Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-n7qbj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T23:45:53.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Technology and Learner Autonomy: An Argument in Favor of the Nexus of Formal and Informal Language Learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2019

Chun Lai*
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: laichun@hku.hk

Abstract

This article discusses some of the current research on technology in relation to learner autonomy, outlining major findings on the relationship between technology and learner autonomy in formal and informal learning contexts. Extant literature has discussed both teacher-initiated technology-enhanced formal learning environments and learner-constructed self-directed learning experience in informal learning contexts. Although valuable in the insights it provides into how technology aids learner autonomy, the two bodies of literature have largely been independent from each other, which may constrain our understanding.

Type
Short Report
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailly, S. (2011). Teenagers learning language out of school: What, why and how do they learn? How can school help them? In Benson, P. & Reinders, H. (Eds.), Beyond the language classroom (pp. 119131). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Benson, P. (2011). Teaching and researching autonomy (2nd ed.). London, UK: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Benson, P. (2013). Learner autonomy. TESOL Quarterly, 47, 839843.Google Scholar
Benson, P., Chik, A., & Lim, H. Y. (2003). Becoming autonomous in an Asian context: Autonomy as a sociocultural process. In Palfreyman, D. & Smith, R. C. (Eds.), Learner autonomy across cultures (pp. 2340). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Cabot, M. (2014). English as a foreign language and technological artefacts in school and out of school (Unpublished master's thesis). Haugesund, Norway: University College Stord.Google Scholar
Castellano, J., Mynard, J., & Rubesch, T. (2011). Student technology use in a self-access center. Language Learning & Technology, 15, 1227.Google Scholar
Çelik, S., Arkın, E., & Sabriler, D. (2012). EFL learners’ use of ICT for self-regulated learning. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 8, 98118.Google Scholar
Colley, H., Hodkinson, P., & Malcolm, J. (2003). Informality and formality in learning: A report for the Learning and Skills Research Centre. London, UK: Learning and Skills Research Center.Google Scholar
Dam, L. (2003). Developing learner autonomy: The teacher's responsibility. In Little, D., Ridley, J., & Ushioda, E. (Eds.), Learner autonomy in the foreign language classroom: Teacher, learner, curriculum and assessment (pp. 126150). Dublin, Ireland: Authentik Language Learning Resources.Google Scholar
Gao, X. (2010). Strategic language learning: The roles of agency and context. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Garcia, D. N. D. M., O'Connor, K. M., & Cappellini, M. (2017). A typology of metacognition: Examining autonomy in a collective blog compiled in a teletandem environment. In Cappellini, M., Lewis, T., & Mompean, A. Rivens (Eds.), Learner autonomy and web 2.0 (pp. 6790). Bristol, CT: Equinox.Google Scholar
Goodwin-Jones, R. (2011). Emerging technologies: Mobile apps for language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 15(2), 211.Google Scholar
Greenhow, C., Robelia, B., & Hughes, J. E. (2009). Learning, teaching, and scholarship in a digital age: Web 2.0 and classroom research: What path should we take now? Educational Researcher, 38(4), 246259.Google Scholar
Hafner, C. A., Chik, A., & Jones, R. H. (2015). Digital literacies and language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 19, 17.Google Scholar
Hafner, C. A., & Miller, L. (2011). Fostering learner autonomy in English for science: A collaborative digital video project in a technological learning environment. Language Learning & Technology, 15(3), 6886.Google Scholar
Hamilton, M. (2013). Autonomy and foreign language learning in a virtual learning environment. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar
Jones, A. (2015). Mobile informal language learning: Exploring Welsh learners’ practices. eLearning Papers, 45, 414.Google Scholar
Kessler, G., Bikowski, D., & Boggs, J. (2012). Collaborative writing among second language learners in academic web-based projects. Language Learning & Technology, 16(1), 91109.Google Scholar
Lai, C. (2013). A framework for developing self-directed technology use for language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 17, 100122.Google Scholar
Lai, C. (2015a). Modelling teachers’ influence on learners’ self-directed use of technology for language learning outside the classroom. Computers & Education, 82, 7483.Google Scholar
Lai, C. (2015b). Perceiving and traversing in-class and out-of-class learning: Accounts from foreign language learners in Hong Kong. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 9, 265284.Google Scholar
Lai, C. (2017). Autonomous language learning with technology: Beyond the classroom. London, UK: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Lai, C., Hu, X., & Lyu, B. (2018). Understanding the nature of learners’ out-of-class language learning experience with technology. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 31(1–2), 114143.Google Scholar
Lai, C., & Zheng, D. (2018). Self-directed use of mobile devices for language learning beyond the classroom. ReCALL, 30(3), 299318.Google Scholar
Lewis, T. (2014). Learner autonomy and the theory of sociality. In Murray, G. (Ed.), Social dimensions of autonomy in language learning (pp. 3759). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Lamb, T. E. (2011). Fragile identities: Exploring learner identity, learner autonomy and motivation through young learners’ voices. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 6885.Google Scholar
Little, D. (2009). Learner autonomy in action: Adult immigrants learning English in Ireland. In Kjisik, F., Voller, P., Aoki, N., & Nakata, Y. (Eds.), Mapping the terrain of learner autonomy: Elearning environments, learning communities and identities (pp. 5185). Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press.Google Scholar
Little, D., & Throne, S. (2017). From learner autonomy to rewilding: A discussion. In Cappellini, M., Lewis, T., & Mompean, A. Rivens (Eds.), Learner autonomy and web 2.0 (pp. 1235). Bristol, CT: Equinox.Google Scholar
Littlewood, W. (1996). “Autonomy”: An anatomy and a framework. System, 24, 427435.Google Scholar
Murray, G. L. (1999). Autonomy and language learning in a simulated environment. System, 27, 295308.Google Scholar
Murray, G. (2014). Exploring the social dimensions of autonomy in language learning. In Murray, G. (Ed.), Social dimensions of autonomy in language learning (pp. 311). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
O'Leary, C. (2014). Developing autonomous language learners in HE: A social constructivist perspective. In Murray, G. (Ed.), The social dimension of autonomy in language learning (pp. 1536). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Olmedo, M. I. (2015). English language learning beyond the classroom walls (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Barcelona, Barcelona.Google Scholar
Peeters, W., & Ludwig, C. (2017). “Old concepts in new spaces”: A model for developing learner autonomy in social networking spaces. In Cappellini, M., Lewis, T., & Mompean, A. Rivens (Eds.), Learner autonomy and web 2.0 (pp. 115140). Bristol, CT: Equinox.Google Scholar
Pellerin, M. (2017). Rethinking the concept of learner autonomy within the MALL environment. In Cappellini, M., Lewis, T., & Mompean, A. Rivens (Eds.), Learner autonomy and web 2.0 (pp. 91114). Bristol, CT: Equinox.Google Scholar
Reinders, H. (2007). Big brother is helping you: Supporting self-access language learning with a student monitoring system. System, 35(1), 93111.Google Scholar
Reinders, H., & Hubbard, P. (2013). CALL and learner autonomy: Affordances and constraints. In Thomas, M. (Ed.), Contemporary computer assisted language learning, (pp. 359375). London, UK: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Reinders, H., & White, C. (2011). Learner autonomy and new learning environments. Language Learning & Technology, 15(3), 13.Google Scholar
Reinders, H., & White, C. (2016). 20 years of autonomy and technology: How far have we come and where to next? Language Learning & Technology, 20(2), 143154.Google Scholar
Rosell-Aguilar, F. (2013). Podcasting for language learning through iTunes U: The learner's view. Language Learning & Technology, 17, 7493.Google Scholar
Schwienhorst, K. (2008). Learner autonomy and CALL environments. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Sockett, G., & Toffoli, D. (2012). Beyond learner autonomy: A dynamic systems view of the informal learning of English in virtual online communities. ReCALL, 24, 138151.Google Scholar
Steel, C. H., & Levy, M. (2013). Language students and their technologies: Charting the evolution 2006–2011. ReCALL, 25, 306320.Google Scholar
Suvorov, R., & Cabello, A. C. (2017). The development of language learner autonomy in adaptive learning systems. In Cappellini, M., Lewis, T., & Mompean, A. Rivens (Eds.), Learner autonomy and web 2.0 (pp. 3666). Bristol, CT: Equinox.Google Scholar
Toffoli, D., & Sockett, G. (2010). How non-specialist students of English practice informal learning using web 2.0 tools. ASp. la revue du GERAS, 58, 125144.Google Scholar
Toffoli, D., & Perrot, L. (2017). Autonomy, the online informal learning of English (OILE), and learning resource centres (LRCs): Relationships between learner autonomy, L2 proficiency, L2 autonomy and digital literacy. In Cappellini, M., Lewis, T., & Mompean, A. Rivens (Eds.), Learner autonomy and web 2.0 (pp. 198228). Bristol, CT: Equinox.Google Scholar
Trinder, R. (2016). Blending technology and face-to-face: Advanced students’ choices. ReCALL, 28, 83102.Google Scholar
Wu, M. M. F. (2012). Beliefs and out-of-class language learning of Chinese-speaking ESL learners in Hong Kong. New Horizons in Education, 60, 3552.Google Scholar