Abstract:

This paper tracks a decade in the development of an undergraduate course promoting learner autonomy through computer-assisted language learning (CALL) for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students at Meisei University in Japan. Lecturers and action researchers, Author1 and Author2, explore the course from its inception in 2004 to 2013. First, they review the original focus concerning implementation of the syllabus at class and student levels. Then, they unpack resulting pedagogical issues. Finally, they evaluate if and how recent curriculum review resonates with Meisei's overarching philosophy. Participants included 1st and 2nd year students, instructors and teaching assistants. The data for this study were collected from the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) questionnaire (Oxford, 1990) and other teacher-written questionnaires. Other artefacts were extracted from course materials, participants' learning portfolios, face-to-face interviews, student reflections, and the instructors' observation and reflection journals. Outcomes suggested that learner autonomy can be facilitated by CALL to raise learners' consciousness of the learning process including: 1) an understanding of and a willingness to explore cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies; 2) purposeful reflection in self-management; and 3) how they themselves practice autonomy as it is enabled in CALL environments.

Author: Karen May Smith, Hana Craig