STUDENTS’ AND TEACHERS’ STANCE TOWARDS LEARNER AUTONOMY AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING WITHIN THE ELT FRAMEWORK

Öz

For years there has been a tendency to a traditional approach to language learning, which has constituted a major obstacle to learner autonomy. However, changes in the perspective of learning have given rise to learner autonomy, the essence of which is learner’s assuming an active role in his/her own learning. Nevertheless, learning is such a complex process that it includes various dimensions. It is safe to say that learning is not only mental but also affective process. Therefore, together with students’ autonomy, promoting their psychological well-being gains a great importance in learning process. As a matter of fact, there is a bond between learner autonomy and psychological dimension of the learning. For this reason, this study focuses on the interaction between learner autonomy and psychologically well environments in the classroom. To begin with, this study explores the description of learner-centeredness and its different dimensions. Next, it dwells upon the importance of the psychological well-being of the students in the classroom. This study further investigates the relationship between learner autonomy and psychological well-being of the students. The study aims at indicating the reasons of probable changes, if any, in students’ perceptions on the relationship between learner autonomy and psychological well-being throughout their education in the ELT Department as prospective teachers. The students who are at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the educational process in this department and teachers in the same department were the participants of the study, and they were selected via “Purposive Sampling”. Three hundred and fifteen students and eight teachers participated in this study. The data were collected through a questionnaire and a series of subsequent interviews which were held with students at different grades of the mentioned department. The data collected were analysed in two terms. That is, the questionnaire administered was analysed through SPSS and the verbal data gained through interviews were subjected to content analysis. In this respect, this study bore both quantitative and qualitative features. At the end of the study, preparatory class students were found to incline to learner autonomy less than the second and fourth year students. As for psychological well-being, results indicated that fourth year students had the positive self-concepts most except for the sense of pressure in life. In terms of negative self-concept, second year students displayed the least level of negative self-concept. When it comes to the interaction between learner autonomy and psychological well-being, level of positive perceptions appeared to increase among preparatory class, second year and fourth year students respectively. Furthermore, probable reasons of findings, implications and suggestions were presented.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Learner autonomy
• psychological well-being
• initial teacher education
• student-centred education
• teacher autonomy
• lifelong learning

Kaynakça

1. Brown, H.D. (2001), Teaching by principles, An interactive approach to language pedagogy, Longman: San Francisco State University.
2. Burkert, A. (2008), “Preparing student teachers for learner autonomy: some personal reflections”, Retrieved January 18, 2009 from http://www.learnerautonomy.org/burkert.pdf
3. Charles, C.M. (1999). Building classroom discipline. United States of America: Addison Wesley, Longman Inc.
4. Deci, E.L. & Ryan, R.M. (2000), “The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behaviour”, Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268.
5. Fraillon, J. (2004), “Measuring student well-being in the context of Australian schooling: Discussion paper”, The Australian Council for Educational Research, 1-54.
6. Gagne, M. (2003), “The role of autonomy support and autonomy orientation in pro-social behaviour engagement”, Motivation and Emotion, 27(3), 199-223.
7. Harrington, R. & Loffredo, D.A. (2007), “Private Self-consciousness Factors and Psychological Well-being”, Journal of Psychiatry, Psychology and Mental Health 1-1. Retrieved August 16, 2009 from http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1086.htm
8. Kauffman, J.M., Mostert, M.P., Trent, S.C. & Hallahan, D.P. (1998), Managing classroom behaviour: A reflective case-based approach, United States of America: Allyn and Bacon.

9. Lee, I. (1998), “Supporting greater autonomy in language learning”, ELT Journal, 52(4), 282-290.
10. Little, D. (2007), “Language learner autonomy: Some fundamental considerations revisited”, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 14-29.
11. Nakamura, R.M. (2000). Healthy classroom management. United States of America: Wadsworth.
12. Pearson, L.C. & Moomaw, W. (2005). The relationship between teacher autonomy and stress, work satisfaction, empowerment and professionalism. Education Research Quarterly, 29(1), 37-53.
13. Santrock, J.W. (2006). Educational psychology. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
14. Scharle, A.& Szabo, A. ( 2005). Learner Autonomy, A guide to developing learner responsibility. United Kingdom: Cambridge University press.
15. Smith, R.C. (2003). Teacher education for teacher-learner autonomy. In Gollin, J., G. Ferguson and H. Trappes-Lomax (eds.), Symposium for Language Teacher Educators: Papers from Three IALS Symposia (CD-ROM). Edinburgh: IALS, University of Edinburgh.
16. Thanasoulas, D. (2000). Learner autonomy. Retrieved January 2, 2010 from http://www.eltnewsletter.com/Learnerautonomy.pdf
17. Wachob, P. (1996). Methods and materials for motivation and learner autonomy. Reflections on English Language Teaching, 5(1), 93-122.
18. Williams, M.& Burden, R.L. (1997). Psychology for language teachers, A social constructivist approach. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
19. Zhou, Q. & Chen, S. (2005). The mode of promoting learner autonomy for non-English majors through classroom instruction. US-China Education Review, 11(2), 46-52.