ACCESS EAP: Frameworks
Unit 9

The following extract is from Unit 9 called Autonomy and Independent Learning.
Read it and answer the questions that follow.


Chapter 9 Autonomy and independent learning
Sue Argent

9.1	What universities expect

A high level of student autonomy is one of the clearest requirements for successful English-medium academic study, as this lecturer's comment illustrates: 'My students are great- they study really hard - now I want them to study smart'. His first-year undergraduate class of international students were well-motivated high-flyers with excellent high school exam grades and prepared to study long hours. Yet they lacked the ability to study smart. This chapter looks at the main component of studying smart: learner autonomy.

EAP students need to develop learner autonomy for two reasons. First, they need to be independent learners in order to learn their degree subjects successfully. They also need to be independent learners in order to continue to learn English throughout their university studies, because their EAP class may be the last English class they will have.

Jordan (1997) and Field (2007) are among several authors who stress the need for EAP students to continue language learning after leaving language instruction.


9.2	What student autonomy means

Autonomous learners make their own decisions about learning, instead of depending on others, for example, a teacher, to tell them what to do. The development of learner autonomy has been described as:

'a process that enables learners to recognize and address their own needs, to choose and apply their  own learning strategies or styles eventually leading to the effective management of learning' (Penaflorida 2002).

Autonomy for an EAP student must involve self-:direction, the ability to see and use wisely opportunities for learning in the various situations in which they function. This autonomy needs to be applied both in learning about the content and approaches of their subject discipline and also in learning its language.

Self-direction may be an unfamiliar concept for students who have just left high school. At university, students have to find and use sources of information without a teacher, perhaps after a high school career in which teachers selected and processed information for them. They have to organize their study activities for themselves when they may have previously worked within a highly structured timetable that allowed very little free choice or free time. They have to work on collaborative projects with new colleagues, writing group reports and making joint presentations when they may have experienced only individual work and assessment in school. These are challenges that are shared by all students when moving from high school to university. For international students, the challenge is often made greater by the move from the educational culture of one country to that of another.

A  further challenge is the need to continue the language learning process beyond any EAP courses available. Without the help of a language teacher, a student has to take responsibility for learning how to communicate competently in his or her specialist field, i.e., how to function as a member of the appropriate discourse community. The ability to continue independently learning the language of the target academic and professional community must be a key goal for every EAP student. Autonomy for an EAP student means self-direction, taking responsibility and independent learning in all aspects of study at university, including language learning.


9.3	Student autonomy, study competence and study skills

The two aspects of autonomy in EAP - autonomy for academic study and autonomy for continued language learning- share an underlying capacity. Waters and Waters (1995) offer the most useful term, referring to a general, underlying capacity for study as study competence.

It is important to distinguish this deeper-level study competence from the more surface­ level study skills, i.e., the knowledge and techniques which students can be trained to use for effective study. These include skills such as time management, proofreading. making notes and the conventions of referencing. Most EAP courses incorporate this type of work. Study skills are a useful part of any student's repertoire, but they can only be used outside the EAP classroom if students develop the underlying study competence.
 
Critical Response Task 

Task

Below is an excerpt from Autonomy and Independent Learning. 
Source:  Argent, S. (2013). From high school to university: A handbook for EAP students. 
                               Summerford: Gateway University Press

Argent expresses the idea that “[a]utonomy for an EAP student must involve self-direction, the ability to see and use wisely opportunities for learning in the various situations in which they function.”

To what extent do you agree with this suggestion? Give your opinion, offer an explanation, and provide at least one example. Model your answer on the template 

Task Requirements:
1.	Write your answer in one paragraph of 200 words (+/- 10%).
2.	Include one paraphrase [indirect citation] of the writer's ideas  
3.	Include one quotation [direct citation] from the passage (no more than 10 words).
4.	Add in-text citations, formatted appropriately.
5.	Sequence your sentences logically.
6.	Do not write an introduction.