Reflection 3

Autonomy which has been simply defined by researchers that ability to take change of learners own learning. Interest in autonomy has increased considerably .The philosophy of autonomy and the rule of autonomy in global education is the main focus of educators in recent years, specifically to the role of CALL. To facilitative and enhancing language learning is the main topic of this week’s reading. As Healey (2007) well expressed that autonomy is more than sitting in a lab with material, more than being motivated to learn, more than having company in ones studies, and more than having choices in terms of topics. It means being able to make adult decisions about learning to become independent learners.
Mostly this article analyzed Oxford (2003) who systemized varying perspectives on learner’s autonomy. She presented four different perspectives on being which autonomy includes;
1) Technical perspective which focus on the physical situation
2) Psychological perspective which focus on characteristics of learners
3) Sociocultural perspective which focus on mediate learning
4) Political-critical perspective which focus on ideology, access, and power structure
In the background of the study, Healey (2007) stated about some issues concern in the literature related to the sitting, role of learning style and strategies, age variables, individual verses group work, control and the locus of power, and culture of relevance of autonomous learning.
In my opinion, the role of style and strategy is one of the most important points which can help learners to become autonomous learners. For example, there are different styles of learners. Some learn better through auditory, some through visual, and some through tactile/kinesthetic. However, CALL cannot work more effectively to make the learner autonomous. It is the role of a teacher to use different strategies in order to make students interested in using a computer to help themselves become independent learners.
I do agree with the idea that many CALL projects such as WebQuest can help by providing learners with a structure that gradually gives them more control and become independent learners.