students think or feel and consider about the use of individual presentations as the way to develop self-directed learning.
2. Self-directed Learning
Autonomy or the capacity to take charge of one’s own learning was seen as a natural product of the practice of self-directed learning in which the objectives,
progress and evaluation of learning are determined by the learners themselves Benson, 2001:8. The literature on adult self-directed learning focuses on the
processes involved in learning outside the context of classroom or formal education. Self-directed learning is described in its broadest meaning as:
“a process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and
material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies and then evaluating their learning outcomes.” Knowles, 1975:18
Other labels found in the literature include such as self-planned learning, inquiry method, independent learning, self-education, self-instruction, self-teaching, self-
study, and autonomous learning. In the more recent literature, self-directed learning is considered by some researchers as an umbrella concept combining both self-
instructional processes and the physiological characteristics of the learner that support them. Brocket and Hiemstra 1991:24, for example, state that the dimension of self-
directed learning is the learner self-direction that centers on a learner’s desire or preference for having responsibility for learning. Similarly, Candy 1991: 22-3 also
states that:
“… the term self-direction actually embraces dimensions of process and product, and … refers to four distinct but related phenomena: ‘self-direction’ as a personal attribute
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personal autonomy; ‘self-direction’ as the willingness and capacity to conduct one’s own education self-management; ‘self-direction’ as a mode of organizing instruction
in formal settings learner-control; and ‘self direction’ as the individual, nonistitutional pursuit of learning opportunities in the ‘natural societal setting’ autodidaxy.”
Self-directed learning can be considered as something that learners are able to do more or less effectively according to the degree that they possess this capacity.
Figure 2.1 Major Influences on the Theory of Autonomy in Language Learning Benson, Phil. 2001.
Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Learning. England: Longman.
Self-directed learners are often described as being autonomous towards learning Candi, 1991; Guglielmino, 1977; Knowles, 1975. Dickinson 1987:11
defines autonomy as the situation in which the learners are totally responsible for all the decisions concerned with their learning and the implementation of those
decisions. Littlewood 1996:428 argues that autonomy as a capacity involves two aspects which are ability and willingness that depends on having both the motivation
and the confidence to take responsibility for the choices. This autonomy makes the
Autonomy in language learning
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self-directed learners are able to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate their own learning process Candy, 1991; Fisher, King, and Tague, 2001. Tricia Hedge
2000:76 states that self-directed learners 1 know their needs and work productively with the teacher towards the achievement of their objectives 2 learn
both inside and outside the classroom 3 can take classroom-based material and can build on it 4 know how to use resources independently 5 learn with active thinking
6 adjust their learning strategies when necessary to improve learning 7 manage and divide the time in learning properly 8 do not thing the teacher is a god who can
give them ability to master the language. If the students have the characteristics of self-directed learners, it means that they are ready to have an individual work as a
media to develop their self-directed learning. The self-directed learning abilities can encourage individuals to be more
responsible and use their personal competencies to educate themselves Areglado, Bradley, and Lane, 1996; Candy, 1991; Guglielmino, 1977; Knowles, 1980. Based
on Scharle and Szabo from the book “Learner Autonomy”, there are several skills and attitudes that teachers have identified as building blocks of responsibility and
autonomy: intrinsic motivation which are more able to identify with the goals of learning and makes the students more willing to take responsibility for the outcome;
self-confidence which contributes to the development of responsibility in its own right; monitoring in which the students focus on the process of learning rather than
the outcome; self-evaluation which formulates an idea of students’ level of proficiency and discover weak and strong points to plan the directions of progress;
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learning strategies as tools to improve the language competence; cooperation which affects learner attitudes in several ways; group cohesion which creates opportunities
for feedback from peers; sharing information with the learner which is to express respect and willingness to regard learners as partners; consistent control which clearly
establish expectations towards the learner; and delegating task and decisions which help the students to take more responsibility for their learning.
The process of developing learner responsibility can be seen in this three phases:
1. Raising awareness as the starting point. The learners are presented new viewpoints and new experiences to encourage them bringing the inner processes of their
learning to the conscious level of their thinking. In this stage, the teacher takes more control because the learners are not yet very responsible.
2. The next step is beginning changing attitudes by practicing the skills introduces at the first stage. It requires a lot practice and patience, but it allows more room for
learner initiative. 3. The last step is transferring roles to the learner. It requires a considerable change in
classroom management; therefore, it is the most demanding phase for the teacher. It gives a considerable amount of freedom to the students in accompliching or even
deciding the tasks. Brockett and Hiemstra 1991:24 also provided two primary understanding of self-
directed learning. First, self-directed learning is a process “in which a learner assumes primary responsibility for planning, implementing, and evaluating the
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learning process” p.24. Second, self-directed learning refers to a goal, which focuses on “a learner’s desire or preference for assuming responsibility for learning”.
In order to help the students developing their self-directed learning, teacher should conduct activities that make them take an initiative towards their own learning
process. This can be done better if the activities encourage the students to work independently rather than in group. Therefore, one example of activities best applied
as the way to develop students’ self-directed learning is individual presentation.
3. Individual Presentation
