1. II Language Teaching Symposium:
Language and Diversity
UVA – Universidade Veiga de Almeida

2. A FEW THOUGHTS ON AUTONOMY
Bel Chavantes

3. → What is autonomy?
→ What does it involve?

4. Autonomy is a state of optimal equilibrium
between dependence and self-sufficiency.

6. Autonomy involves...
→ the term “inner resources”, which in relation
to language learning, refers to the development
of the ability to take decisions about one’s own
learning and how it should be managed;
→ the term “ external resources”, which refers
both to both human and material sources of
assistance.

7. But what is the difference between
autonomy and independence?

8. On the relationship between autonomy and independence...
Dependence
Rejection
Acceptance
→ Unhealthy – Subjection – “I
do need help. So just tell
me what to do, please.”
Independence – “ I don’t
need any help. I am fine by
myself, thank you.”
→ Healthy – Autonomy – “I do
need help, and I know what
to do about it.”

9. → What kind of student would you rather
have?

10. Autonomy is not something learners can just be
given, or something they can adopt overnight. It
is something to work towards.

11. → But how can we help our learners
develop autonomy?

12. → Is it possible to be in full control of one’s
learning all the time?

13. As a matter of fact, it can’t be denied that a foreign
language is the object of teaching from the onset of its
acquisition, which leads the teacher to make use of
certain strategies he believes are used unconsciously in
his own language, and plays an important role in
spurring a reflection on the mother tongue.
Nevertheless, one can’t infer that learning a foreign
language is a completely conscious process, that a
learner can monitor his learning all the time or that a
foreign language remains at all times extrinsic to the
subject; on the contrary, it is possible not just to
become acquainted with another language, but also to
know such a language, to be represented by it. It is
actually the desire for the other, the wish for totality,
which fosters language learning.

14. Na verdade, é inegável que a língua estrangeira , por
ser objeto de ensino desde o início de sua aquisição, o
que leva o professor a explicitar certas estratégias que
acredita serem usadas de maneira inconsciente na sua
própria língua, exerce um papel importante de reflexão
sobre a língua materna. Entretanto, não se pode inferir
daí que a aprendizagem da língua estrangeira é
totalmente consciente, que o aprendiz é capaz de
monitorar sua aprendizagem, que a língua estrangeira
permanece sempre “exterior” ao sujeito; pelo
contrário, é possível não apenas “conhecer” outra
língua, mas “saber” essa língua, ser falado por ela. É,
aliás, o desejo do outro, o desejo de totalidade, o
elemento propulsor na aprendizagem de línguas.

15. Bottomline is...

16. CORACINI, MARIA JOSÉ. Identidade & Discurso
(des) construindo subjetividades. Campinas:
Editora da UNICAMP; Chapecó: Argos Editora
Universitária, 2003.
ALLWRIGHT, DICK. Autonomy in Language
Pedagogy. Copacabana. October, 1990.