Learner Autonomy Across Cultures

DAVID PALFREYMAN is based at Zayed University, Dubai, contributing to ESOL-related programmes in the English Language Centre and educational development in the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Assessment. His research interests include the roles of sociocultural context in language education, vocabulary curriculum development, and the use of information and communication technology. - RICHARD C. SMITH lectures in ELT/Applied Linguistics in the Centre for English Language Teacher Education, University of Warwick, UK. He taught for thirteen years in Japan, and his main research interests are in the field of learner autonomy, teacher education, cultural issues in ELT and history of language teaching.

• Preface Introduction: Culture and Learner Autonomy; D.Palfreyman PART I: AUTONOMOUS LEARNERS Becoming Autonomous in an Asian Context; P.Benson , A.Chik & H-Y.Lim Changes in Chinese students' Strategy Use After Arrival in the UK: X.Gao Learner Autonomy as Agency in Sociocultural Settings; K.Toohey & B.Norton PART II: THEORETICAL PERSEPCTIVES Toward a More Systematic Model of L2 Learner Autonomy; R.Oxford Self-access as Access to 'Self'; P.Riley Social Autonomy; A.Holliday PART III: PRACTICAL INTERVENTIONS Pedagogy for Autonomy as (Becoming-) Appropriate Methodology; R.C.Smith Autonomy in a Resource-poor Setting; E.A.G.Fonseka Neither Here Nor There?; K.Schwienhorst PART IV: INSTITUTIONS AND TEACHERS The Representation of Learner Autonomy in Organizational Culture; D.Palfreyman Learning Cultures and Counselling; M.de los A.Clemente Addressing Constraints on Autonomy in School Contexts; F.Vieira Asserting Our Culture; N.Aoki with Y.Hamakawa Postscript: Implications for Language Education; R.C.Smith References Index

'This is an essential collection for anybody interested in learner autonomy. Drawing on perspectives from different cultural and professional contexts, it offers a fresh view of issues in autonomy. One of its particular strengths lies in the way in which it brings together accounts offering direct engagement with personal experience, capturing a sense of the excitement and discovery inherent in this, and more conceptual papers that challenge common assumptions or invite readers to explore and reflect on their institutional contexts more carefully. It makes for an entertaining and informative mix of papers which is rewarding both practically and intellectually.' - Dr Keith Richards, Director, Language Studies Unit, Aston University, UK '...the present volume provides not only a rich overview of culturally mediated instances of learner autonomy but also an eminently practical resource guide for current or prospective teachers...In short, for anybody interested in learner autonomy from a cutural perspective, this book has something to offer.' - Claudia Kunschak, Language Awareness