Kuchah, Kuchah, 1970- and Smith, Richard C., 1961-. (2011) Pedagogy of autonomy for difficult circumstances: from practice to principles. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, Vol.5 (No.2). pp. 119-140. ISSN 1750-1229

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Abstract

This article sets out to consider the place of learner autonomy in an African context by recounting the first author's experience of teaching a very large class of more than 200 teenage learners in an under-resourced secondary school setting in Cameroon. It describes the essentially pragmatic solution he adopted in this context of engaging pupils in group work under trees outside, having negotiated rules and work plans. The subsequent value of creative writing activities is also emphasised given the lack of textbooks in this context. On the basis of this narrative, we shed new light on issues in language learner autonomy including the cross-cultural relevance of autonomy, the distinction between a pedagogy of and a pedagogy for autonomy, and how a pedagogy of autonomy can be an appropriate response to otherwise ‘difficult circumstances’. The article ends with a number of principles derived from this practice that may equally be of broader relevance in the field of learner autonomy. Overall, the article is structured in an original manner that is presented as a possible model for future collaborative reports of bottom-up language teaching inquiry, in that an author's narrative of teaching experience is foregrounded and only subsequently related to (autonomy) theory.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DT Africa L Education > LB Theory and practice of education P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Applied Linguistics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Learner autonomy -- Cameroon, Group work in education -- Cameroon, Creative writing -- Study and teaching (Secondary), Autonomy (Psychology), Teaching -- Cameroon
Journal or Publication Title:	Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	1750-1229
Date:	2011
Volume:	Vol.5
Number:	No.2
Number of Pages:	22
Page Range:	pp. 119-140
Identification Number:	10.1080/17501229.2011.577529
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Description:	Special Issue: The 10th Nordic Conference on Language Learner Autonomy in the FL classroom. Reinforcing the what, the why and the how: challenges and change
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/36941

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