About the Book

The advent of networked digital technologies, in enabling language learners to collaborate and create content online, has given rise to new ways in which learners are able to express their autonomy. Learner Autonomy and Web 2.0 explores tensions between the "classical" definitions of learner autonomy and the learning dynamics observed in specific online contexts. Some of the contributions argue for the emergence of actual new forms of autonomy, others consider that this is merely a case of "old wine in new bottles". In this volume, autonomy is seen as emerging and developing in a complex relationship with L2 proficiency and other competencies. The volume takes an expansive view of what is meant by Web 2.0 and, as a result, a wide diversity of environments is featured, ranging from adaptive learning systems, through mobile apps, to social networking sites and - almost inevitably - MOOCs. Paradoxically, autonomy is seen to flourish in some quite restricted contexts, while in less constrained environments learners experience difficulty in dealing with a requirement to self-regulate.


Individual chapters run the gamut of age groups, learning activities and online environments. The stage for all of them is set by an exchange in which David Little and Steve Thorne discuss the evolution of the concept of language learner autonomy, from its origins in the era of self-access resource centres to its more recent instantiations in online (and offline) learning communities. Subsequent contributors include an exploration how autonomy can be exercised even within the constraints of adaptive learning systems, a discussion of the metacognitive operations engaged in by autonomous adult learners in a French/Australian teletandem exchange, a look at an ecological paradigm of autonomy to conceptualise its emergence in relation to the use of mobile apps by primary- and secondary-level language learners in Canada, a study of how learner autonomy with a markedly social and empathic dimension drives collaboration in a Facebook-based collaborative writing project, a study of the autonomy stances adopted by different groups of learners using the Busuu online language exchange platform, an analysis of the difficulties encountered by a group of trainee language teachers in engaging with a range of language MOOCs and finally a study of how autonomy is experienced by advanced learners of English with a preference for online informal learning based on gaming and streamed video.

Table of Contents:
1. IntroductionTim Lewis, Marco Cappellini and Annick Rivens Mompean2. InterviewDavid Little, Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Dublin, and Steve L. Thorne, Portland State University3. Development of Language Learner Autonomy in Adaptive Learning SystemsRuslan Suvorov, University of Hawai'I at Manoa, and Adolfo Carrillo Cabello, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 4. A Typology of Metacognition: Examining Autonomy in a Collective Blog Compiled in a Teletandem EnvironmentDaniela Nogueira de Moraes Garcia, Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho, Kathleen O'Connor, Lille University, and Marco Cappellini5. Rethinking the Concept of Learner Autonomy within the MALL EnvironmentMartine Pellerin, University of Alberta6. 'Old Concepts in New Spaces' - A Model for Developing Learner Autonomy in Social Networking SpacesWard Peeters, University of Antwerp, and Christian Ludwig, University of Education Karlsruhe7. Informal Social Networking for Language Learning: Insights into Autonomy StancesKaterina Zourou, Web2Learn, Greece, Anthippi Potolia, University of Paris 8, and Filio Zourou, Swiss Distance Learning University8. Learner Autonomy in Beginning Lnguage MOOCs (LMOOCs) - The Student Teachers' PerspectiveCarolin Fuchs, City University of Hong Kong9. Autonomy and the Online Informal Learning of English (OILE): The Relationships between Learner Autonomy, L2 Proficiency, L2 Autonomy and Digital LiteracyDenyze Toffoli, Universite de Strasbourg, and Laurent Perrot, Universite de Strasbourg