scholarly journals The Social Dimensions of Learner Autonomy and Self-Regulated Learning

2014 ◽  
pp. 320-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garold Murray

This paper examines how learner autonomy and self-regulated learning might be related by comparing and contrasting the two constructs. After identifying the traits learner autonomy and self-regulated learning have in common, I argue that in order to understand how they differ we have to look beyond a discrete point comparison of their features. Given that both areas of inquiry have been broadening their focus on the individual learner to include greater recognition of the role of the social environment in the learning process, I expand the scope of my analysis to include their social dimensions. In the ensuing discussion, I explore the notion that their social dimensions encompass emotional, spatial and political dimensions. To illustrate my points, I draw on data from an ethnographic inquiry investigating the experiences of Japanese English foreign language learners participating in a social language learning space on the campus of a large national university. The paper concludes by examining the implications of this theoretical discussion for pedagogical practice and further inquiry.

Relay Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Tetsushi Ohara

Approaches to understanding learner autonomy in language learning often contain dichotomous views: those that emphasize individual attributes and those that emphasize social influence. In order to articulate our understanding of learner autonomy, it is necessary to find approaches, which view a dialectic unity between the individualistic views and the social views. Sociocultural theory based on the concept of mediation is an approach, which has potential to offer a unique way to analyze learner autonomy. While using sociocultural theory as the main theoretical framework, this article attempts to understand how students take charge of their learning in the language classroom. Qualitative data indicate that interpersonal relationships between students work as mediational means for students to engage in their learning in the classroom. From this finding, it is argued that by understanding mediational means that students employ and are appropriate in the classroom, we are better able to track the students’ ability to take charge of their own learning.


Author(s):  
Zineb Djoub

Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) provides learners with the chance to experience new learning modes that go beyond the classroom context, offering them more flexibility, learning choices in terms of language content, ways of its delivery, learning space, and time, thereby enhancing their learning autonomy. But how are English teachers using MALL? In the attempt to answer this question, a survey is carried out with a sample of 42 English teachers. The results show that the limited use of such devices is not likely to help the learners develop autonomy since it does not go beyond the objective of enhancing their knowledge of this language. This study also reveals learners' difficulties in using these devices, the skills needed, and the kind of support these teachers require. In light of these findings, a list of recommendations is suggested to enhance MALL.


Author(s):  
Lars Taxén

Usually, models of the intellect take the individual mind and body as the point of departure and proceed outward towards the social and natural environment in which the individual is immersed. As a consequence, important social dimensions contributing to the epigenetic development of the individual are less articulated. This chapter suggests modeling the intellect from a more balanced perspective that recognizes both social and individual aspects–the coordination of actions. The author argues that coordination is made possible by certain innate dispositions called activity modalities: contextualization, spatialization, temporalization, stabilization, and transition. Consequently, a central task for modeling the intellect is to understand how perceptions received through sensory modalities are related to the activity modalities. To this end, the author proposes a research program for modeling the intellect, based on the concept of “activity” in the Russian Activity Theory and the activity modalities. Provisional arguments for the relevance of these modalities are discussed in three different realms associated with the intellect: the social, conceptual, and neural ones. The chapter is concluded with some preliminary research questions, pertinent for the research program.


2015 ◽  
pp. 291-309
Author(s):  
Zineb Djoub

Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) provides learners with the chance to experience new learning modes that go beyond the classroom context, offering them more flexibility, learning choices in terms of language content, ways of its delivery, learning space, and time, thereby enhancing their learning autonomy. But how are English teachers using MALL? In the attempt to answer this question, a survey is carried out with a sample of 42 English teachers. The results show that the limited use of such devices is not likely to help the learners develop autonomy since it does not go beyond the objective of enhancing their knowledge of this language. This study also reveals learners' difficulties in using these devices, the skills needed, and the kind of support these teachers require. In light of these findings, a list of recommendations is suggested to enhance MALL.


2022 ◽  
pp. 189-203
Author(s):  
Kendall Hartley

This chapter investigates smartphone-induced digital distractions through the lens of social cognitive theory and self-regulated learning. Social cognitive theory's reciprocal triarchic conceptualization is matched with the current role of the smartphone in the learning environment. Self-regulated learning is used to frame the challenges and opportunities presented by the smartphone. A final section suggests two opportunities for generating positive educational outcomes in light of social cognitive theory and self-regulated learning. The first is opportunity described as a reclamation of the dominant narrative regarding the educative role of personal technology. The second is the development of the individual learning scientist.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7359
Author(s):  
Chen Li ◽  
Shahid Abrar-ul-Hassan ◽  
Fei Gao

Transitioning from high school to university presents a significant challenge for many students on multiple fronts, including language learning. This mixed-method study draws on an ecological perspective to investigate students’ English learning experiences during the transition from high school to university in China, focusing on teaching content, teaching approach, assessment and feedback, and self-regulated learning. Data is collected from six universities at three different academic levels in China, and analyzed using both statistical and thematic analysis. The research finds that there are differences between high school and university English language education in the above-mentioned four areas, and students’ ecopotentials are of critical importance for their adaptation to university English learning. These findings suggest the necessity of the continuity of teaching content, the promotion of individualized curricula, and the cultivation of self-regulated learning capacities to support students’ sustainable English learning during the transition from high school to university.


2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorien Van De Mieroop

In current Western consumer societies, the poor are excluded and occupy stigmatized positions. By analyzing an interview with a poor man, I look at how stigma is discursively negotiated through the interplay between individual and social dimensions of narratives. First, the interviewee resists the interviewer’s ‘poor man’-category projection by setting up alternative groups. Second, he invokes and aligns with dominant discourses regarding the necessity to own consumer goods and find a work-life balance, by which he constructs the identity of an empowered “bricoleur” (cf Gabriel et al., 2010). These findings are then related to Goffman’s theory of stigma and information control (1963) and to the inextricable link between the performed nature of narratives, their individual and social dimensions and their local and global contexts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 36232
Author(s):  
John Sandars

There is increasing interest in the importance of Self-Regulated Learning for the improvement of academic and clinical performance. Self-Regulated Learning is a dynamic and cyclical metacognitive process that coordinates an individual’s skill (techniques) and will (motivation) to achieve a clearly defined task. There are differences in key Self-Regulated Learning processes between high and low performers, especially goal setting and self-monitoring. Formative feedback on the use of key Self-Regulated Learning processes, which can be identified using microanalysis before, during and after an individual performs a specific task, can lead to improved performance. There is increasing awareness of the importance of both the social and educational environment on the use of Self-Regulated Learning, including the essential influence of the teacher. 


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