An important aspect of learner autonomy is having the ability to assess one's performance against one's learning goals. Ideally, these goals should, to some extent, have been set internally. Self-assessment is generally formative and concerned with the learning process itself. According to Dickinson (1992: 34), self-assessment may involve:

• the willingness and motivation to undertake it; the willingness to cure inadequate performance;
• the ability to set internal standards;
• the ability to measure one's own performance against this standard;
• the confidence to make these assessments;
• the recognition that one's ability to judge may be limited.

As well as having the ability to assess their language performance, students should be able to reflect on their general approach to language learning, and on the subjective factors (such as anxiety or confidence levels) that influence that approach. Several techniques have been suggested for encouraging students to self-assess. One approach is to use self-rating scales, on which students estimate their proficiency in various areas. Click here to see an example of one such scale, which has been designed for use immediately after a language learning activity.

Another technique, suggested by Benson (2001: 158), is to ask students to complete a 'record of work' form on a regular basis. On this form, they would have to record the activities that they have carried out (in and out of class), what they have learned through these activities, how useful they have found them to be and any future plans that they may have for their language learning.

A more ambitious technique is to ask the students to keep a learner-diary, in which they keep a personal record of all aspects of their language learning, making note of what they have learned and how they feel about their learning. The problem with learner-diaries is that they tend to be time-consuming and enthusiasm often tails off after the first few entries. The best approach would be for the tutor and students to decide together what form of self-assessment would be the most appropriate for the particular learning context.

Task 2

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Moving on…
When you have completed all the tasks in part 1, and are happy with the concept of learner autonomy, please move on to part 2 of this module, in which we discuss learning strategies.