Dr. Filomachi Spathopoulou, American Univeristy of The Middle East, Kuwait
Learner autonomy has been a matter of interest among educators in a variety of teaching contexts; however, providing autonomy in the context of EAP can be rather daunting especially when it involves accommodating cultural particularities. This presentation will look into the challenge of promoting learner autonomy on EAP courses for Arab students. It will analyze learning habits, preconceived learner and instructor roles, as well as cultural and societal limitations. It will also suggest the use of authentic/real life projects and explain how they can help ensure learner autonomy while at the same time turning cultural limitations into useful learning and teaching tools. The presentation will also focus on motivational patterns and will highlight their correlation with learner confidence and ownership of learning. The presentation will include a brief review of the existing literature but will mainly focus on the practical aspects.
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The International Conference on Current Issues of Languages, Dialects and Linguistics (WWW.LLLD.IR), 2-3 February 2017, Iran-Ahwaz