An Ideal English Classroom

     Why do we have to help learners gain autonomy? All English language teahers should always ask themselves the question before, amid, and after their teaching. American philosopher and educator, John Dewey, advocates the doctrine, “Learning by doing,” which is pivotal to language learning. In terms of Dr. Deway’s idea, I try to figure out the correlation between using target language and learner autonomy, and besides between collaborative work and learner autonomy.

     In the process of developing learner autonomy, David Little thinks that a teacher should "use the target language as the preferred medium of classroom communication and require the same of her learners..., and require her leaners to identify individual goals but pursue them through collaborative work in samll groups." I believe that many English language teachers prefer staying in their comfort zone—using their mother tongues rather than the target language as the preferred classroom medium. However, once they choose their mother tongue as the main classroom medium, learners would never have the potential to develop their autonomy. The acquistion of language arises because learners put the language into practice. What if teachers apt to use their mother tongue in the language classroom, learners would certainly feel unusual to speak with their teachers in the target language. As a matter of fact, this is a formation of cognitive process--through a teacher's guide, learners develop a concept that in Englis class, both the teacher and the learners should use the target language. The reason falls into place with ease if we think of the occasion when we speak with a native speaker, who spontaneously takes the leading role in guiding a conversation discourse; we as non-native speakers acquire the target language with the guidance of the native speaker. What counts is that we are on the way to autonomy through the guidance. For learners, a language teacher resembles the native speaker, and her/his language is conducive to the acquistion of learners’ target language. Learners, though unconscious, initially base their autonomy on enlightment from teachers. The relation starts with reliance on teachers, and later learner autonomy comes into bud (cognitive learning) until they are entirely independent of guidance (metacongitive learning).  

     What other fosters the construction of learner autonomy besides teachers’ assistance? In a language classroom, learner-centered strategy should be galvanized, a prospective Mr. Elliott agrees with as well. “…… the group learns to rely on each other more, and less on the teacher as authority figure. As they work together they gain confidence in the knowledge of their group and awareness of their own abilities.”  On the one hand, the formation of learner autonomy implies that teachers as authority figure transform as “a facilitator of learning, a counselor, and as a resource.” On the other hand, the acquistion of a language always comes with frequency: the more one uses it, the more fluent it becomes. In cooperative learning, learners have more chances to use the language than in a teacher-dominant classroom. In addition, pressure mitigates among peer interaction, which motivates learners to take active role in using the target language. The actual scenario has displayed a stress-free communication. Collaborative work are more likely to conduces to learner pragmtism than teacher-centered learning. According to Little, collaborative work results “in their commitment to self-management and their generally proactive approach, autonomous learners are motivated learners.” In the actual teaching scenario, my personal observation is that learners are move involved in learning process-- in cooperative learning, learners are more active, creative, and curious; some questions they bring forth transcend the scope I have prepared. Let’s go over a little on teacher-centered learning, which is built on positivism: learning in large part consists in the transmission of knowledge from one individual to another. It means learners learn from teachers. In contrast to teacher-centered learning, coopoerative learning is constucted on cosnturctivism and critical theory. Through interaction bewteen learners, they come to acqurire what they need. As for the teacher, he/she is more of a facilitator than of an instructor. Learners stride toward autonomy, owing to the transmission of a teacher role, and the elevation of learners confidence and self-awareness.

     Therefore, an ideal language class should operate as follows: it is a learner-centered learning; it is a cooperative learning; it is a PBL learning, which prominently motivates learners.