Teachers as Collaborators to Motivate Learning Aut

Journal of Communication and Computer 9 (2012) 905-908

DAVID PUBLISHING

Teachers as Collaborators to Motivate Learning

Autonomy in English Speaking Class—Two Cases at a

Senior High School and a University

Yiling Chen

Nanhua University, Chiayi 622, Taiwan

Received: May 31, 2012 / Accepted: July 03, 2012 / Published: August 30, 2012.

Abstract: The notion of collaborative learning and teaching encourages learners to learn a language by experiential and shared learning.

The learners are believed to learn best if they learn through the conscious internalization of their own or observed experiences which

build upon our past experiences or knowledge. Within this concept, teachers become collaborators to enhance learners’ learning

autonomy in the teaching process. In this paper, the authors will consider to what extent the concept of a teacher as a collaborator can be

applied to the senior high school and university EFL classes in Taiwan, and how to motivate an EFL learners’ autonomy. Attention is

first paid to the theoretical grounding of the concept and the characteristics of teachers as collaborators. Following this, the English

education context in Taiwan is highlighted in order to consider how far this concept can be achieved. Finally, conclusions will be drawn

from this small-scale exploration.

Key words: Teacher as collaborator, learning autonomy.

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1. Introduction

When we consider foreign language education, the

main aspects in our mind are learners and teachers.

There is a great variety in the literature on foreign

language acquisition both in the reasons why

individuals learn foreign languages, and in their

success in doing so. We also find variety in the ways in

which teachers conduct their teaching activity. There is

a notion of collaborative learning and teaching in

foreign language education, which “has emerged over

the last ten years as the significant concept within the

field of language education” [1]. This concept focuses

on learners and encourages them to learn language by

experiential and shared learning. Within this concept,

the role of teachers as collaborators in the teaching and

learning process represents a change to the traditional

educational patterns.

Corresponding author: Yiling Chen, Ed.D, assistant

professor, research fields: TESOL, bilingual education. E-mail:

***************..

The author carried out experimental teaching

(namely “collaborative teaching”, which is different

from traditional lecturing teaching) for a semester at a

senior high school and a university. The courses chosen

for experimental teaching were “ practical English” for

majors in the Department of Applied English at a

vocational senior high school, and “English

Audio-Visual Training” for majors in Department of

Foreign Languages and Literature at a university.

During the academic year, the first semester was taught

in the traditional way, and the second semester was

taught by collaborative teaching. In this paper the

author will only consider to what extent the concept of

a teacher as a collaborator can be applied to the English

(as foreign language) educational contexts both at a

senior high school and at a university in Taiwan.

Attention firstly is paid to the theoretical grounding of

the concept and characteristics of a teacher as a

collaborator. Following this, the English educational

contexts in both schools are highlighted in order to

906Teachers as Collaborators to Motivate Learning Autonomy in English Speaking Class—Two Cases at a

Senior High School and a University

consider how far this concept can be achieved. Finally,

conclusions will be drawn from this small-scale

exploration.

2. Literature Review

It is believed that when students sense they are

finding out something that is important and useful to

them, using their own powers of observation and

interpersonal skills, everything changes. Therefore, we,

as teachers, should not only lecture in class but also

encourage hands-on exercises. We want to be sure that

they “really learn something useful and meaningful”;

the notion of “experiential learning” emerged in the

1960s [2]. Kolb’s [3] general theoretical model of

experiential learning has had outstanding influence. In

experiential learning, personal experience is viewed as

the central point for learning, giving “life, texture, and

subjective personal meaning to abstract concepts and at

the same time providing a concrete, publicly shared

reference point for testing the implications and validity

of ideas created during the leaning process [3]”. In this

model, reflection plays an important role in the process

by providing a bridge between experience and

theoretical conceptualisation.

The context of foreign language education is

changing with many new competing theories,

including the development of experiential learning.

Kohonen [4] mentions that “current pedagogical

thinking seems to be shifting away from the traditional

behaviouristic model of teaching as transmission of

knowledge towards an experiential model whereby

teaching is seen as transformation of existing or partly

understood knowledge, based on constructivist view of

learning [4]”. Miller [5] presents a table to compare the

traditional model with the experiential model. In

experiential model, control of the process is shifted

from the teacher towards the learner. Learners are at the

centre. Learning starts with the goals chosen by

learners themselves. To a great extent, the teacher

cooperatively facilitates learners to achieve their goals

in a small group setting. These distinctions, compared

to the traditional model, not only influence physical

settings in foreign language education, such as the

structuring the classroom, but also have great effects on

the role of the teacher in learning and teaching process.

In next part, the focus will be shift to the characteristics

of a teacher as a collaborator in the cooperative foreign

language class.

3. Applicability

The concept of a teacher as a collaborator seems

very influential and significant. The aim is to

encourage the learner to learn autonomously. However,

from my point of view, this concept would be difficult

to apply to foreign language education in Taiwan, since

it challenges the educational and cultural context in

Taiwan. I would like to explain this from three aspects.

Firstly, this concept challenges the meaning of

teacher in Taiwanese cultural context. In a

collaborative learning class, one major change is the

role of the teacher. The teacher is most likely to be a

member of the learners’ group, a collaborator. This

change is not entirely “new” but still too “advanced”to

be accepted, especially in a high school context. Our

culture pays a high degree of respect to the role of

teacher, which even can be traced back thousands of

years. We transmit the notion of Confucius: to respect

the teacher. We believe that the teacher is the person

who teaches knowledge and copes with the complexity

of life. In this cultural context, children are educated to

respect their teachers and follow their teacher’s words.

The author find out that the notion of “teacher as

authority” contradicts with the age of learners. That is

to say, it is easier to implement collaborative teaching

with older learners. The authors take this experimental

teaching for example, it was easier to apply

collaborative teaching in a university context than in a

high school context. Further, the learner autonomy of

undergraduates was more likely to be encouraged than

in senior high students. The high school students in this

study could not even accept the notion of collaborative

teaching, which required their efforts to do something

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Teachers as Collaborators to Motivate Learning Autonomy in English Speaking Class—Two Cases at a

907Senior High School and a University

by themselves instead of reciting textbooks. Most of

them were reluctant to research or do reports on their

own, mainly because it was not the objective with

which they had grown up. In this sense, the concept of

the teacher as a collaborator would be restricted in its

application in certain educational contexts.

Secondly, the current foreign language education

pattern in primary and secondary schools in Taiwan is

difficult to change more generally. In our foreign

language class, the number of pupils is normally

between 50 and 60. Such a big size restricts the

teacher’s behaviour. The teacher cannot physically

arrange group learning in one classroom, because the

space is limited, and it is easy to be out of control.

Pupils must be arranged in a very structured form. The

teacher stands in the front and lectures to the whole

class. The demonstration is in a single form,

teacher-dominated. As McDonell [6] states, “when the

teacher intervenes, there are demonstrations of

problem-solving language and behaviours; when

students are encouraged to go back over a discussion to

pursue a new strategy, there are demonstrations of

negotiation; when students are asked to reflect on how

the group worked together, there are demonstrations of

cooperative skills”. In conclusion, this

multi-demonstration classroom has not been achieved

at senior high school, but partially accomplished in the

university setting. For example, because of the large

number of pupils in a single class at high school, it can

be imagined how difficult it was to encourage active

learning. When the author negotiated with individuals

to set goals and meet their needs by consideration of

individual’s language level, the author was always in a

dilemma. How could teachers plan a lesson to meet an

individual’s interest and pay attention to their language

ability at same time? Further, the 50 students at this age

did not actually know what they wanted to learn. As a

result, the motivation of both high and low level pupils

was decreased. In addition, in this high school, the

school had an English (as foreign language) textbook

for all and it was difficult to design collaborative class

activities. Thus, the outlook for the application of this

concept is not very optimistic in a senior high school

setting. By contrast, the situation at a university was

easier. Instructors at the university were allowed to

choose textbooks freely and the number of students in

the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature is

comparatively small. It was unproblematic for me to

move students around or design an active exercise in

class. Further, my students enjoyed collaborative

teaching more than a dull, lecturing lesson. They

learned better when materials were related to their daily

lives or were presented by peers.

Thirdly, assessment in foreign language education

provides barriers against this concept in a senior high

school context. Our basic approach in assessing senior

high students was external summative assessment. All

of the national assessments are paper-based, and assess

vocabulary, grammar, reading, and writing, without

listening and speaking. That is, communicative skills

are omitted. The method and content of assessment

limits a language teacher’s behaviours. This kind of

assessment-driven teaching and learning is consistent

with the idea of backwash, as Johnson [7] states, which

is “the effect that testing has on teaching”. For better or

worse, tests and examinations exert control over what

goes on in a classroom. Teachers cannot focus on the

communication of language by adopting communicative

approaches because students are not assessed

communicatively. In this situation, there is no space to

achieve collaborative language learning in senior high

schools. Fortunately, on the other hand, undergraduates

do not have further entrance exams, unless they want to

go on to graduate school. Further, one of the core

teaching objectives at the university is to encourage the

innovation and creativity of students; therefore,

implementing collaborative teaching was not difficult

while the experimental teaching was carried out.

4. Conclusions

In this paper, attention was firstly paid to the

theoretical grounds for the concept of collaborative

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908Teachers as Collaborators to Motivate Learning Autonomy in English Speaking Class—Two Cases at a

Senior High School and a University

learning and teaching and the characteristics of a

teacher as a collaborator. Following that, the

application of this concept in a Taiwanese context was

considered, at both a senior high school and a

university. The conclusion drawn from this exploration

is that although the concept of a teacher as a

collaborator is valuable, and is one that aims at

encouraging autonomous learning, it is difficult to

apply this to foreign (English) language education in

senior high schools because of the boundaries of

culture and the educational context. However, this does

not mean I reject entirely the idea. It is still worthwhile

for individual Taiwanese foreign language teachers to

reflect on personal experience and improve

professional skills by considering this concept, and

implementing at senior high schools if possible. In

contrast, the notion can and should be carried out in

university setting since instructors at universities have

more decision-making rights and universities are

regarded as “authority-free teaching lands”. As

Andresen et al [8]. points out, collaborative learning is

where learners are personally engaged or where their

related experience plays a significant role in the

process of learning and cognition development.

References

[1] D. Nunan, Collaborative Language Learning and

Teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,

1992.

[2] W.J. McKeachie, M. Svinicki, Teaching Tips: Strategies,

Research and Theory for College and University Teaching,

Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 2006.

[3] D. Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source

of Learning and Development, Prentice-Hall, Englewood

Cliffs, N.J., 1984.

[4] V. Kohonen, Experiential language learning: Second

language learning as cooperative learner education, in: D.

Nunan (Ed.), Collaborative Language Learning and

Teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992,

pp. 14-39.

[5] J. Miller, The Holistic Curriculum, OISE Press, Toronto,

1988.

[6] W. McDonell, The role of the teacher in the cooperative

learning classroom, in: C. Kessler (Ed.), Cooperative

Language Teaching, Prentice Hall Regents, N. J., 1992, pp.

162-174.

[7] K. Johnson, An Introduction to Foreign Language

Learning and Teaching, Longman, Harlow, 2001.

[8] L. Andresen, D. Baud, R. Cohen, Experience-Based

Learning in Understanding Adult Education and Training,

Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 2000, pp. 225-239.

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