藉由省思以提升大一英文閱讀課程之學習者自主權研究

Promoting Learner Autonomy through Reflection in a College Reading Class

根據語言教學專家David Little （1997），如果教師以發展學習者自主權 （learnerautonomy） 為正式學習的中心要務，那麼學生的反省思考 （critical reflection，以下簡稱省思） 能力必然自始即扮演十分重要角色，其理由為所有正式學習之結果來自於個人深思熟慮的努力。其他研究學者，如Phil Benson （2001），亦視省思個人學習過程為培養本身自主權的重要元素。學生的省思日誌 （reflection journal） 可謂其第一手記錄，直接由學生記載有關個人學習經驗和學習過程的反應。本文乃探討學生在教師導引下撰寫日誌時，對其英語學習之省思為何以及利用班訊 （class newsletter） 分享同學省思內容之感觀為何。又，教師本身從學生的日誌中可得何種自我省思以利後續教學並提升班上學習者自主權。參與本研究之學生就讀於北部一所私立大學的「大一英文」課程，人數六十二名。其過程為學生於課後回顧該周課內、課外所做所學並計劃次周學習目標與行動等等，將其書寫於省思日誌檔案內，完成後利用校內網路平臺繳交存檔，教師則從繳交之日誌內選出學生評論或部分內容編輯成班訊，將其分發或張貼於班級網站上以提供提升學生對學習過程負責的環境。同時，學生亦可藉此演練選擇學習資源、教材和活動之所有權 （ownership） 以推展學習者自主權。本研究依據學生之問卷結果、省思日誌、和教師對使用省思日誌和班訊觀點來討論提升學習者自主權的可行性。

During the late 1970s and early ‘80s, the concept of learner autonomy caught attention ofsome of the Western scholars who have advocated a learner-centered communicativelanguage teaching (CLT) in the L2 education. As CLT seeks to put the learner at the centerof L2 pedagogy, learners are encouraged to take ownership of many processes which havetraditionally belonged to the teacher (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). According to Little (1997), ifteachers make the development of autonomy a central concern of formal learning, consciousreflection will necessarily play a central role from the beginning for the simple reason thatmost formal learning is the result of deliberate, conscious effort. The reflection journal canbe employed as first-hand records directly from the learners themselves about their Englishlearning experiences and their reactions to the learning processes. In Taiwan, there has todate been some discussion on its role in language learning, but relatively few scholars havelooked into the effect of reflective journals and class newsletters to promote leanerautonomy in a reading class. This project discusses how students perceived the use ofreflective journals and class newsletters to promote their autonomous learning in college.The participants were 62 students from one of the researcher’s Freshman English readingclasses in the fall semester of 2008. They were encouraged to record their reflections onwhat, why, and how they had studied and learned in class and out of class in guided journalsand submitted them to the researcher electronically. Selected comments from their journalswere compiled and edited into class newsletters and posted at the class website by theresearcher. Through a guided journal template (adapted from Stephenson, 2006) along withclass newsletters, students were provided opportunities to take responsibility of their ownlearning process and exercise ownership of choice related to learning resources, materials,and the activities to develop autonomy. Discussion was based on the results of twoquestionnaires, students’ journals, and the researchers’ views of using the journals andnewsletters to promote learner autonomy in English learning.