Fostering learner autonomy: power and reciprocity in the relationship between language learner and language learning adviser

Abstract

Developments in lifelong learning and learner autonomy have given fresh impetus to the debate about learning without formal teaching. This paper concerns the educational relationship between learner and adviser in self‐directed schemes. Two French self‐directed language learning set‐ups were observed, one situated at university level (Système d'apprentissage autodirigé avec soutien, Université Nancy 2), the second in a lifelong learning institution (Apprentissage en semi‐autonomie, CNAM1, Paris), and both dealing with adult language learners. Observations of 31 advising sessions between four learners and four experienced advisers suggest that the latter assume multiple modified pedagogical roles when assisting learners and that they switch between these roles frequently with the same learner. To understand the nature and the purpose of these variations in advising, the study focuses on the linguistic and educational aspects which characterize the advising sessions. Interviews with the advisers and learners were also carried out. These were designed to analyze the nature of advising practices viewed as professional practice. Their analysis highlights the determinants of the advisers' educational strategies, the perception of advising standards and the maintenance and evolution of their ‘professional gestures’. The concept of educational reciprocity provides a useful framework for an understanding of the specific pedagogical relationship of language advising sessions.