Tutoring As A Strategy For Promoting Learner Autonomy In Learning English As A Foreign Language Case Of Lmd First Year University Students Batna University

Résumé: The last decade has witnessed an array of changes in the perspectives, requirements and goals of foreign language education. With the shift in the teaching paradigm from teachercenteredness to student- centeredness, more weight is currently put on the role of the learner in the learning process. In fact, the modern tendencies reveal the researchers‟ interest in finding the optimal way to teach learners how to learn in order to cope with new technologies and learning environments, thereby enabling them pursue life- long learning. This interest in the learner‟s role in the learning process has given rise to the concept of learner autonomy, which means the learner‟s ability to control and take responsibility of his own learning. While learner autonomy has recently been identified as a central goal for the Algerian higher education reform (LMD), to date few research studies of this phenomenon and ways to promote it have been conducted. For this, the present study attempts to fill this gap, first by exploring the status quo of learner autonomy in English language learning among a sample of first year students at Batna2 university, and which revealed that the type of learner autonomy, as understood and practised by students in the present research context, has been argued to have the characteristics of Littlewood‟s (1999) reactive autonomy. And second by examining the effects of a tutoring programme on promoting students‟ learning autonomy. The finding of the first phase of the research lends itself to the application of Sinclair‟s (2000) teacherguided / learner-decided approach to promoting learner autonomy. In other words, through using a true experimental design, an integrated tutoring programme was perceived to foster the students‟ willingness and enhance their ability to take the initiative in learning and create a habit of engaging more in self-directed learning. In addition to pre and post-test questionnaires, learning diaries and learning contracts were used along with such training to gain insights into its effect. The research findings revealed that the students‟ willingness and learning attitudes were developed, yet this did not allow them to gain complete detachment from the teacher. Therefore, and in order to help students develop their autonomy in language learning, the present study put forward a set of recommendations clarifying the role of institutions, teachers and students in promoting autonomous learning.

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