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AILA Review: Online-First Articles

Self-regulation to develop autonomy in language teacher education

Two case studies in an EFL Malagasy context

ORCID logo | Kanda University of International Studies
 | Kanda University of International Studies
This article reports on a two-phased research study on the promotion of learner autonomy conducted in a teaching college in Madagascar. Phase one aimed to help English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers improve their writing and simultaneously develop their self-regulated learning (SRL) skills through journal writing in a bespoke nine-week reflective writing course. The course was designed with the belief that promoting learner autonomy necessarily involves reflection on the learning process, goals, and outcomes of learning, and that successful SRL results in increased learner autonomy. In addition, teachers who have experienced learner autonomy are more likely to promote it in their teaching. The collected data from the course consisted of the participants’ journal entries related to each writing task and written reflections on the course, which were submitted to thematic analysis. Phase two took place two years after phase one. Data collection for this phase consisted of Google Form questions and email exchanges that were intended to investigate the long-term impact of the reflective writing course on the pre-service teachers’ ways of learning and on their preparation for their teaching practice. To illustrate the impact of the two phases in detail, this article focuses on two case studies. They were chosen because these two participants showed lack of self-confidence and struggles with writing at the beginning of phase one, and yet, were able to develop their SRL skills, in particular, their goal setting and self-evaluation. This paper provides a unique contribution to the field, since not much research has investigated learner autonomy or SRL in education in Madagascar, and few studies have returned to participants after some time to assess long-term impact.
Keywords: learner autonomy, self-regulated learning, reflective writing, exploratory practice
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Theoretical framework
  • The study
    • Context
    • Phase One: The reflective writing course
    • Phase Two: Two years later
  • Findings
    • Case 1: Fanja’s development of SRL skills
      • Identifying difficulties: “What didn’t work”
      • Positive feelings
      • Using strategies: “Do the task calmly”
      • Our evaluation of Fanja’s writing
    • Fanja’s perceptions of the course and long-term use of SRL skills
      • Difficulties, surprise, and benefits
      • Fanja’s continuing use of SRL skills
    • Case 2: Alice’s soaring SRL skills
      • Identifying difficulties: “I did not feel self-confident”
      • Using strategies: “I cannot stop thinking about solutions…”
      • Our evaluation of Alice’s writing
    • Alice’s perceptions of the course and long-term use of SRL skills
      • “I can rely on myself”
      • “Reflective reading” and other strategies
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Aknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 18 November 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.24023.amb
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