Jane Maria Harding da Rosa
Professional Development Coordinator
International House Newcastle

Is learner independence the same
as learner autonomy?
 Being able to work independently, on their own is not quite
the same as students deciding what they need to do, how
they learn best and what would benefit their own learning.
 The students who can take responsibility for their learning
are more successful (in terms of progress) than those who rely
solely on the teacher
 It is, however, the teacher’s responsibility to encourage and
demonstrate learner training and language tasks in the
classroom so that students are equipped with tools to help
them make decisions about what they can do outside class.
 Teachers should provide practical ideas to promote learner
autonomy
2

How can you promote learner
autonomy in the classroom?
• Set learning goals
• Give choices
• Demonstrate learning tasks
• Encourage students to set
their own tasks/rewards
3

Set some learning goals
S-M-A-R-T goals!
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely
The teacher can start by setting goals, encouraging the students
to set their own
Examples:
• By Christmas I will read a (graded) book in English.
• I will try to use an English-English dictionary
• I will set myself and complete a learning task each week.
(see slides on demonstrating learning tasks)
4

Give students choices
Do you give all your students the same
tasks for homework? Why? Why not?
Why?
- easier to mark/check
- students can get peer support
- students’ progress/abilities can be compared within the group
- checks exactly how each student understood the task
Why not?
- more personalised learning
- differentiation in terms of task/skills
- help foster learner independence
Examples:
• For homework, choose an activity from …
• Answer 3 out of the 5 questions
• Choose one of the two topics
5

What’s the difference?
Home-learning
 There is something about the word ‘work’ that implies it is
more of a chore. Learning, on the other hand, implies a
benefit to the person doing it.
 A piece of ‘work’ is something that should be developed
until the author/artist is pleased with the result.
 Homework is to be handed in, for the teacher to mark
 Home learning is optional, but encouraged; for students
to see the benefit of learner autonomy (teacher doesn’t
check (or can’t check) if it has been completed. The onus
is on the student to complete the tasks, and/or to set their
own tasks.

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
As already mentioned, it is not enough to talk about what
students can do at home, they need concrete examples. It
needs to start in the classroom so they can see that they
can take the ideas and activities and do them at home.
The following slides provide ideas for how to demonstrate
learning tasks in class, with the assumption that students
can do the same on their own.

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
Headlines:
Take the headlines from a newspaper article, or even a
text from a coursebook to start with.
Elicit questions on to the board about the headline.
This
 activates interest in the text
 gives students practice in writing questions
 Provides students with a purpose to read.
If it becomes a routine in class, it could become a habit
outside class

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
What are your students thinking...in?
 Encourage them to ‘Think in English’
(activate their inner voice in English)
 Start to think consciously in English so it moves
to the subconscious
 (aim for thinking in the unconscious...ie
dreaming in English!)
For a handout and more information see
http://wp.me/pTy0L-2C

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
Encourage your students to have imaginary
conversations: Is there someone they see
everyday?
Sit quietly and ask them to think.
What would they say to...
...the person sitting next to them on the bus?
... someone walking towards them in the
street?
... to their teacher if they saw them in a cafe?

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
Writing sentences really helps to consolidate
grammar and vocabulary.
Encourage your students to write sentences using
the language covered in class.
Expand the sentences they have written by
adding adverbs and adjectives.
Take the verb they have used and make it into a
noun or a noun to an adjective etc. And re write
the sentence.
Doing it in class first gives the students the
confidence to do it at home. Check their home
learning if they ask you to.

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
The majority of your students now have a smart phone or
ipad/ipod in class. They all have access to a recording
app.
When they next do a pairwork discussion, get them to
record their conversation.
Ask them to listen to it. What does it sound like to
them? How can they make improvements to their
speaking? (pronunciation/ errors/ L1 interference?)
How can they make it sound more ‘English’?
Ask them to transcribe their conversation. Can they
identify their mistakes now? Which ones do they
repeat? Can they correct them?

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
When you have finished a reading text or article
get students to notice the language that is
used.
Underline the different tenses in different colours
(present perfect and past simple) what do they
notice (which is more common)
Highlight adjectives and nouns in different
colours. What do they notice about word
order?
Choose a part of speech and focus on it in one
text. Ask them to identify what they find
difficult and encourage them to notice that
language in a different text.

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
Mindmaps are a useful resource
as they can be added to and
built up gradually and have a
visual affect on the learner.
Ask students to reproduce a
mindmap that was used in
class
Remind students they can take
photos of the white board at
the end of a lesson and look
back at what the language
that was covered.

Demonstrate Learning Tasks
Remind students that they can take photos of
the language they see while they are out and
about.,
Encourage them to find out what it means.
The photos on their phones can also be used
to promote conversation in class; describing
what they see, what they were doing, who
they were with etc.
They can then use other photos to think in
English at home (see earlier slide on
thinking in English)

Encourage learners to set
themselves....
 A Ten Minute Task
 A Quick Quest
 A Massive Mission
They should also give themselves
rewards for completing some
home-learning

Fostering Learner Autonomy in the Classroom
Jane Maria Harding da Rosa
jmhdrosa@gmail.com
jmhdr.wordpress.com
Thank you