Self access language learning centers

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Self access language learning centers are educational facilities designed for student learning that is at least partially, if not fully self-directed. Students have access to resources ranging from photocopied exercises with answer keys to computer software for language learning. These centers are an outgrowth of a style of learning that can go by several names: learner-centered approach, learner autonomy or self-directed learning. These centers exist primarily in Asia, Europe and North America. Use of such facilities and the pedagogical theory they are based upon has its advantages and disadvantages. Proper use can result in a feeling of empowerment and better learning outcomes, but getting to the point where students and teachers can exploit them effectively can be problematic. For this reason, the structure of established self access centers varies from completely student-directed work with classroom immersion to programs that provide primarily tutor or instructor guidance for student work•

Contents

Definition

Self access language learning promotes the approach where students study independently choosing from among different resources that are available. The theory behind this style of learning is that students, especially foreign language students, learn better if they have a say in how they learn. [1] Self-access language learning is closely related to learner-centered approach, learner autonomy and self-directed learning as all focus on student responsibility and active participation for his/her own learning. [2] This style of instruction is most often done in the setting of a self-contained learning environment or self-access center.

Self-access centers can be as simple as a classroom set aside with dictionaries and shelves of paper-based exercises to state-of-the-art digital centers with various types of computer- and Internet-based resources. What resources are available and how students are guided to use them depend on the financial resources available and how much learner autonomy an institution decides to give students. [3]

Examples of self-access centers

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

Some of the advantages of this form of learning is that students at the very least set the pace of their work. Depending on the individual center, students can also set the level and content of their work. Students can use these centers voluntarily or can have assignments to complete there. The major advantage, therefore, is flexibility, with the purpose of giving the students themselves the opportunity to tailor the course more to their learning needs and styles than a more traditional mode of teaching. [1]

Use of multiple technologies in a more independent setting has been shown to improve motivation and increase students’ ability to work independently by taking more responsibility for their own learning. Students also report feeling more “empowered” by such modes of instruction. [6]

Disadvantages

The major disadvantages of this mode has basically to do with the ability of both students and teachers to adapt and integrate this method effectively. Many students are not used to working independently, creating the need to provide guidance as to the use of this kind of center, at least in the beginning. [1] One study reports that students do not seem to want too much freedom in their use of technology. 73% reported that they preferred a regularly scheduled lab time, with the facilitative presence of a teacher. Significantly less than half reported that they preferred completely free access to the lab or to do work at home on their own computer. [6]

For teachers, the 'letting go' of control can be equally disorienting and it may seem that giving students such control depreciates teachers' skills and experience. [3] Traditionally, teachers are used to being the center of student activity, controlling how, when and why students do what they do. Students have been expected to work in "lock-step" with the teacher orchestrating what students do to a very high degree. Teachers, in turn, rely on textbooks that allow little variation. Use of self-access center materials steer students way from the rigidity and "security" of this paradigm, causing teachers to lose their "all-powerful" and "all-knowing" position. This can cause problems integrating a self-access center due to political and institutional constraints. [7]

Other possible problems have to do with availability of physical resources. [3]

Types

Fully Independent Learning
In its most extreme form of self-directed learning, students set their own curriculum and goals, self-accessing their progress. Teachers function only as "counsellors" who give feedback after students evaluate their learning. [1]
Semi-Guided Learning
To address problems with student use of self-access centers, some centers make tutors available to give academic and a kind of psychological support. Students may or may not choose how self-directed or tutor-dependent they choose to be. While the academic effectiveness of a semi-independent study course has not been proven, student response to such a scheme in Hong Kong was very positive. [8]
Self-access center combined with English-language writing center
In several universities in Taiwan, several universities such as National Taiwan University, Fu Jen Catholic University and National Sun Yat-Sen University, have joined the two facilities. While the union of the two facilities has not proved to provide any benefits, the idea has been promoted as a way to enhance both general writing skills, which in turn support the acquisition of other language skills such as reading, speaking and listening. [4]
Online self-access learning
Online self-access or online language support, is a type of self-access learning. In its most basic form, online self-access involves institutions making language learning materials available online to students. More elaborate forms include opportunities for supporting learners online (e.g. through advisory sessions), tools for collaborative learning, e-portfolios, and active monitoring of student performance by the software. Examples of such systems include the University of Auckland's electronic learning environment [9] and 'My English', developed at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, in Bangkok, Thailand. [10] Many centres are using online resources from a variety of commercial English training services.
The KELP Project
The Kanda English Language Proficiency (KELP) program at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan is not a self-access center per se, but rather a program in which all English language classrooms become independent-learning or self-access centers. Work that is typically done in a self-access center as an adjunct to traditional classroom activities become the core of the program. Students, with help from the teacher, create what is essentially their own course. The teacher becomes a "facilitator" who 1) sets up the classroom with needed materials at workstations 2) trains students to make course plans and consults with them to prepare learning contracts and for teacher approval 3) Manages learner assessment by making checking records made by students of their own progress are accurate and 4) Maintains discipline in the classroom. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Computer-assisted language learning (CALL), British, or Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI)/Computer-Aided Language Instruction (CALI), American, is briefly defined in a seminal work by Levy as "the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning". CALL embraces a wide range of information and communications technology applications and approaches to teaching and learning foreign languages, from the "traditional" drill-and-practice programs that characterised CALL in the 1960s and 1970s to more recent manifestations of CALL, e.g. as used in a virtual learning environment and Web-based distance learning. It also extends to the use of corpora and concordancers, interactive whiteboards, computer-mediated communication (CMC), language learning in virtual worlds, and mobile-assisted language learning (MALL).

Instructional scaffolding is the support given to a student by an instructor throughout the learning process. This support is specifically tailored to each student; this instructional approach allows students to experience student-centered learning, which tends to facilitate more efficient learning than teacher-centered learning. This learning process promotes a deeper level of learning than many other common teaching strategies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Problem-based learning</span> Learner centric pedagogy

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy in which students learn about a subject through the experience of solving an open-ended problem found in trigger material. The PBL process does not focus on problem solving with a defined solution, but it allows for the development of other desirable skills and attributes. This includes knowledge acquisition, enhanced group collaboration and communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English as a second or foreign language</span> Use of English by speakers with different native languages

English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL), English as an additional language (EAL), English as a New Language (ENL), or English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). The aspect in which ESL is taught is referred to as teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), teaching English as a second language (TESL) or teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). Technically, TEFL refers to English language teaching in a country where English is not the official language, TESL refers to teaching English to non-native English speakers in a native English-speaking country and TESOL covers both. In practice, however, each of these terms tends to be used more generically across the full field. TEFL is more widely used in the UK and TESL or TESOL in the US.

Blended learning, also known as technology-mediated instruction, web-enhanced instruction, or mixed-mode instruction, is an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction online with physical place-based classroom methods.

Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together. Unlike individual learning, people engaged in collaborative learning capitalize on one another's resources and skills. More specifically, collaborative learning is based on the model that knowledge can be created within a population where members actively interact by sharing experiences and take on asymmetric roles. Put differently, collaborative learning refers to methodologies and environments in which learners engage in a common task where each individual depends on and is accountable to each other. These include both face-to-face conversations and computer discussions. Methods for examining collaborative learning processes include conversation analysis and statistical discourse analysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages</span>

CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language. It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be taken either full-time or part-time. CELTA was developed to be suitable both for those interested in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and for Teaching English to the Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The full name of the course was originally the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults and is still referred to in this way by some course providers. However, in 2011 the qualification title was amended on the Ofqual register to the Cambridge English Level 5 Certificate In Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) in order to reflect that the wider range of students that teachers might have, including younger learners.

Educational technology is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it is often referring to the industry of companies that create educational technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Learner autonomy</span>

Learner autonomy has been a popular concept in foreign language education in the past decades, especially in relation to lifelong learning skills. It has transformed old practices in the language classroom and has given origin to self access language learning centers around the world such as the SALC at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan, the ASLLC at The Education University of Hong Kong, the SAC at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and ELSAC at the University of Auckland. As the result of such practices, language teaching is now sometimes seen as the same as language learning, and it has placed the learner in the centre of attention in language learning education in some places.

A virtual campus or e campus, refers to the online offerings of a college or university where college work is completed either partially or wholly online, often with the assistance of the teacher, professor, or teaching assistant. Many colleges and universities now offer such courses either partially or wholly online. There are an estimated 4,500 such institutions with total enrollments approaching perhaps 2 million.

Technology integration is the use of technology tools in general content areas in education in order to allow students to apply computer and technology skills to learning and problem-solving. Generally speaking, the curriculum drives the use of technology and not vice versa. Technology integration is defined as the use of technology to enhance and support the educational environment. Technology integration in the classroom can also support classroom instruction by creating opportunities for students to complete assignments on the computer rather than with normal pencil and paper. In a larger sense, technology integration can also refer to the use of an integration platform and APIs in the management of a school, to integrate disparate SaaS applications, databases, and programs used by an educational institution so that their data can be shared in real-time across all systems on campus, thus supporting students' education by improving data quality and access for faculty and staff.

"Curriculum integration with the use of technology involves the infusion of technology as a tool to enhance the learning in a content area or multidisciplinary setting... Effective integration of technology is achieved when students are able to select technology tools to help them obtain information in a timely manner, analyze and synthesize the information, and present it professionally to an authentic audience. The technology should become an integral part of how the classroom functions—as accessible as all other classroom tools. The focus in each lesson or unit is the curriculum outcome, not the technology."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanda University of International Studies</span>

Kanda University of International Studies or KUIS is a private university located in Makuhari, Mihama-ku, Chiba, Japan. The university was founded in 1987 as an extension of Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages in Tokyo. KUIS is a research university specializing in learner autonomy. It is one of the top universities in Japan for international studies.

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a pedagogical approach wherein learning takes place via social interaction using a computer or through the Internet. This kind of learning is characterized by the sharing and construction of knowledge among participants using technology as their primary means of communication or as a common resource. CSCL can be implemented in online and classroom learning environments and can take place synchronously or asynchronously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School library</span> Library within a school

A school library is a library within a school where students, staff, and often, parents of a public or private school have access to a variety of resources. The goal of the school library media center is to ensure that all members of the school community have equitable access "to books and reading, to information, and to information technology." A school library media center "uses all types of media... is automated, and utilizes the Internet [as well as books] for information gathering." School libraries are distinct from public libraries because they serve as "learner-oriented laboratories which support, extend, and individualize the school's curriculum... A school library serves as the center and coordinating agency for all material used in the school."

E-learning theory describes the cognitive science principles of effective multimedia learning using electronic educational technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open education</span> Educational movement

Open education is an educational movement founded on openness, with connections to other educational movements such as critical pedagogy, and with an educational stance which favours widening participation and inclusiveness in society. Open education broadens access to the learning and training traditionally offered through formal education systems and is typically offered through online and distance education. The qualifier "open" refers to the elimination of barriers that can preclude both opportunities and recognition for participation in institution-based learning. One aspect of openness or "opening up" education is the development and adoption of open educational resources in support of open educational practices.

Online tutoring is the process of tutoring in an online, virtual, or networked, environment, in which teachers and learners participate from separate physical locations. Aside from space, literature also states that participants can be separated by time.

A virtual learning environment (VLE) in educational technology is a web-based platform for the digital aspects of courses of study, usually within educational institutions. They present resources, activities, and interactions within a course structure and provide for the different stages of assessment. VLEs also usually report on participation and have some level of integration with other institutional systems. In North America, VLE's are often referred to as Learning Management Systems (LMS).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Klassen, Johanna (1998). "Does Self-Access Language Learning at the Tertiary Level Really Work?".
  2. ↑ Carter, Beverly-Anne (Fall 1999). "Begin with Beliefs: Exploring the Relationship between Beliefs and Learner Autonomy among Advanced Students". Texas Papers in Foreign and Second Language Learning and Teaching. 4 (1): 1–20. ED 467863 (ERIC).
  3. 1 2 3 Rodden, Michael (2007). "Self-Access: A framework for diversity". Archived from the original on 2007-08-17.
  4. 1 2 Hsu, Jeng-yih (May 6, 2007). "Integrating a Writing-across-curriculum Program into a Self-access Learning Center.". Proceedings of the 24th Conference on English Teaching and Learning. Taiwan: ERIC 496122.
  5. ↑ Singleton, Malinda (October 1, 2006). "Continuous learning: new Language Learning Center enhances Air Force linguists skills". Spokesman Magazine. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  6. 1 2 Stepp-Greany, Jonita (January 1, 2002). "Student Perceptions On Language Learning in a Technological Environment: Implications for the New Millennium". Language, Learning & Technology. 6 (1): 165. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  7. 1 2 Johnson, Frances; Delarche, Marion; Marshall, Nicholas; Wurr, Adrian; Edwards, Jeffrey (Spring 1998). "Changing Teachers Roles in the Foreign Language Classroom". Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education. 3 (2): 71–89. ED423 676 (ERIC).
  8. ↑ Lai, Lai Kwan (September 1999). "A Tutor-Guided Learning Scheme in a Self-Access Centre". The Internet TESL Journal. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  9. ↑ "English Language Self-Access Centre". Archived from the original on 2008-03-27.
  10. ↑ "My English".
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