Leading the Proverbial Thirsty Horse to Water: ESL Learners’ Experience with Language Learning Contracts
There is agreement among language educators that the process of language teaching and learning should aim to develop autonomous language learners. While the advantages of autonomy seem to be quite obvious, fostering autonomy in practice can prove to be difficult for some language learners. This pape...
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Kanda University of International Studies
2012-12-01
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doaj-d1e860f47bb14c45a865bcb7b02a78ae2020-11-24T23:34:34ZengKanda University of International StudiesStudies in Self-Access Learning Journal 2185-37622012-12-0134452464Leading the Proverbial Thirsty Horse to Water: ESL Learners’ Experience with Language Learning ContractsNormah Ismail 0Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof1Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Johor Bahru, MalaysiaLanguage Academy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, MalaysiaThere is agreement among language educators that the process of language teaching and learning should aim to develop autonomous language learners. While the advantages of autonomy seem to be quite obvious, fostering autonomy in practice can prove to be difficult for some language learners. This paper describes the use of learning contracts as a strategy for enhancing learner autonomy among a group of ESL learners in a Malaysian university. Through learners’ account of their experiences with the contracts, the study concludes that the learning contract has potential use for language learning and that learners’ positive learning experience remains the key to the success of any endeavour seeking to promote learner autonomy. The paper ends with some implications for teachers and learners who wish to use the contracts as a strategy for language teaching and learning.http://sisaljournal.org/archives/dec12/ismail_yusof/language learning contractslearner autonomy |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Normah Ismail Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof |
spellingShingle |
Normah Ismail Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof Leading the Proverbial Thirsty Horse to Water: ESL Learners’ Experience with Language Learning Contracts Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal language learning contracts learner autonomy |
author_facet |
Normah Ismail Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof |
author_sort |
Normah Ismail |
title |
Leading the Proverbial Thirsty Horse to Water: ESL Learners’ Experience with Language Learning Contracts |
title_short |
Leading the Proverbial Thirsty Horse to Water: ESL Learners’ Experience with Language Learning Contracts |
title_full |
Leading the Proverbial Thirsty Horse to Water: ESL Learners’ Experience with Language Learning Contracts |
title_fullStr |
Leading the Proverbial Thirsty Horse to Water: ESL Learners’ Experience with Language Learning Contracts |
title_full_unstemmed |
Leading the Proverbial Thirsty Horse to Water: ESL Learners’ Experience with Language Learning Contracts |
title_sort |
leading the proverbial thirsty horse to water: esl learners’ experience with language learning contracts |
publisher |
Kanda University of International Studies |
series |
Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal |
issn |
2185-3762 |
publishDate |
2012-12-01 |
description |
There is agreement among language educators that the process of language teaching and learning should aim to develop autonomous language learners. While the advantages of autonomy seem to be quite obvious, fostering autonomy in practice can prove to be difficult for some language learners. This paper describes the use of learning contracts as a strategy for enhancing learner autonomy among a group of ESL learners in a Malaysian university. Through learners’ account of their experiences with the contracts, the study concludes that the learning contract has potential use for language learning and that learners’ positive learning experience remains the key to the success of any endeavour seeking to promote learner autonomy. The paper ends with some implications for teachers and learners who wish to use the contracts as a strategy for language teaching and learning. |
topic |
language learning contracts learner autonomy |
url |
http://sisaljournal.org/archives/dec12/ismail_yusof/ |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT normahismail leadingtheproverbialthirstyhorsetowateresllearnersexperiencewithlanguagelearningcontracts AT masdinahalauyahmdyusof leadingtheproverbialthirstyhorsetowateresllearnersexperiencewithlanguagelearningcontracts |
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