REPRESENTACIONES DE LA AUTONOMÍA QUE TIENEN LOS ESTUDIANTES DE INGLÉS I DEL PROGRAMA DE DESARROLLO DEL APRENDIZAJE AUTÓNOMO DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS -ALEX. ESTUDIO DE CASO.

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Luz Mary Ramírez Mejía
luzmarylaf@yahoo.com
Publicado en Capital Letter No. 6
Noviembre de 2004


There is a "widespread belief that one has to be taught in order to learn" (Littlejohn, 1983:599) which underlies informed and lay opinion about education. That means, among other things that learning depends on the teacher, that knowledge has to be transmitted by the teacher rather than discovered by the learners, and that students expect the teacher to be responsible for the assessment of learning. This is the well-known traditional system. In this approach the teacher is the central agent in the learning process.
We are now facing a new approach called "autonomous language learning" where the learner is the central agent in the learning process. It has been recognized that such an approach can promote more effective and efficient learning. When a student decides to learn and know how to learn, learning is more meaningful and effective.
The Universidad Nacional de Colombia has implemented such an approach since the first semester of2003. Taking into account that most of the students have studied several years in a traditional system, they may hold beliefs either consciously or unconsciously about autonomy, and learners' beliefs can influence both their attitude towards the language as well as toward language learning in general. As a result I decided to observe, analyze and describe in depth the beliefs about autonomous learning that students of English-Level I hold regarding the ALEX Program.
This qualitative research is a descriptive longitudinal case study. It attempts to answer the following main question in four cases chosen at random, during the first semester of2004: What is the relationship between the ALEX Program approach regarding autonomy and English students' beliefs (level) about it?

Bibliography
Littlejohn, A. R (1983). "Increasing Learner Involvement in Course Management. TESOL Quarterly, 17/4, 595-607.

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