Learner Involvement in Language Development: From Course Design to Performance Assessment

Abstract

The mismatch between teaching and learning is believed to be one of the factors that militate against the effectiveness of instruction. Such a contention has led language teaching specialists to call for a learner- centered approach to bridge the gap between teaching and learning. In this approach, the students are expected to shoulder the responsibility of their own learning through participation at all levels of the teaching- learning process, from planning the program to assessment of performance. This article provides some ideas and practical classroom techniques and procedures that can foster learner involvement at all stages of language teaching from course design to performance assessment. These techniques and procedures are presented direct involvement (learner-centered) and indirect involvement (learning-centered). The former include course evaluation, essay writing and error correction; the latter include form-focused instruction: giving linguistic explanations in teaching grammar and error correction. Our language teaching approaches, methods and techniques become more effective as we know more about the learners and their needs and their learning strategies, styles and preferences. The teaching methods and classroom techniques should be informed by knowledge about the learning process. Effective teaching methods and techniques can, in turn, result in effective learning. Thus, the processes feed into each other. Over three decades ago, researchers (e.g. Naiman, Frolich and Todesco, 1978) stressed that language teaching methods are rendered ineffective by not