PREPARATION FOR SELF-LEARNING
As students and English teachers, we know SAC has many advantages that may be highly useful for developing skills and sub-skills which are very important for developing communicative competences in English. About the impact or how successful those tools are depend on how they are used.
In our context, many of the university students have used SAC previously, it means the majority of them have already identified how it works. However, preparation and orientation should be given to those learners who are totally new on using tools for self-learning as well as for those who had experienced working by themselves in SAC.
The following tasks are intended to prepare and orient those students who are starting the first semester of English in our university and they may have some experience on using SAC or they may be totally new on using it.
From there, please, consider activities to be included in the classroom to guide students towards self-learning as well as how to prepare them for learning by themselves in order to make the most of their self-learning time with or without a SAC.
What have you done? Up to this point you have worked on Needs Analysis and Categorizing or Organizing Materials; from there we are going to continue on Identifying Learning Styles, Establishing Immediate/Short-term objectives, Individual Study Plan, and Learner Contract.
TASK 3. Identifying Learning Styles. Establishing Immediate/Short-term Objectives. Individual Study Plan. Learner Contract.
Deadline: Friday April 15th
Pair work
INSTRUCTIONS. Check the suggested bibliography for materials to be used with students from our context or a specific bachelor. Adapt them as needed. Consider those materials are for:
· Identify learning styles
· Establish immediate/short-term objectives
· Individual study plan (according to the format used for needs analysis presented and corrected before)
· Learner contract
NOTE: Take into account these:
· Materials must not be the same to the ones presented in the bibliography, nor the ones presented by other teams.
· Include bibliography from where the materials are adapted.
· Use Arial font, 12 point
· Follow the specifications given before for sending your task
Suggested bibliography: - Self-instruction in Language Learning. Leslie Dickinson. Cambridge UP
- Self-Access. Susan Sheerin. Oxford UP
- Learning to learn English. Gail Ellis & Barbara Sinclair. Cambridge UP
- Helping Students to Learn. A guide to Learner Autonomy. Ricky Lowes and Francesca Target. Richmond.
- Language Learning Strategies. Rebecca l. Oxford. Heinle & Heinle.
For commenting next Monday:
a) What can be the challenges that you, English teacher, should face when guiding your students towards self-learning? How can they be tackled? What help would you need, which one would you give as teacher to your students and as a colleague to other English teachers?
b) What are the first experiences your students will face when using a self-access center?
c) Which ones if working by themselves without a SAC?
