Aware and autonomous : Raising learner autonomy in deaf and hard of hearing learners
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The Council of Europe regards the development of learner autonomy as one of the keystones of education for democratic citizenship and lifelong learning (Council of Europe 2011). The independent learning and self-regulation skills required in higher education, let alone independent online learning as during covid-19 pandemic times, present a specific set of challenges on the learner. The concept of learner autonomy holds particular importance for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) learners who have been characterized as dependent learners, with a tendency to assign responsibility for their own failure or success in learning mainly to their teachers (Sedláčková and Kontra 2019). Yet precisely low levels of learner autonomy alongside social and literacy issues are considered as key factors negatively influencing the low college graduation rates of DHH students and their academic success in general (Scherer and Walter 1988). The paper discusses the crucial importance of encouraging and giving DHH learners the tools to take control and responsibility for their foreign language learning, both as to what they learn and how they can do it. Examples are based on the presenters’ teaching practice, and particularly their experience with the e-learning course ‘Online English for International Mobilities’. |
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