An Advising Approach to Language Teaching for Improving Learner Autonomy

Learner autonomy is an ability that is highly correlated with learning motivation, language proficiency and performance. The roles played by language teachers in cultivating learner autonomy are under-explored in academic literature. Drawing on the Language Advising framework (Mynard & Carson, 2012), we conducted semi-structured interviews with nine student teachers based in six countries on their language teaching experiences. Specifically, we investigated their perceptions on implementing language advising to develop autonomy of their learners in a classroom setting. Inductive coding unveiled that learner autonomy has been well understood as a context-specific concept, which should be viewed in consideration with language teachers’ personal circumstances, working environments, and culture backgrounds that they are associated with. Despite the consensus on developing language learner autonomy, language advising is not a widely recognised pedagogical approach among participants; they have expressed a sense of curiosity for knowing more about the skills and possibilities of acquiring them in their specific teaching context, in order to promote learner autonomy. Findings suggest that language teachers could benefit from learning advising skill training that is tailored to their teaching contexts. We call for future studies to examine the implementation of advising skills in language classrooms.