Advanced EFL Students’ Practices in Formal and Informal Language Learning Settings: An Exploratory Study of Learner Agency

Halina Chodkiewicz

Abstract


This paper addresses the issue of agency that could be traced in the performance of advanced Polish learners of EFL, students of English philology. The study presented in the paper set to investigate the students’ self-reports on learning goals, behaviours and strategies typical of their language-based practices. The students were instructed to describe and reflect on all the learning activities they were involved in in both formal and informal settings by writing their reflective learning journals throughout a week’s time. The examination of the data has provided a picture of the students’ engagement in an interplay of academic and self-directed practices, which helped them meet different goals and ultimately contributed to the improvement of their language proficiency. The students demonstrated an awareness of language learning processes and an ability to reflect on aspects of their agency, referring, among others, to their intentions and motivations in pursuing their objectives.


Keywords


EFL learners; agency; learning strategies; learner goals; formal vs. informal settings; awareness of language learning

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abednia, A., Hovassapian, A., Teimournezhad, S., & Ghanbari, N. (2013). Reflective journal writing: Exploring in-service EFL teachers' perceptions. System, 41(3), 503–514.

Bouchard, J., & Glasgow, G. P. (2018). Agency in language studies. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 1–7.

Gao, X. A. (2013). Reflexive and reflective thinking: a crucial link between agency and autonomy. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 7(3), 226–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2013.836204

Gao, X. A., & Zhang, L. J. (2011). Joining forces for synergy: Agency and metacognition as interrelated theoretical perspectives on learner autonomy. In G. Murray, T. Lamb, & X. A. Gao, Identity, Motivation and Autonomy: Exploring Their Links (pp. 25–57). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847693747-004

Gass, S., Behney, J., & Plonsky, L. (2013). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course (4th ed.). Routledge.

Gkonou, Ch. (2015). Agency, anxiety and activity: Understanding the classroom behaviour of EFL learners. In P. Deters, X. Gao, E. R. Miller, & G. Vitanova (Eds.), Theorizing and Analyzing Agency in Second Language Learning (pp. 195–212). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092901-013

Hewson, M. (2010). Agency. In A. J. Mills., G. Durepos, & E. Wiebe (Eds. ), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research. http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/casestudy/n5.xml

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2019). On language learner agency: A complex dynamic systems theory perspective. The Modern Language Journal, 103, 61–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12536

Mercer, S. (2012). The complexity of learner agency. Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies, 6(2), 41–59.

Mick, C. (2015). Sociological approaches to second language learning and agency. In P. Deters, X. Gao, E. R. Miller, & G. Vitanova (Eds.), Theorizing and Analyzing Agency in Second Language Learning (pp. 91–109). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092901-008

Norton, B. (2000). Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity and Educational Change. Pearson Education.

Norton, B. (2010). Language and identity. In N. Hornberger, & S. McKay (Eds.), Sociolinguistics and Language Education (pp. 349–369). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692849-015

Norton, B. (2014). Identity and poststructuralist theory in SLA. In S. Mercer (Ed.) Multiple Perspectives on the Self in SLA (pp. 59–74). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783091362-006

Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2011). Identity, language learning and social change. Language Teaching, 44(4), 412–446. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444811000309

Ushioda, E. (2009). A person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity. In Z. Dörnyei, & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, Language Identities and the L2 sel. (pp. 215–228). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847691293-012

Ushioda, E. (2011). Motivating learners to speak as themselves. In G. Murray, T. Lamb, & X. A. Gao (Eds.), Identity, Motivation and Autonomy in Language Learning (pp. 11–24). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847693747-003

Ushioda, E. (2014). Motivational perspectives on the self in SLA: A developmental view. In S. Mercer (Ed.), Multiple Perspectives on the Self in SLA (pp. 127–141). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783091362-010

Ushioda, E., & Dörnyei, Z. (2009). Motivation, language identities and the L2 self: A theoretical overview. In Z. Dörnyei, & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, Language Identities and the L2 Self (pp. 1–8). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847691293-002

Vitanova, G., Miller, E. R., Gao, X., & Deters, P. (2015). Introduction to theorizing and analyzing agency in second language learning; interdisciplinary approaches. In P. Deters, X, Gao, E. R. Miller, & G. Vitanova (Eds.), Theorizing and Analyzing Agency in Second Language Learning (pp. 1–16). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092901-003




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2023.47.3.57-68
Date of publication: 2023-11-08 11:50:16
Date of submission: 2023-04-11 09:18:48


Statistics


Total abstract view - 784
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF - 325

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 Halina Chodkiewicz

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.