V- Bibliography …. 10

Table of Contents

I- Introduction …………………………………………………………… 2

II- Features of learner Autonomy ……………………………………….. 2

III- Characteristics that make me an autonomous learner ……………... 3

Self-motivation ……………………………………………………… 3

Self-awareness ………………………………………………………. 2

Learning Styles ……………………………………………………. 5

Visual and Auditory learner ………………………….. 5

Holistic learner …………………………………………. 6

Learning Strategies ……………………………………………….. 6

Cognitive strategies …………………………………… 6

Meta cognitive strategies ………………………………. 7

Memory-related strategies ……………………………. 7

Confidence and having positive self-concept ………………………. 8

IV- Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….. 9

V- Bibliography ……………………………………………………………. 10

I- Introduction:

Autonomy in definition is "the process in which individuals take the initiatives, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing, and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes" (Knowles (1975) Self-directed Learning: a Guide for Learners and Teachers) Autonomy is a "universal" aspect in every human being "until there is evidence otherwise" (p.18) according to Holliday's The Struggle to Teach English as an International Language (2005). Everybody has got some features to make him/ her autonomous in second or foreign language learning. Through this paper, I will be talking about the main features that make me autonomous in learning English.

II- Features of learner Autonomy:

Benson talks about the features that make a learner autonomous in his book Teaching and Researching: Autonomy in Language Learning. He identifies the following characteristics needed to name learners as autonomous in learning a certain language:

1- Making decision of what is to be learned and how to be learned using the resources available for them

2- Having a genuine desire to learn a particular language;

3- Having strong determination that cannot be 'undermined' by anything

4- Willing to be critical and reflect upon their learning process in order to make decisions about what to do next

5- Having the ability to learn on their own without any need of any educational processes

6- Having the ability to decide whether to prioritize meeting their own needs or the desires of other group members (Breen and Mann as cited in Benson 2001)

Not being able to meet all these characteristics doesn't make you unable to be an autonomous learner. Having the motivation to learn on your own solely can make you autonomous somehow. As Holiday suggests, autonomy is a universal issue that can be found among all learners of any language but it can be hidden and it's the job of the teacher or the learner himself to uncover it. It can be a kind of resisting the teacher's plan or method of teaching or it can be just using extra resources that meet your own needs (Holliday, 2005).

III- Characteristics that make me an autonomous learner:

Based on Benson's definition of learner autonomy, I'll talk about my own characteristics which make me an autonomous learner:

1- Self-motivation:

The teaching methodology widely spread in state schools in Syria is largely the teacher centered Grammar Translation Method where the main objective of the learning process is to learn a language "through detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed by application of this knowledge to the task of translating sentences and texts into and out of the target language. It hence views language learning as consisting of little more than memorizing rules and facts in order to understand and manipulate the morphology and syntax of the foreign language" (Richards, Jack C.; Rodgers, Theodore S. 2001). In this case "Reading and writing are the major focus; little or no systematic attention is paid to speaking or listening".

As an escape from this traditional method used in my school since I first started learning English, I've always wanted to enhance my speaking, listening, and communicative skills in English by watching videos, listening to music, and using English outside classroom as much as I could with my friends and family. My classroom environment largely motivated me to take responsibility of my own learning process outside classroom especially with the widespread of all the websites that can offer many videos and audio tracks that the learners can choose from to develop his listening and reading abilities.

One of the websites that I used to log in is http://www.storynory.com/ where I could choose the kind of story that suits my own level of learning and can develop my lexicon as well as my listening abilities as each story is accompanied by an audio track. I even used to read some lyrics and memorize a lot of songs and watch lots of movies to have a clear idea about the sociocultural use[1] of the language as well as improve my listening abilities. I also joined few conversation clubs within Linguaphone Institute or previously in Innovation Center in my city Jableh where I could use the language and evaluate my learning process. It was just as David Little named it "a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action' (Little, 1991: 4) Indeed, self-motivation, is as White suggests in her Language Learning in Distance Education (2003) ‘providing an impetus to keep going by reminding oneself of reasons for or advantages of continuing with the course’ (p.117).

Many kind of hurdles could have stopped me at a certain point in my learning process as the nonexistence of a guide while doing certain tasks or even not finding things that don't really conform to my level of learning since the materials found on the internet are unorganized raw materials designed to meet various levels and kinds of learning but it is the intrinsic motivation that kept me moving on in my learning process. Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan in their book Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior (1985) wrote about self-determination and motivation and suggested that it is "an issue of choice and therefore necessitates a theory built on concepts such as volition, intentionality, or will" (p:36) However, "if people feel pressured to attain certain outcomes or if they feel pressured to exercise control, they are not self-determined" (p:37-38) Durning my learning process, I was self-fulfilled with all the semantical and syntactical features I could learn. I enjoyed the process of choosing what to learn and the method to learn it.

2- Self-awareness:

During my learning process, I chose what to study, what to listen or watch, and when to start or finish any task I was involved in. I identified my needs as being listening and speaking along with enhancing my lexicon and sentence structure. As mentioned by Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning (2013) edited by Michael Byram. Autonomous learners should develop "a basic insight into (their) learning styles and strategies". "From a psychological point of view, […] the pace may differ from one learner to another" so the learners "have a chance to develop their skills at their own pace and at their own level, using their own strategies and appropriate media" (877). I identified my own learning styles and strategies and studied techniques that will meet my abilities and the best way for me to learn English outside school.

2.1 Learning Styles:

2.1.1 Visual and Auditory learner:

Rebecca L. in her article "Language Learning Styles and Strategies: An overview" suggests that Learning styles include many types different learning styles like "the analytic, auditory or visual –that students use in acquiring a new language or in learning any other subject" In this sense, "sensory preferences" are divided into "visual, auditory, kinesthetic (movement-oriented), and tactile (touch-oriented)" preferences. "Sensory preferences" to begin with, "refer to the physical, perceptual learning channels with which the student is the most comfortable" unlike "visual students" who like "to read and obtain a great deal from visual stimulation". For such visual students, oral lectures and communication "without any visual backup can be very confusing". However, "auditory students are comfortable without visual input and therefore enjoy and profit from unembellished lectures" (p: 3) Thus, "they are excited by classroom interactions in role-plays and similar activities". "Kinesthetic and tactile students", on the contrary, "like lots of movement and enjoy working with tangible objects, collages, and flashcards". Consequently, "sitting at a desk for very long is not for them; they prefer to have frequent breaks and move around the room" (p: 4).

I am a "visual" and "auditory" learner so I focused on watching videos and listening to songs and different tracks. I learned a lot of vocabulary through listening to audiobooks and audio stories from www.storynory.com. I chose the stories that met my needs depending on the stage of learning I was in. I started with educational stories and used the dictionary to find out the meaning of unfamiliar words to build up my lexicon. I tried to write down some structures to see the way they are used in sentences. After finishing every story I tried to summarize it on paper and practice saying it to my younger brothers. I enjoyed the process immensely and assessed the results I used to come up with at every stage of learning. I was self-aware of my objectives and the problems that I had to solve while speaking. I needed some help of other peers who could speak English to enhance my communication in the EFL and I decided to join some conversation clubs in town.

2.1.2 Holistic learner:

Rebecca talks in the same article about "Global" and "Holistic" students (p:6). They prefer "socially interactive, communicative events" where they are able to concentrate on what they need and avoid deep analysis of grammatical details. They are comfortable even when not having the information given directly to them as they prefer to guess grammar rules and meaning from the context. However, "Analytic students tend to concentrate on grammatical details and often avoid more free-flowing communicative activities". Their focus is on "precision" and "typically do not take the risks necessary for guessing from the context unless they are fairly sure of the accuracy of their guesses" (7). Being a "holistic" person, I joined a lot of conversation club as a way to assess my own learning process and to promote my communicative skills as there were some peers who helped me finding out my mistakes through their own language and the guidance of the teacher who supported me with the guidelines I needed to use of some structures and avoid committing grammatical mistakes while speaking. Being aware of my own learning style and my own objectives was an important feature in the process of my autonomy in learning English.

2.2 Learning Strategies:

Rebecca talks in her article about "Six Main Categories of L2 Learning Strategies" and I will talk about three of them which are relevant to my own learning strategies (the cognitive, metacognitive, and memory-related strategies).

2.2.1 Cognitive strategies:

They allow the learners "to manipulate the language material in direct ways, e.g., through reasoning, analysis, note-taking, summarizing, synthesizing, outlining, reorganizing information" (p: 12) to enhance their knowledge of the target language structures and practice them in naturalistic settings. By choosing what was useful for me from all the materials found on the internet, I was able to recognize what suited me best and met my learning objectives in speaking and listening. I gathered some stories and videos and outlined the main objectives of listening and speaking and possible ways to develop them. I divided the materials I found into categories of importance and used the pen and paper to write down important notes. I simplified target information by converting difficult or unfamiliar information into more simplified organized information and decided the pace of my own learning.

2.2.2 Meta cognitive strategies:

These strategies include "identifying one’s own learning style preferences and needs, planning for an L2 task, gathering and organizing materials, arranging a study space and a schedule, monitoring mistakes, and evaluating task success" of my learning strategies (p:12) I was aware of my goals and the learning styles suitable for me. I chose when and what to do with each material I found on net. I avoided memorization of rules based on the deductive way as well as memorizing large texts so that I could enhance my speaking abilities. I depended mainly on comprehension and analysis of texts. I decided when to study and continuously assessed my progress in the learning progress. I struggled in learning the good pronunciation of words and used www.naturalreaders.com to get the correct pronunciation of difficult words and phrases. I liked British accent and I wanted to adopt it so I chose it among the dialects available on this website and I copied each text I liked to learn about into this website. I was able to download the sound track of any text and put it on my mobile so that I could listen to it whenever I could. I knew the progress I was achieving by assessing how much time I had to spend on every text until I was able to talk about it correctly at the level of pronunciation, structure, and fluency.

2.2.3 Memory-related strategies:

According to Rebecca, these strategies "help learners to link one L2 item or concept with another but do not necessarily involve deep understanding" (p: 13). I didn't use this version of memory related strategies because I don't prefer memorization very much. However, memory related strategies are also concerned with learning and retrieving

information in an orderly string (e.g., acronyms), while other techniques create learning and retrieval via sounds (e.g., rhyming), images (e.g., a mental picture of the word itself or the meaning of the word), a combination of sounds and images (e.g., the keyword method), body movement (e.g., total physical response), mechanical means (e.g., flashcards), or location (e.g., on a page or blackboard)" (Rebecca L. (2003) p:13).

I tried to associate certain pictures with their meaning. Whenever I found some unfamiliar words denoting things I couldn't understand fully, I used to search for their meanings via google images https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&ei=xBgAVbrBO8Kt7AaP8oC4CA&ved=0CBQQqi4oAg. This strategy was very effective with me and helped to associate certain concepts of my L1 with other ones in L2. Searching for the meaning of the word "lodge", for example, associated the meaning of rustic houses found in America with the real pictures of woody houses of Indian Americans.

By using the above-mentioned strategies, I was able to decide the learning style that suits me best as well as organize the learning process in a way that served my aims.

3- Confidence and having positive self-concept:

Since the learners have major responsibilities of taking decisions and self-assessment, they should be confident of themselves in order to proceed with their learning process even when they face some hurdles that try to demotivate them. They should be able to reflect on their difficulties and devise different ways to overcome them. Wenden (1989) suggests that autonomous learners "are not likely to succumb to stress or pressure. If they do find something that brings them anxiety, they will probably find ways to deal with it". They are determined and they have the confidence they need in order for them to succeed. "They know what their weaknesses in the language are and they will try to overcome them independently, or seek out help from teachers or peers" (p: 19) (Naiman et al. qtd. in Wenden)

Being able to escape the teacher-centered methodology taught in my school when I was younger, demonstrates the confidence I had when I made the decision of taking the responsibility of my own learning process. Taking the initiative of letting go of the teacher and depending on my own metacognitive abilities as "gathering and organizing materials, arranging a study space and a schedule, monitoring mistakes, and evaluating task success" were the most important steps towards learner autonomy. Confidence is needed all through the learning process even when the learner feels lost and he needs to set things back on track and that's what happened with me at later stages when I felt lost and didn't know what to do next. The teacher at the conversation club in Linguaphone helped me a lot and guided me towards more websites that I could use to enhance my speaking abilities. There were even some groups on Skype to join if somebody is interested in improving his/ her language. Still communicating with my friends in English through any media (whether on internet or in reality like in the conversation club) took a lot of nerve and nothing stopped me from using the language and achieve my aims in enhancing my listening, speaking, and communicating abilities in EFL.

IV- Conclusion:

Having, self-motivation along with Self-awareness and the Confidence conform to some features mentioned within Benson's definition of learner autonomy. Autonomy can happen everywhere even with the focus on the teacher's role within our classrooms in Syria but resistance to comply with this method aiming at teaching translation and grammar only is a spark for every student to become autonomous in his/ her own way.

V- Bibliography:

Benson, Phil Researching: Autonomy in Language Learning (2011)

Byram, Michael Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning (2001)

Deci, Edward Richard M. Ryan Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior (1985)

Holliday, Adrian The Struggle to Teach English as an International Language (2005).

Knowles, Malcolm Self-directed Learning: a Guide for Learners and Teachers (1975)

Little, David 1991 Learner Autonomy. 1: Definitions, Issues and Problems. Dublin: Authentik

Naiman et al. qtd. in Wenden 1991 Retrieved March 3,11, 2015, from http://smartsheep.org/a-closer-look-at-learner-autonomy-index-7

Oxford, Rebecca L. "Language Learning Styles and Strategies: An overview" Oxford, GALA (2003)

Richards, Jack C.; Rodgers, Theodore S. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2001)

White, Cynthia Language Learning in Distance Education (2003)

[1] By using authentic materials such as films, audio tracks, and television programs, I was able to find out how language was really used in real life situations. In this way, I was able to use the language appropriately and have a glimpse of the sociolinguistic use of some words and phrases

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