Theoretical Underpinning for Investigating Learner Perception of Autonomy

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1 East Asian EFL Learners' Autonomous Learning, Lerner Perception on Autonomy and Portfolio Development: In the Case of Educational Contexts in Japan Midori Mineishi, Hiroshima International University, Japan Abstract: This paper explores East Asian EFL Learners Autonomous Learning and Learner Perception, and takes as its focus the autonomy of adult EFL learners in Japan. First, the theoretical framework of the research is set out, and some of the existing literature and empirical studies are examined. Then, two studies on learner autonomy are conducted. The two studies revealed that there were some differences between successful and less successful learners with regard to their perception of learner autonomy, and that not a few numbers of students wanted to learn autonomously rather than to study passively as is often observed in the traditional Japanese classrooms. Finally, the implications and applications of the study are discussed. Keywords East Asian EFL Learners, autonomy, learner perception on autonomy Introduction According to Benson (Benson 2001), and most other researchers, autonomy can be defined as the capacity to take charge of one s own learning and the ability of learners to control their own learning. However, Littlewood (Littlewood 1999), for example, claims that we need to match the different aspects of autonomy with the characteristics and needs of learners in specific contexts. The researcher s studies were conducted mainly based on Littlewood s definition of autonomy and his research results. Study 1 examines two samples of Japanese tertiary-level students perception of learner autonomy, in accordance with Littlewood (Littlewood: ibid). Study 2 examines how adult Japanese EFL learners feel about their secondary classroom education in terms of autonomy. Theoretical Underpinning for Investigating Learner Perception of Autonomy Comprehensive discussion by Littlewood (Littlewood: ibid) warns against setting up stereotypical notions of East Asian learners, which, if misused, may make teachers less rather than more sensitive to the dispositions and needs of individual students. In search of a culture-free-definition, Littlewood claims that there are two important points to review: a) the need to reconcile the ideas about the influence of culture with recognition of individual difference, and b) the danger of communicating the implicit assumption that particular forms of autonomy associated with language teaching in the

2 West must of necessity also be appropriate within East Asian contexts. In order for Asian learner autonomy to be precisely observed, he tries to set up a broader framework, suitable for both East Asian contexts and contexts beyond East Asia. First, he considers autonomy as self-regulation, before moving on to divide the concept of autonomy into two levels of self-regulation 1) proactive autonomy, and 2) reactive autonomy. Littlewood claims that proactive autonomy is the form of autonomy that is usually intended when the concept is discussed in the West. The key words are action-words: learners are able to take charge of their own learning, determine their objectives, select methods and techniques, and evaluate what has been acquired. In this way, they establish a personal agenda for learning which affirms their individuality and sets up directions in the world which they themselves have partially created. For many writers, proactive autonomy is the only kind of autonomy that counts. A second kind of autonomy may be seen as a preliminary step towards the first (proactive autonomy), or as a goal in its own right. This is the kind of autonomy which does not create its own directions, but rather enables learners to organize their resources autonomously in order to reach their goal once a direction has already been initiated for them. Examples of this would be stimulating learners to learn vocabulary without being pushed, learners going over past examinations on their own initiative, or organizing themselves into groups in order to cover the reading for a particular assignment. Littlewood set up three hypotheses on East Asian Learner Autonomy: Hypothesis 1: East Asian learners see themselves as interdependent with other students, Hypothesis 2: East Asian learners are strongly aware of status differences in the classroom, Hypothesis 3: East Asian learners are ambitious to achieve and are prepared to put a lot of effort into their learning. From these three hypotheses, he derived ten predictions of East Asian learner perception of autonomy. Prediction 1: East Asian students will have a strong inclination to form in-groups which work towards common goals. Prediction 2: East Asian students are eager to engage in activities which involve discussion within groups. Prediction 3: East Asian students will be concerned to maintain harmony within their groups. Prediction 4: In the open classroom, East Asian students will be reluctant to stand out by expressing their views or raising questions, particularly if this might be perceived as expressing public disagreement. Prediction 5: East Asian students will perceive the teacher as an authority figure whose superior knowledge and control over classroom learning events should not be questioned. Prediction 6: East Asian students will see knowledge as something to be transmitted by the teacher rather than discovered by the learners. Prediction 7: East Asian students will expect the teacher, as the holder of authority and knowledge, to be responsible for the assessment of learning. Prediction 8: East Asian students will show strong motivation to follow through learning tasks that have been set, provided they perceive the practical value of these tasks. Prediction 9: East Asian students motivation will be strengthened when success contributes to the goals or prestige of significant in-groups (achievement motivation often being socially rather than individually oriented). Prediction 10: A high level of achievement motivation combined with a strong awareness of group expectations might lead East Asian students to be very concerned to perform well and correctly in class.

3 In his study, these ten predictions about East Asian students were used as the basis for a ten-item questionnaire given to 50 first-year tertiary-level students learning in Hong Kong (see Appendix). In his discussion of the findings, Littlewood pointed out several implications as follows. The results are often contrary to what commonly-expressed cultural generalizations might lead us to expect and reinforce the message that we should be skeptical of generalizations about how East Asian learners perceive their classroom world. Interestingly, the same kind of questionnaire was conducted for European EFL learners, and the results did not show any significant difference in his follow-up studies. There is a wide range of individual variation in the statements. Thus, stereotypes distort reality and cannot serve as a firm basis for organizing a learner-oriented pedagogy. The researcher s studies Study 1 On the basis of Littlewood s work, the researcher conducted two studies of Japanese first year university students. The research question for study one is: Are there any differences found between successful and less successful learners, as regards their perception of learner autonomy, in accordance with the questionnaire developed by Littlewood (Littlewood:op.cit.) Comparing two significantly different learner groups behavior and perception is the researcher s original point. Two hundred and ninety Japanese university first year students from four different departments participated in the first study. The program included: vocabulary and grammar instruction, portfolio development, reading strategy training, speed reading, writing process explanations and instructions, summary writing, and writing sessions such as quick writing, jigsaw reading/writing activities, and peer editing tasks. During the last class, all the participants were given a questionnaire about learner autonomy by Littlewood (Littlewood:op.cit.) (see Appendix). The students were asked to circle a response on a 5-point scale from Strongly Agree (5) to Strongly Disagree (1) for each of ten statements derived from the ten predictions. At the end of one academic year, participants were given a comprehension test on the content of the program. The data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. A t-test was employed for the comprehension test given at the end of the semester. Based on the test scores, two groups of learners (successful, less successful) were identified in order to get two significantly different types of learner samples. A χ 2 test was used in order to identify the tendency of the distribution of the questionnaire responses. Table 1 shows the perception of autonomy of the participants. Table 2 shows results of χ 2 test for learner perception of autonomy:

4 Table 1 Perception of Autonomy 1. Successful Learners 3% 27% 47% 20% 3% Less Successful Learners 24% 30% 23% 13% 10% 2. Successful Learners 3% 17% 54% 23% 3% Less Successful Learners 20% 23% 24% 23% 10% 3. Successful Learners 17% 46% 30% 7% 0% Less Successful Learners 43% 37% 20% 0% 0% 4. Successful Learners 13% 47% 37% 3% 0% Less Successful Learners 37% 37% 23% 3% 0% 5. Successful Learners 17% 30% 20% 30% 3% Less Successful Learners 17% 43% 33% 7% 0% 6. Successful Learners 0% 0% 20% 67% 13% Less Successful Learners 0% 7% 30% 50% 13% 7. Successful Learners 3% 33% 47% 10% 7% Less Successful Learners 13% 20% 53% 13% 0% 8. Successful Learners 40% 30% 17% 10% 3% Less Successful Learners 40% 33% 20% 7% 0% 9. Successful Learners 17% 50% 23% 7% 3% Less Successful Learners 20% 43% 20% 10% 7% 10. Successful Learners 10% 10% 33% 40% 7% Less Successful Learners 17% 20% 33% 30% 0% Table 2 Results of χ 2 test for Learner Perception of Autonomy Item number χ 2 value ** ** ** * ** ** p <.1, p * <.05, p ** <.01 Discussion on Learner Autonomy There were some differences between successful and less successful learners with regard to their perception of learner autonomy items (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (7).

5 Less successful learners tended to prefer working together in groups to working individually. Less successful learners often felt more hesitant to stand out by voicing their opinions and questions than successful learners. Less successful learners tended to expect the teacher (rather than themselves) to be responsible for evaluating how much they had learnt more strongly than successful learners (similar to the East Asian learner stereotype) did. These differences may show that successful learners are already in possession of proactive autonomy, while less successful learners are in the process of acquiring reactive autonomy or proactive autonomy. In that case, we need to develop teaching methods appropriate to promote less successful learners autonomy in the classroom. Existing autonomy research and education in Japan are influenced by most theories and research in the West. The fact of strong influence in education from socio-cultural contexts in Japan, including influence of the entrance examination, should be taken into consideration in classroom instruction. The researcher herself should be exposed to a variety of cultures. There is some necessity to develop a new framework of Japanese adult EFL learners autonomy. Learners have been used to grammar-oriented teaching. Implications and Applications for Instruction There is some necessity to reconsider the concept of autonomy perspectives free from cultural bias, and also there is some necessity for follow-up studies, such as administration of the questionnaire for a wide-range of students on previous experience in their classrooms whether they learned English autonomously or not. Study 2 From the findings of the study 1, the researcher conducted another study for 225 first year university students. The research question was as follows: Do Japanese university EFL learners feel they learned English autonomously or not in their secondary EFL classrooms? The questionnaire was conducted for 225 first year university students. The data is analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Table 3 shows the questionnaire. Table 3: An Open-Ended Questionnaire about Learners Previous Learning 1. What kind of teaching were you involved in in your secondary language classrooms? 2. Are you satisfied with such classroom instruction? 1) strongly yes, 2) yes, 3) neutral,4) no, 5) strongly no 3. Write the reason(s) you answered as above. 4. Do you think you learned autonomously in your secondary language classrooms? 1) strongly yes, 2) yes, 3) neutral,4) no, 5) strongly no 5. Write the reason(s) you answered as above. 6. Do you want more autonomous learning in your classrooms? 1) strongly yes, 2) yes, 3) neutral, 4) no, 5) strongly no 7. If yes, in what way?

6 Results and Discussion Many learners (68 %) answered that they were involved in the class focused on the items necessary for the entrance examination. More than half of the learners (51 %) were not satisfied with former instruction. Some of the learners answered that they hated classroom English which focused on mainly grammar in the open-ended question in the questionnaire. Some of the learners answered that they wanted to learn more autonomously (36 %), by developing their own portfolios or writing diaries as they did in this study. The data will be further analyzed. The study will be continued, and the questionnaire items will be refined in accordance with the results, and some follow up studies will be conducted. There is a need to work together with researchers in other East Asian countries to investigate East Asian learner autonomy. Conclusion There are some differences between successful and less successful learners with regard to their perception of learner autonomy. These differences may show that successful learners already possess proactive autonomy, while less successful learners are in the process of acquiring reactive autonomy. In that case, we need to develop appropriate teaching methods, and we should carefully observe the processes of acquiring both levels of autonomy. In study 2, not a few numbers of students demonstrated that they wanted to learn autonomously rather than to study passively as in the traditional Japanese classroom where the teachers usually explain and write the answers on the black board and the students take notes silently, time to time asking questions by raising their hands. Also, the research should be continued in greater detail in order to identify how these leaner perception differences affect learners eventual academic success. In investigating these results, it is necessary to examine Japanese EFL learners from the perspectives of Japan s existing socio-cultural contexts and to compare the results with Littlewood (Littlewood: op.cit.) and his follow-up studies in more detail. Further, it is necessary to have a closer look at each questionnaire item and reconsider whether the framework by Littlewood (Littlewood: op.cit.) would also apply to Japanese adult EFL learners autonomy and their eventual academic success. In order to facilitate such further research, the researcher herself should be exposed to a variety of Asian cultures. For the purpose of refining the research findings, the researcher needs to further investigate Japanese EFL Learners autonomy, perception of autonomy, and their relationships, and eventually discuss the results and implications in broader contexts.

7 References Benson, P Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. England. Peason. Littlewood, W Defining and developing autonomy in East Asian contexts. Applied Linguistics. 20 /1:71-94.

8 Appendix Questionnaire Given to Students on Autonomy (Littlewood 1999:90) Directions: Circle the number in each question that best suit to your feeling. 5: strongly agree 4: agree 3: neutral 2: disagree 1: strongly disagree 1. I like activities where I am part of a group which is working toward common goals. 2. I like to take part in activities which involve discussion within a group. 3. When I am working in a group, I like to help maintain a sense of harmony in the group. 4. In the open classroom, I often feel hesitant to stand out by voicing my opinions and questions. 5. In the classroom, I see the teacher as an authority figure. 6. I tend to see knowledge as something to be transmitted by the teacher rather than discovered by me as a learner. 7. I expect the teacher (rather than me myself) to be responsible for evaluating how much I have learnt. 8. I feel strong motivation to follow through learning tasks of which I perceive the practical value. 9. I feel more motivated to work when my own success contributes to the goals or prestige of significant groups (e.g. family, other students). 10. In the classroom I feel very concerned to perform well and correctly in what I do.