certain improvement in his ability to choose resources according to his needs. Nevertheless, in a new and different context, the student was unable to apply this learner autonomy subskill that he had begun to develop. When looking for new material, he could not “state whether the materials used are appropriate to his goal”. When the advisor rephrased the problem and offered direct advice, the student responded passively:

The response can be interpreted as hesitation or can even suggest that the student had reached a dead end; the collaboration on choosing suitable materials did not progress further. Thus, this sequence demonstrates well that the student’s capacity to manage his learning is not stable or constantly growing. The advising session plays the same role here as in the previous stages, that is, it (re-)opens problematic issues and raises the student’s learning awareness.

Even though the student’s skill set was always evolving, he kept experiencing problems as he found himself in learning situations he could not control fully or independently. He still might be unable to manage some of these issues even when collaborating with an advisor. Some Bildungsromans share the same message and depict the protagonist’s story as a never-ending challenge.