Promoting the use of English through acquisition and learning:

Self-directedness through self-directed learning

by G. H. Asoka

Continued from last week

'It is commonly accepted that successful learners are reflective, self-directed and able to use a range of learner strategies in effective and appropriate combination. The more strategies the learner uses the more they can investigate, process and be thorough in their learning. Thus there is a close link between self-directed learning and strategy practice.'

Self-directedness achieved in learning through self-directed learning in bilingual education has made the Sri Lankan bilingual learner fairly independent and autonomous. In the Sri Lankan environment, this is a very positive because Sri Lankan learners mostly and usually try to depend on teachers in their formal classroom set-up. This situation can be eradicated through encouraging self-directed learning which has already become a learning habit of bilingual learners. Consequently independent thinking can be geared to create products with differences through learning and what learners want to do in real life.

The third conceptualisation of self-directed learning (Long) on psychological control can be noticed more than the other two (independent learning and distance learning) when the achievements that bilingual learners have experienced in Sri Lankan context are examined: 'Self-directed learning is a purposive mental process, usually accompanied and supported by behavioural activities involved in the identification and searching out for information. The learner consciously accepts the responsibility to make decisions about goals and effort, and is, hence, one's own learning change agent.'

Bilingual learners

In this regard, bilingual learners' personality traits and cognitive skills developed in Sri Lankan context are very important: self-confidence, inner-directedness and achievement-motivation through learning in two languages. In the Needs Survey, bilingual learners have expressed their interest in bilingual education, interest in continuing their studies in bilingual education and positive attitudes expressed in terms of students' views and others (principals', bilingual teachers', parents' and in-service advisors'). Expectations and experience of learners also show their inner-directedness, self-confidence and desireable achievements in line with education and languages.

Bilingual learners in Sri Lanka usually have two major challenges in their learning: learning the subject and their second language (English) unlike the learners of monolingual education either in Sinhala or Tamil do.

The needs survey has clearly shown that the more they use self-directed techniques the more they have become successful in their learning even in the presence of teacher shortage, scarcity of quality text books, lack of other resources and facilities. Such learners have attempted to find ways and means of learning and planned their learning: then they have implemented their plans and completed an informal self-evaluation.

Consequently they have become very active in their learning through testing their own strategies of learning. This is a very successful and rewarding experience for them to be intrinsically motivated to continue their studies in bilingual education.

The kinds of cognitive skills promoted by the Sri Lankan bilingual learners are obvious in six categories: goal setting skills, information processing skills, other cognitive skills, aptitude in their studies in bilingual education, decision making skills and self-awareness. In information processing skills, strong reading ability through exposure to information in two languages has pushed them to a large pool with a large number of alternatives to observe, explore and elaborate information appropriately. It is clear that the learners mix their deep processing skills and surface processing skills to empower in learning.

Proficiency of achieving competency of English as a second language in systematic and methodical, and depends on both acquisition and learning. Use of English has become comparatively an easy practice among bilingual learners due to their deviation from the need for learning English: they are opened to acquire English: natural way of grasping language. Learning is always conscious and needs learners' conscious attempt. Yet acquisition is a sub-conscious attempt of grasping a language. Bilingual learners, without fear, anxiety and demotivation, process in their natural way of becoming proficient in a language. In this situation, learners have become self-directed to communicate in English in a progressive and systematic manner. Thus within maximum around three years, bilingual learners have become fluent in their general English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills).

At micro level

It is another positive remark to see that the self-directed learners identified in the survey have become confident. At early stages of learning in bilingual stream, they had not used self-directed learning as a formal process. Yet they have tried out various techniques which reflect characteristics of self-directed learning, especially to overcome their language difficulties as a medium of instruction. Mainly initial use of learning strategies at micro level has allowed them to use more of them later than at the beginning.

Independence is quite obvious and common in bilingual learners' communication in English. They are not reluctant to make errors in their learning process of language development. Acquisition supports them a lot in this regard and consequently they have become confident in learning and using English parallel to their academic aspects related the target subjects learnt in English.

Self-directed learning, as it influences learners' responsibility in learning, has promoted practical value of responsibility with an awareness of it. This, in return in their future, will gift responsible citizens to our society. Thus they may not wait till all the resources necessary for a task are provided: instead they may try to activate possibilities available to achieve the optimum out of the available.

Once learning process and outcomes have become meaningful for them as a result of their active contribution, bilingual learners have been able to create more learning situations like the previous or better than them through monitoring.

Subsequently they have become curious and willing to try new things, view problems as challenges rather than difficulties or barriers, desire expected challenges and enjoy their learning. Furthermore, these learners have become self-disciplines, self-confident and goal-oriented. It has encouraged them to develop their leadership patterns critically thinking by adapting their learning contexts using various strategies in given situations: therefore their participation in curricular activities is exceptionally admirable.

Bilingual learners utilise fairly a large number of sources for seeking what they need both as subject related information and language related aspects for communication. Rather than learning English as a second language, they try to use it for the need for communication, and their use of sources is in a wide variety as knowledge seekers.

Mainly reading

Sri Lankan bilingual learners' use of sources is closely linked with their fondness of reading, and consequently bilingual learners have become usual intensive and extensive readers. The majority of bilingual learners progress and complete their first three years in reaching proficiency in Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS-social language): within this period, they silently develop laying a strong foundation for developing their academic English (CALPS-Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Skills) through mainly reading.

Thus, reading has become a quite popular technique of bilingual learners to be self-directed in their learning. Even at early stages, they start using dictionaries, encyclopedias and online sources. Their bilingual capacities have allowed them to look at a topic in different ways with different cultural settings and interpretations. Differences that they have identified make their thinking different from that of their monolingual peers.

They seek support of their peers in monolingual stream by requesting the latter's textbooks in Sinhala or Tamil. Before the lesson, they have read those books in addition to extra reading materials available in mother tongue and English as well. They have done this with two purposes: to minimise their challenges in internalisation of academic concepts through forward transmission, and to be knowledge seekers to support what they have already learnt or to be learnt. This practice has influenced them to test knowledge transfer with language transfer demonstrating neurolinguistics findings related to bilingual brain.

Gradually such learners have self-confident, self-motivated and self-evaluated through exploring different situations inquisitively. At the same time they have been capable of extending learning beyond the classroom challenging themselves in their learning process in English.

This is not an attempt of exaggerating benefits gained through bilingual education. Yet this is the reality. It has been experienced that some try to downgrade and justify the talents and flexibility of bilingual learners telling that the system has selected the most brilliant learners to learn in bilingual education.

However, one prominent fact is obvious in human beings' success in learning: that is how mental and social capacities are enhanced through multilingualism, by using at least two languages.

Teachers' role for making learners self-directed in their learning:

The workforce today is changing dramatically. Jobs require some form of postsecondary education and novelty in educational outcomes as lifelong gifts for shaping one's behavioural pattern. In this challenge, it is important to raise learners' awareness of their role in learning with responsibility for their own learning. The Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale developed by Lucy M. Guylielmino (1977) consists of eight factors in its factor analysis for supporting learners to access their self-directed learning capacities:

1. Love of learning
2. Self-concept as an effective, independent learner
3. Tolerance of risk, ambiguity and complexity in learning
4. Creativity
5. View of learning as a lifelong, beneficial process
6. Initiative in learning
7. Self-understanding
8. Acceptance of responsibility for one's own learning

A key factor supporting self-directed learning is teachers' facilitating and enabling teaching style by acting as catalysts for their learners and serving as a reflective mirror without being the only source of feedback and reinforcement for them. In this process teachers are expected to gradually move learners toward peer scaffolding through collaborative activities for peer assisted learning. In this environment, teachers give minimal input, ask open-ended questions, offer diplomatic validations of differences, relinquish learner-centred and controlling instructional methods and guide learners in appreciating significance, meaning and applicability of new learning. In this manner, teachers are able to create inclusive, affirming and humanistic experience for their learners in formal settings of education to be self-directed in their learning.

Starting point

In self-directed learning environment, teachers' facilitation-role has a lot of responsibilities. Helping the learner identify the starting point for a learning project is a necessity. There should be discussions with learners to set goals, select strategies and decide evaluation criteria. In this process, the teacher is a manager of learning experience rather than an information provider. Such teachers usually develop positive attitudes and feelings of independence relative to learning in learners' minds.

Learning assignments, projects and group attempts emphasizing individual responsibilities from childhood can be practised without doing everything for learners. However, learners should not be given total freedom. Instead, they can be given choices to work out addressing their interests and preferences addressing their individual and group experience.

Teachers are expected to tolerate uncertainty and encourage risk-taking capitalising learners' strong points instead of focusing on weaknesses. Learning tasks and activities should be developed in such a way to sustain their interest allowing them to win over errors and transcending frustration eventually to break barriers to reach target achievements.

Reflection can be made a usual practice among learners and they can be encouraged to maintain diaries as reflective journals to keep records daily about something important about their learning process.

Self-directed learning promotes life-long learning, too. Increasing interest and desire for seeking ways to learn using learners-strategies open the door for this through individualization of learning. Hence learner becomes autonomous. Thus self directed learning should be encouraged from school level itself. This is the year of IT and English: this can be extended linking its different facets to create a marvellous combination to achieve desirable targets. Use of computers and school net can be systematically progressed to support learners to be self-directed. School libraries can be equipped not only with books and other reading material, but also with a methodical procedure which enhances learners' search for information and knowledge through both extensive and intensive reading. A few questions identified as pre, while and post reading questions can be easily set and attached to each reading material.

Today self-directed learning is an increasingly popular topic in education in its general methodology of both pedagogy and androgogy. It is a 'purposive mental process' supported and accompanied by behavioural activities to identify and search for information and knowledge through learning by doing with learner initiative. The learner continuously accepts the responsibility and becomes one's own learning and changing agent through self directed learning.

Self-directed learning provides strength and willingness for individuals to take control that develops potential of their lives. Learners have choices about the direction they pursue. Along with this goes responsibility for accepting any consequences of one's thoughts and actions as a learner.

Learner's individual personality characteristics and teaching and learning process are starting points for understanding self-direction. The social contexts provide the stage in which learning tasks and activities are created.

Currently the Cell of Language Coordination at the National Institute of Education is attempting to promote bilingual education through encouraging self-directed learning and has been in the process of preparing teacher-supportive, pedagogic material based on self-directed learning for facilitating bilingual education. The Cell targets to continue this practice providing further support at school level.

Self-directed learning which has become mainly now in informal practices among bilingual learners can be further developed as a regular habit through teacher involvement and curricular modifications in bilingual education, (even in monolingual education, too).

Balanced combination of self-directed learning with other specific methods under Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) can ensure efficiency and effectiveness of achievements through bilingual education and produce an effective human capital for development of the country ensuring life-long learning.

The writer is the Chief Project Officer and Head of the Cell of Language CoordinationProject Leader of Bilingual Education Faculty of Languages, Humanities and Social Sciences National Institute of Education, Maharagama