1. Autonomous learners are those who have learnt how to learn - have acquired the learning strategies, the knowledge about learning, the attitude that enables them to use these skills & knowledge confidently, flexibly, appropriately and independently of a teacher (Wenden, 1991).
2. SELF-DIRECTION OR SELF-REGULATION
2.1. DEFINITION
2.1.1. Processes by which learners plan how they will approach a task, their analysis of the task and the monitoring of its implementation.
2.2. CHALLENGES
2.2.1. Find out by trial & error which strategies work for the learner.
2.2.2. Assess own learning needs, strengths and weaknesses as learners.
2.2.3. Be self-aware & knowledgeable about their own perceptions, attitudes & abilities
2.2.4. Metacognitive consciousness & metacognitive control
2.2.5. Learners have to re-evalute their roles & responsabilities
2.2.6. Effective learning depends on higher need of MCK: 1) person & contextual knowledge; 2) control over this knowledge at various stages of the process.
2.3. ONLINE LEARNING
2.3.1. More anonymous and depersonalized (Lecourt, 1999)
2.3.2. New demands on learners - operate several modes in one medium and make choices between modes to suit task and learning style
2.3.3. Requires technical expertise
3. Technological developments may signify the most profound loss of embodiment we have seen yet (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001)
4. Self-knowledge dimension of metacognition: Self-management (students' ability to set up optimal learning conditions for themselves). Result of knowledge and control of cognition.
4.1. DEFINITION
4.1.1. Involves understanding the conditions that help one successfully accomplish lgg tasks and arranging for the presence of those conditions. (O'Malley & Chamot, 1990)
4.1.2. Involves both understanding the conditions that help one successfully accomplish language learning tasks in independent and virtual learning contexts arranging for the presence of those conditions in such contexts. (Huck)
5. SECOND LANGUAGE STRATEGIES
5.1. DEFINITION
5.1.1. A combination of SL learning strategies and SL use strategies. Actions taken by the learner to improve either the learning or the use of the SL or both (Cohen, 1998)
5.2. TYPES
5.2.1. COGNITIVE (rehearsal, organization, inferencing, summarizing)
5.2.2. SOCIAL/AFFECTIVE (cooperation, questioning, self-talk)
5.2.3. METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES
5.2.3.1. RESEARCH
5.2.3.1.1. Strategy Use X Performance
5.2.3.1.2. Must be connected with a rich knowledge base (Perkins & Salomon, 1989).
5.2.3.2. DEFINITION
5.2.3.2.1. General skills through which learners manage, direct, regulate, guide their learning (Wenden, 1998).
5.2.3.2.2. Include planning, monitoring & evaluating both lgg use & lgg learning - key elements in developing autonomy (Harris, 2003).
5.2.3.3. TYPES
5.2.3.3.1. METACOGNITIVE (planning for monitoring or evaluating the success of a learning activity) - executive dimension of metacognition.
5.3. Learners can be distinguished by the number and range of strategies they use, by the way they apply strategies, and by the appropriateness of their choices. Good learners show adeptness at matching strategies to the task, revealing meta-cognitive knowledge about the task requirements (Chamot, 2001).
5.4. Strategic and nonstrategic processes differ in terms of consciousness (Cohen, 1998).
5.5. Good lgg learners could be characterized as being aware of their perceptions, attitudes, and abilities and are knowledgeable about the learning process. They demonstrate adeptness at matching strategies to task requirements and learning context. (White, 1999)
6. PREVIOUS RESEARCH & EXPERIENCE
6.1. MCK
6.1.1. Learner self-management reflects her MCK - awareness of the circumstances they can learn best and possession of the skills necessary to create those conditions (White, 1995)
6.1.2. Person & contextual knowledge and the degree to which learners have control over it at various stages of the learning process are pivotal to effective learning in virtual environments.
6.1.3. The level of metacognitive consciousness and control has a direct impact on learners' perception of themselves as learners.
6.2. MCS
6.2.1. Self-directed learners make greater use of MCS (White, 1995)
6.2.2. Little research on the link between self-awareness, strategic competence & autonomy among these learners
6.2.3. Learners demonstrate conscious selection of strategies and Self-directed involvement (Hurd et al, 2001).
6.2.4. Interdependence between a) awareness of themselves (their attitudes, aptitudes and beliefs) and of the affordances of the learning environment and b) control and flexibility in the use of MCS (self-management and thus autonomy). (Hauk, )
6.3. There is a direct link between person or self-knowledge; strategic competence (especially in terms of self-management skills) and successful learning in virtual environments.(Hauk & Hampel)
7. METACOGNITIVE KNOWLEDGE
7.1. DEFINITION
7.1.1. Considera que os individuos se desenvolvem num sistema complexo afetado por multiplo fatores do meios ambiente
7.1.2. The part of long-term memory that contains what learners know about learning. (Wenden, 2001)
7.1.3. The knowledge underpinning the application of MCS
7.2. COMPONENTS
7.2.1. Person knowledge (cognitive & affective factors, such as age language aptitude, personality, motivation, learning experience) - Self-knowledge in SLA literature.
7.2.2. Task knowledge (purpose & demands of task)
7.2.3. Strategic knowledge (nature, adeptness & effectiveness of strategies)
7.2.4. Learners' background knowledge, which includes contextual knowledge - importance of knowledge of learning context (Rubin, 2001's Four-way division)
7.3. CHARACTERISTICS
7.3.1. Part of a learner's store of acquired knowledge; relatively stable & statable; early developing; a system of related ideas; an abstract representation of a learner's experience (Wenden, 1998).
7.3.2. Acquired consciously or unconsciously. Activated deliberately or automatically, depending on the task involved. It can influence the learning process without the learners becoming aware of it (Flavel, 1979).
7.3.3. Missing learner variable in SLA studies
7.4. BELIEFS
7.4.1. Learners approach their studies with their own particular beliefs assumptions, and expectations regarding themselves as lgg learners, the learning process and the learning environment.
7.4.2. No clear consensus about the distinction between knowledge and beliefs. MCK is referred to as learners beliefs. Beliefs would be held more tenaciously than knowledge.
7.4.3. Held to be true by learners and guide their behavior. Belief systems help learners define, understand, adapt to new learning contexts; to define what is expected of them; and to act in accordance with those understandings.
7.4.4. Subcategory of MCK (Flavel, 1987)
7.4.5. Beliefs about self (affective component of person knowledge) are different from beliefs about learning.
7.4.6. Rubin (2001) distinction
7.4.6.1. Learner self-knowledge
7.4.6.1.1. DEFINITION
7.4.6.2. Learner beliefs
7.4.6.2.1. Beliefs about learning
7.4.6.2.2. Beliefs about language learning
7.4.6.3. There are complex dynamic processes between learning task, procedures for LSM and LSM knowledge and beliefs
7.4.6.4. LSM knowledge & beliefs include contextual knowledge as a subcategory of background knowledge
7.4.6.5. Skilled self-managed learners possess sufficient knowledge and appropriate well-developed beliefs about self, the learning process, possible strategies, the nature of tasks and prior knowledge. They are able to acess their knowledge and beliefs in order to orchestrate their use of procedures.
7.4.6.6. Task is the starting point of SML