Fostering Learner Autonomy By Developing Learner Motivation And Metacognition

For many years now, the idea of leamer autonomy has been a popular subject of intense scrutiny in educational research and practice. The current thesis intends, first of all, to provide a brief review of learner autonomy within the context of second/foreign language learning. Then it tries to answer the question of how to foster learner autonomy by focusing on two indispensable issues - motivation and metacognition that are usually considered in concert with learner autonomy.Chapter 1 starts with a concise review of leamer autonomy. First it finds the origin of learner autonomy. Then, various definitions of leamer autonomy given by researchers are presented, by which the current paper draws a tentative conclusion: learner autonomy is a capacity; learner autonomy means that the locus of control is with the learner; leaner autonomy indicates being free out of external control. Simultaneously, the review leads the current paper to reject some misconceptions of learner autonomy by asserting that learner autonomy is neither isolation nor an exclusive western notion. Next, justifications for learner autonomy are addressed in terms of five aspects: 1) it is the counterargument against behaviorism; 2) it conforms to the humanistic trend; 3) it is the need to adapt to learners' individual differences; 4) it serves as an educational goal. Finally, the convincing justifications give rise to the question of how to foster leamer autonomy. The current paper does not attempt to analyze the topic in full, which will book lengthy. Rather, it only mentions concisely some common techniques, such as converting learners' beliefs to preparing them for leaner autonomy, redefining the role of teacher, learner and peer, designing appropriate material for autonomous learner, establishing self-access centers, and developing learning strategies. The remaining chapters are left to dwell on the two most important issues related to fostering leaner autonomy, namely, learner motivation and metacognition.In line with this, chapter 2 deals with the notion of learner motivation. It begins with an introduction of motivation in mainstream psychology and a review of three major models of motivation in L2 learning - social-psychological model, linguistic self-confidence and self-determination theory. Then, a detailed examination on the correlation between autonomy and motivation is carried out, which reveals the bidirectional relationship between the two, viz. autonomy may lead to enhanced motivation and motivation may precede autonomy too. Therefore, no matter from which angle we consider the relationship, it seems uncontroversial to state that increasing learner motivation is vital to fostering learner autonomy. In view ofthis, an attempt is made in the following section to offer some techniques to increase learner motivation. These techniques are either validated by empirical studies conducted by researchers, or just remain as some hypotheses generated from the authors' reasoning or, simply intuition.Equally important to foster learner autonomy is the role of metacognition, which is the concern of Chapter 3. First, it provides a brief introduction to metacognition, stressing that it is the thinking about thinking. Then a special attention is paid to the metacognitive strategies included in the taxonomy of language learning strategies. Next, it moves to the discussion of the link between learner autonomy and metacognition. By referring back to the descriptions of learner autonomy, it takes little perspicacity to realize the parallels between learner autonomy and metacognition. Both of the two aspects of metacognition, namely metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategies (executive process) are closely related to learner autonomy and of great help to foster learner autonomy. This gives rise to the illustration of how metacognition functions in fostering learning autonomy as well as how to develop learners' metacognition to enhance learner autonomy. In line with the previous analysis, the current paper suggests pertinent methods from two respects -...