Enhancing language learning through creation: the effect of digital storytelling on student learning motivation and performance in a school English course

This study explored how a free-space digital storytelling approach that advocates autonomy and creativity can be implemented in a formal elementary classroom and how it impacts students’ language learning motivation and performances. Participants of the study were 64 sixth grade students in Taiwan. Following an experimental design, the data collected from three data sources, including motivation surveys, achievement test scores, and digital stories, were analyzed and triangulated. Two performance indicators of the digital storytelling, levels of language usage and levels of creativity, were found to have significant but different impacts on language learning. While the students’ language usage performance in digital storytelling was significantly related to their achievement test scores, their creativity performance were significantly related to multiple motivation components, including extrinsic motivation, task value and elaboration. It was also found that the proposed digital storytelling approach had a positive impact on students’ language performance and contributed to an increase to students’ motivation in two dimensions: extrinsic goal orientation and elaboration, rather than intrinsic goal orientation. The results suggest that the positive impact of the proposed storytelling pedagogy resides in allowing students to stretch their creativity while demonstrating their language productivity, with the leverage of a holistic assessment scheme.     

Thai Distance English Learners and Learner Autonomy

The study reported here represents an attempt to explore learner autonomy in a distance education setting in Thailand. Autonomy is a key element in learning a language at a distance and is reflected in the number and quality of learning strategies students employ. Data for this study were collected using a questionnaire sent to students country-wide, ThinkAloud protocols and interviews. Using a number of criteria which emerged from the study, students were grouped into two kinds of language learner: self sufficient language learners, who were able to follow the course but displayed a limited degree of learner autonomy, and dynamic distance language learners, who were more proactive in their approach to learning. The outcomes from this study were used to draw conclusions about recommendations for future distance language course development and to develop theoretical work by the author relating to autonomous learning of languages at a distance     

Self-directed learning to develop autonomy in an online ESP community

Low foreign language achievers in vocational education often have a lack of learning strategies, a tendency to feel frustrated, and unwillingness to be involved. In order to develop vocational college students’ autonomy, this study integrated on-site workshops with an online learning community by means of self-directed learning English for specific purposes (ESP). The results show that the online ESP community developed students into autonomous learners by (1) employing resource-based approach to download learning materials for preview and review, (2) utilizing curriculum-based approach to view online photos for monitoring their role-play and interactions in the learning processes and taking e-assessment for evaluating learning progress, and (3) using technology-based approach for interacting with their peers. The students developed learner autonomy to achieve significant better learning outcomes in the post-test. It was implied that self-directed learning with little teacher intervention of integrating on-site and online learning community could develop learner autonomy in ESP.     

Developing learner autonomy in the language class in Turkey: voices from the classroom

This article draws on qualitative interview data from a case study of an English teacher in Turkey. It explores the implementation of learner autonomy in English as a foreign language classroom and identifies the challenges, such as students’ negative attitudes towards classroom practices, dissatisfaction with the language learning activities and lack of motivation among the students, the teacher encountered while promoting learner autonomy. The main purpose of the paper is to analyse the issues that have emerged during the process of implementing learner autonomy in language learning with specific reference to the case study conducted and to discuss the themes relevant to its classroom practice.     

The Enhancement Effect of Learner Autonomy on Motivation in SLL

For many years now," autonomy" in learning has been a topic of widespread discussion in educational field.Accordingly,it is Henry Holec who introduced learner autonomy to the field of second language in his project report to the Council of Europe in 1981.Motivation is also a widely used psychological term in our daily life and research.Both learner autonomy and motivation are important factors in influencing learning effects.Many researchers conduct studies on learner autonomy and motivation.There are also some studies on the correlation between learner autonomy and motivation in SLL(Second Language Learning).However,few of them focus on the effect of learner autonomy on motivation.Thus,it makes an attempt to investigate whether learner autonomy has an enhancement effect on motivation.It combines motivation and learner autonomy together to find some effective and efficient ways of promoting foreign or second language learning.In another way,it enriches learner autonomy research.It holds that learner autonomy is a very important factor in influencing motivation.It will make a combination between learner autonomy and motivation in SLL to find some new ways of promoting learners’ motivation and learning efficiency.A survey methodology has been employed which consists of qualitative and quantitative methods.Specifically,both questionnaire and interview have been conducted in the research.     

浅析中国外语教学与学习自主性

外语教学的成功与否不只是一个教的问题,在很大程度上取决于学生的学习态度和方法。本文在综合近年来国内外学习者自主研究的基础上,提出了在中国培养学习者自主性的必要性和可行性,并针对就如何提高中国学生的外语自主学习能力,提出了一些建设性意见。     

Motivated learning with digital learning tasks: what about autonomy and structure?

In the present study, the ways in which digital learning tasks contribute to students?? intrinsic motivation and learning outcomes were examined. In particular, this study explored the relative contributions of autonomy support and the provision of structure in digital learning tasks. Participants were 320 fifth- and sixth-grade students from eight elementary schools throughout the Netherlands. The results show that a digital learning task that combined autonomy support and structure had a positive effect on both intrinsic motivation and learning outcomes in students. A digital learning task that only provided structure also had a positive effect on learning outcomes, but a digital learning task with only autonomy support did not yield a similar effect.     

A longitudinal analysis of student participation in a digital collaborative storytelling activity

Despite the positive potential of the online social networking platforms, the longitudinal studies regarding how children participate in digital storytelling communities is still scant in the literature. This study investigated how 26 elementary students participated in a 2-year digital storytelling community mediated by a social network application. By analyzing the students’ weekly responses, social networks, and their language learning performance, the results suggested that their oral reading proficiency improved along with their participation in the long-term activity. It was also found that the community features impacted the students’ sense of engagement in the activity. The feature of the learning community that allows students to team up with partners to complete a story improved their engagement and motivation. The social network analysis found that multiple literacies including multimedia processing, language, and collaboration were all considered by students as important criteria for the partnership to complete the collaborative digital storytelling work. However, such a prolonged collaborative digital storytelling activity also introduced new challenges for those students demonstrating unfavorable collaboration profiles as they needed to learn how to collaborate in order to team up with others. The implications of the findings for educational practice are discussed.

     

论语言自主学习能力的培养

随着元认知策略研究的兴起,自主学习开始受到广大教育者的关注,学习自主性也被看作是语言学习过程中的先决条件,教学过程中的责任也越来越多地从教师转向学生,教师更多的责任是培养学生的学习自主性.本文论述了学习自主性的概念、特点、以及影响学习自主性的主要因素,并介绍了如何培养学生的自主学习能力的若干策略.     

A model for self‐regulated distance language learning

The role of learner autonomy and self‐regulated learning in distance education has received much attention. The application of these concepts impacts course design and, potentially, learner achievement. In the case of distance language learning, course designers must consider not only how to help learners gain communicative competence but also language learner strategies that support success. Although the concepts of autonomy and self‐regulated learning share some similarities, they have been variously defined and applied to distance education. Current research and discussion has not synthesized the ways in which these factors can be more fully utilized to improve distance education. Based on a critical review and synthesis of the literature on autonomy and self‐regulation, this article contributes a new model for distance language learning. The model provides guidance for course designers and assists instructors in supporting their students.     

The Students' Learning Autonomy and Language Teaching

As an essential concept of language teaching, learner autonomy (LA) is very important in language learning. Looking back to the history of foreign language teaching, we can find that people’s different attitudes to learner autonomy have become a clue of modern foreign language teaching research.On the basis of foreign language teaching (FLT), this article aims to make clear three points: 1) what is learner autonomy? 2) What is the significance of cultivating students’ learning autonomy in English language teaching in China? 3) And what can we do to cultivate students’ learning autonomy? All the answers of these questions can be found in this article.     

外语教学中自主学习新理念刍议

学习者自主是近20年来外语教学研究领域的一个热门课题。本文简要介绍了学习者自主性的定义，阐述了我国大学生外语学习现状及制约学习自主性发展的因素，并对如何在外语教学中培养学习者自主性提出了尝试性建议。     

从建构主义理论看英语自主学习

随着“自主学习”教学理念在我国的提出以及与之相配套的教材的出版发行，以“学习者为中心”的外语教学模式已经在我国的许多大专院校被广泛采用。从建构主义理论出发，了解与自主学习相关的语言学习观以及实现自主学习所需要的条件，有利于教师更好地发挥引导者、组织者、解难者的作用，也有利于教师积极地介入学生自主能力的培养过程，使学生成为真正的自主学习者，提高学习效率，获得最佳学习效果。     

Revaluing the enlightenment: reason and imagination

In higher education teaching, enhancing learner autonomy has become a key concern for curriculum planners and classroom teachers. The significant body of research about learner autonomy in language learning over the last 20 years (e.g. Holec 1981, 1988; Riley 1985; Dickinson 1987, 1992; Wenden & Rubin 1987; Little, 1991; Dam, 1995; Benson & Voller, 1997) has indicated an on-going search for more understanding of how learner autonomy can be implemented in different contexts. This paper is based on a research study which was conducted in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. The study explores learners' attitudes and expectations of language learning, teacher and learner roles, their learning preferences and perceptions of learner autonomy. The paper reports the results and discusses their implication on the development of a learner-centred approach in higher education.     

学习者自主性培养中元认知策略的影响

近几年,元认知策略作为学习策略中一种高级策略,已经受到越来越多学者的关注。相关研究表明,对元认知知识具有良好理解力的语言学习者通常会根据他们自己的设定的目标制定相应的学习计划,并有意识的监控和评价他们自己的学习过程。因此,元认知策略的应用和自主学习之间是有密切的关系。该研究是针对元认知策略培训和自主学习之间的相关性的实证研究。     

学习者自主与教师自主性

在外语学习中，自主学习观念已经深入人心，但自主性已经不是一个仅仅属于学习者的概念。今天，探讨学习者自主性已经把教师自主性当作一个不可或缺的有机部分。作者在分析两个概念的基础上，探讨了两者的关系：学习者自主依靠教师自主，教师自主发展可促进学习者自主。     

教师角色在培养学生自主学习能力中的实证研究

随着教学主体逐步从以教师为中心向以学生为中心的转移和独立学院的进一步发展,独立学院非英语专业学生的英语自主学习能力越来越引起外语研究者的关注。为了了解学生自主学习能力以及教师如何影响学生自主学习能力,笔者进行了为期两个学期的实验,对所收集的数据用SPSS 15.0软件包进行统计分析发现：当前独立学院非英语专业学生的英语自主学习能力低;教师在培养学生自主学习能力的过程中充当着促进者和资源的角色。     

Promoting Learner Autonomy for College English Majors through Peer-teaching

This study explored the potential of using peer-teaching as a pedagogy to promote college English majors’ learner autonomy.Data collected over 2 weeks through observations,interviews and questionnaires revealed that the students were highly motivated in their learning and their self-confidence was greatly improved.The study also proved peer-teaching had also developed the students’ metacognitive strategies and social strategies.Thus,peer teaching is effective in promoting language learner autonomy.     

新教学模式下法语专业学生自主学习能力和方法探析

自主学习能力对外语的学习效果起着至关重要的作用。本文由问题的提出：为什么提出自主外语学习概念,理论背景：什么是学习者自主性,影响它的主要因素,问题的分析和解决途径：就如何在当前的外语教学环境中培养学生的自主性提出建议这三部分来对自主学习能力和方法进行探究。