Linking Teacher Professionalism and Learner Autonomy Through Experiential Learning and Task Design

Abstract

Like others in the teaching profession, second language education (SLE) teachers have been subjected in recent years to a process of work intensification and accountability. This process makes use ofexternally developed sets of behavioral objectives, assessment instruments, commercially produced classroom materials, and externally controlled technologies. Taken together, these have resulted in a marked reduction in the freedom of dedicated SLE teachers to be inventive, flexible, adaptable, and responsive to students' needs. In short, teachers are losing professional autonomy. In this article, we argue that an experiential learning approach can help counter this trend. We describe and compare three theoretical frameworks and models in this orientation that have been developed specifically for SLE and draw out practical implications for classroom task design. We contend that experiential learning is more than a classroom management technique and argue the importance of linking learner autonomy and teacher professionalism through this approach.