The Exploration Ofteachers'construction Of Personal Meaning Of Learner Autonomy

Though"learner autonomy"has been much discussed in domestic foreign language education circles, its application in practice is far from satisfactory. Despite the recognition that it is teachers who can and do influence the success or failure of reform efforts in actual classroom practice (Yero, 2002), teacher education for learner autonomy is largely ignored in tertiary institutions. Under the influence of objectivist epistemology, traditional training workshops for teachers tend to adopt the top-down approach and equate the knowledge and beliefs that a teacher"has"with the knowledge and beliefs that a teacher"should have", ignoring the fact that teachers'existing knowledge base and belief system can and do affect their understanding of learner autonomy to varying degrees.Each teacher virtually has a personal"definition"of the nature of knowledge and the way of acquiring it; the nature of learning and how it takes place. The personalized interpretation of knowledge and learning affects their understanding of such issues as the nature of teaching, teacher and learner roles in the learning process and even the nature of education, and entails varied teaching behaviors as well. To implement pedagogical principles of learner autonomy effectively, teachers should construct personal meaning of the concepts under the direction of constructivist epistemology."Personal meaning"depicted here refers to teachers'personal understanding generated from the integration of teachers'received knowledge into their previous experiential knowledge, which will reframe teachers'knowledge base and belief system, and further triggers changes in teachers'teaching strategies and teaching behaviors.The author administered a questionnaire for two teacher groups, conducted an interview with a teacher and made a detailed study on a teacher's reflective journals to collect qualitative and quantitative data for statistic analysis. The findings reveal that teachers'construction of personal meaning of learner autonomy can by no means be fulfilled by top-down approach. Instead, it must be based on teachers'reflective practice. It is teachers'practical knowledge that dominates teachers'minds and directs their teaching practice in the classroom context. Teachers'practical knowledge have to be constructed from teaching practice and reflection can help teachers shift surface learning to deep learning and understanding in the realm of learner autonomy, which is conductive to constructing personal meaning of the concepts. In addition, the author verifies the validity of Stanley's reflective model and points out that teacher autonomy and learner autonomy are interlinked intimately with each other. Besides, training institutions should place premium on teacher trainees'existing knowledge base and belief system, helping them construct personal meaning of new concepts by dint of reflective practice.