Learner Autonomy as a Social Construct in the Context of "Italki"

Autor/in	Turula, Anna
Titel	Learner Autonomy as a Social Construct in the Context of "Italki"
Quelle	In: Teaching English with Technology, 17 (2017) 2, S.3-28 (26 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1642-1027
Schlagwörter	Personal Autonomy; Second Language Learning; Ethnography; Social Networks; Computer Mediated Communication; Independent Study; Case Studies; Network Analysis; Self Management; Learning Motivation; Semi Structured Interviews; Graphs; Second Language Instruction; English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; Poland + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Individuelle Autonomie; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Ethnografie; Social network; Soziales Netzwerk; Computerkonferenz; Selbststudium; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Netzplantechnik; Selbstmanagement; Motivation for studies; Lernmotivation; Grafische Darstellung; Fremdsprachenunterricht; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Ausland; Polen
Abstract	The article looks at language learner autonomy as a social construct in relation to the context and its user based on the example of "Italki", a social networking site for tandem language learning. Considering the two foci--the context and the learner--the study is divided into two parts, both carried out from the perspective of online ethnography, each utilising different techniques and tools. Part 1, based on participatory observation and user experience of the author, was aimed at investigating the context of "Italki" as a language learning environment. Its affordances, noted in the course of the study, are analysed against the three aspects of social learner autonomy (Murray 2014): emotional, political, and spatial, in order to investigate the potential of Italki for interdependent learning. In Part 2 of the study, with its focus on the learner, the data were gathered by means of semi-structured open-ended interviews with "Italki" users (N = 10). One of these interviews evolved into a case study, in which elements of social network analysis (SNA) were utilized to look at learner autonomy of an individual user. The results of the study indicate that learner autonomy in the digital age can be both self- and other-regulated; characterized by learner independence as well as interdependence. All this is very much promoted by new tendencies in language learning and affordances offered by the new media. At the same time, though, the nature of the autonomy exercised will, to a large extent, be determined by individual learner agendas, motives and attitudes. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	IATEFL Poland Computer Special Interest Group / University of Nicosia / Maria Curie-Sklodowska University. Ul. J. Sowinskiego 17, 20-041 Lublin, Poland. Web site: http://tewtjournal.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01