Promoting Autonomous, Collaborative English learning Practices and Fostering Greater Learner Autonomy among Secondary Students in Hong Kong
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24203/ajeel.v7i1.5664Keywords:
Learner autonomy, out-of-class learning, collaborative learning, second language acquisitionAbstract
Learner autonomy can be referred as an individual’s ability and responsibility to take charge of his or her own learning, which is important to language learning. In Hong Kong, English is more like a foreign language. It is considered as the high variety and speaking the language in a non-required situation is always associated with a negative connotation of being arrogant. To most local people, it is a language learned in a classroom and is seldom used for communicative purposes. Meanwhile, Hong Kong classrooms are featured with teacher-centred, examination-oriented teaching, and passive learning. These factors make the taking up of chances of practising the language with Cantonese-speaking peers in outside of class situations and the development of learner autonomy very difficult. However, out-of-class learning is essential to language learning and learner autonomy. In this multiple-case study, the case participants were asked to reveal their approaches to overcoming challenges, engaging in collaborative English learning practices, and developing greater autonomy. In this paper, their ways to tackle the difficulties of participating in out-of-class English practices with peers and develop learner autonomy, will be discussed.References
Benson, P. (2011a). Language learning and teaching beyond the classroom. In P. Benson & H. Reinders (Eds.), Beyond the language classroom (pp.7-16). Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Benson, P. (2011b). Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning (2nd ed.). Harlow, England: Longman.
Berry, V., & McNeill, A. (2005). Raising English language standards in Hong Kong. Language Policy, 4, 371-394.
Beseghi, M. (2017). Using social networks to promote collaboration and leadership in foreign language learning. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 8(4), 305-322.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). The economics of linguistic exchanges. Social Science Information, 16(6), 645-668.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cervatiuc, A. (2009). Identity, good language learning, and adult immigrants in Canada. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 8, 254-271.
Chan, H. W. (2012). Learner autonomy, agency, and affordances: Multiple case studies of the out-of-class English learning of highly proficient university students in Hong Kong (Doctoral dissertation). The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Cheng, Y. C. (2009). Hong Kong education reforms in the last decade: Reform syndrome and new developments. International Journal of Educational Management, 23(1), 65-86.
Cheung, C. (2001). The use of popular culture as a stimulus to motivate secondary students’ English learning in Hong Kong. ELT Journal, 55(1), 55-61.
Chik, A., & Breidbach, S. (2011). Online language learning histories exchange: Hong Kong and German perspectives. TESOL Quarterly, 45(3), 553-564.
Chik, A. (2011). Learner autonomy development through digital gameplay. Digital Culture & Education, 3(1), 30-45.
Chik, A. (2015). Popular culture, digital worlds and second language learners. In J. Rowsell & K. Pahl (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Literacy Studies (pp. 339 - 353). London: Routledge.
Curriculum Development Institute. (2004). Collaborative research and development (“Seedâ€) project: Self-access language learning (SALL) in Hong Kong secondary schools (2001-2003). Hong Kong: Government Logistics Department.
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Duff, P. A. (2002). Pop culture and ESL students: Intertextuality, identity, and participation in classroom discussions. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(6), 482-487.
Evans, S. (2008). Classroom language use in Hong Kong’s reformed English-medium stream. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 29(6), 483-498.
Hafner, C. A., & Miller, L. (2011). Fostering learner autonomy in English for Science: A collaborative digital video project in a technological learning environment. Language Learning & Technology, 15(3), 68-86.
Hafner, C. A., Li, D. C. S., & Miller, L. (2015). Language choice among peers in project-based learning: A Hong Kong case study of English Language Learners’ plurilingual practices in out-of-class computer-mediated communication. Canadian Modern Language Review, 71(4), 441-470.
Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and foreign language learning. Oxford: Pergamon.
Hood, M. (2009). Case study. In J. Heigham & R. A. Croker (Eds.), Qualitative research in applied linguistics: A practical introduction (pp. 66-90). Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hyland, F. (2004). Learning autonomously: Contextualising out-of-class English language learning. Language Awareness, 13(3), 180-202.
Ito, M., Baumer S., Bittanti, M., boyd, d., Cody, R., Herr-Stephenson, B., Lange, P. G., Mahendran, D., Martinez, K. Z., & Pascoe, C. J. (2010). In M. Ito, S. Baumer, M. Bittanti, d. boyd, R. Cody, B. Herr-Stephenson, P. G. Lange, D. Mahendran, K. Z. Martinez, & C. J. Pascoe (Eds.), Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: Kids living and learning with new media (pp. 1-28). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jacobs, G. M., & Tan, H. S. (2015). Advancing learner autonomy in EFL via collaborative learning. In H. P. Widodo (Ed.). Proceedings from the 7th International Conference on Teaching English as Foreign Language (COTEFL). Purwokerto, Indonesia: Faculty of Letters, University of Muhammadiyah.
Lantolf, J., & Pavlenko, A. (2001). (S)econd (L)anguage (A)ctivity theory: Understanding second language learners as people. In M. P. Breen (Ed.), Learner contributions to language learning: New directions in research (pp. 141-158). Essex, Pearson.
Lee, Y., & Sun, Y. C. (2011). Using instant messaging to enhance the interpersonal relationships of Taiwanese adolescents: Evidence from quantile regression analysis. Adolescence, 44, 199-208.
Li, D. C. S. (2011). Improving the standards and promoting the use of English in Hong Kong: Issues, problems and prospects. In A. Feng (Ed.), English language use and education across Greater China (pp. 95-113). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Li, D. C. S. (2017). Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, literacies and identities. Switzerland, Springer.
Lin, A. M. Y. (2008). Modernity, postmodernity, and the future of “identityâ€: Implications for educations. In A. M. Y. Lin (Ed.), Problematizing identity: Everyday struggles in language, culture, and education (pp. 199-219). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Little, D. (1991). Learner Autonomy 1: Definitions, issues and problems. Dublin: Authentik.
Littlewood, W. (1996). “Autonomyâ€: An anatomy and a framework. System, 24(4), 427-435.
Miller, L. (2009). Reflective lesson planning: Promoting learner autonomy in the classroom. In R. Pemberton, S. Toogood, & A. Barfield (Eds.), Maintaining control: Autonomy and language learning (pp. 109-124). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Murray, G., & Kojima, M. (2007). Out-of-class language learning: One learner’s story. In P. Benson (Ed.), Learner autonomy 8: Teacher and learner perspectives (pp. 25-40). Dublin: Authentik Language Learning Resources.
Naiman, N., Fröhlich, M., Stern, H. H., & Todesco, A. (1996). The good language learner. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2001). Changing perspectives on good language learners. TESOL Quarterly, 35(2), 307-322.
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change. Essex: Pearson.
Palfreyman, D. M. (2011). Family, friends, and learning beyond the classroom: Social networks and social capital in language learning. In P. Benson & H. Reinders (Eds.), Beyond the language classroom (pp.17-34). Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Pavlenko, A. (2002). Poststructuralist approaches to the study of social factors in second language learning and use. In V. Cook (Ed.), Portraits of L2 user (pp. 277-302). New York: Multilingual Matters.
Pavlenko, A. (2007). Autobiographic narratives as data in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics, 28(2), 163-188.
Reinders, H. (2011). Materials development for learning beyond the classroom. In P. Benson & H. Reinders (Eds.), Beyond the language classroom (pp.175-189). Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Tong, J. (2010). Some observations of students’ reticent and participatory behaviour in Hong Kong English classrooms. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 7(2), 239-254.
Toohey, K. (2007). Conclusion: Autonomy/agency through socio-cultural lenses. In A. Barfield & S.H. Brown (Eds.), Reconstructing autonomy in language education: inquiry and innovation (pp. 231-242). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Tsui, A. B. M. (2007). Language policy and the construction of identity: The case of Hong Kong. In A. B. M. Tsui & J. W. Tollefson (Eds.), Language policy, culture and identity in Asian contexts (pp. 121-141). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
van Lier, L. (2007). Action-based teaching, autonomy and identity. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 46-65.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Yang, C. C. R. (2011). Gender representation in a Hong Kong primary English textbook series: The relationship between language planning and social policy. Current issues in language planning, 12(1), 77-88.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
- Papers must be submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis) and are not currently under consideration by another journal published by any other publisher.
- It is also the authors responsibility to ensure that the articles emanating from a particular source are submitted with the necessary approval.
- The authors warrant that the paper is original and that he/she is the author of the paper, except for material that is clearly identified as to its original source, with permission notices from the copyright owners where required.
- The authors ensure that all the references carefully and they are accurate in the text as well as in the list of references (and vice versa).
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
- The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author.
