Date: April 29th 2008

Hi Greg,

What is this cheating of which you speak? :-)
It may be attributable to the distance factor, but some students report
that they feel it is 'cheating' to look at the answer keys, transcripts
etc. if they get stuck during an activity, rather than wait until
they've done as much as they can without reference to these kinds of
materials. We encourage them to have a go and check later, but it seems
to me that if you're really anxious about a language activity, it's best
to find help wherever you can, so that you can progress and hopefully
build up confidence along the way.

You raise some very interesting questions about the relationship between
affect and autonomy. It would be good to have some thoughts on these
from others.

Best wishes,

Stella

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Matheson [mailto:greg@momotaro.chinmin.edu.tw]
Sent: 29 April 2008 06:59
To: m.s.hurd@open.ac.uk
Subject: [autol] affect-autonomy link


On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:11:48 -0400, M.S.Hurd wrote

> I've found in my own studies that distance
> learners have a very strong tendency to blame themselves for anything
> they regard as negative - uncertainty, confusion, anxiety etc. - the
> 'It's just me' syndrome. They also indicate high levels of guilt when
> they address some of these by, for example, consulting the answer keys
> or checking the transcript. It's almost as if you can only really
> succeed if you make it really hard for yourself - anything else is
> tantamount to cheating!

What is this cheating of which you speak? :-)

> I've also been surprised at the low frequency of affective strategy
use
> to control emotions - cognitive and metacognitive strategies have been
> used far more in the studies I have carried out, reinforcing, perhaps,
> that inextricable link between cognition and affect.

I agree that it is the cognition-affect link that makes language
learning
and teaching so interesting. It is an emotional roller coaster ride.

It is good that this is now being recognized, even if not by the
learners
themselves.

However I don't see what the link is between affect and learner
autonomy.
It seems that most of the definitions of learner autonomy follow a
rationalist interpretation of the world. Perhaps this is a failing. Or
perhaps it is a strength.

Some of the words eg, 'detachment, critical reflection, decision-making,

and independent action' (Little) suggest a distancing from emotion.

If autonomy is a social concept, conflict (something that is associated
with autonomy) is an emotional issue, but if it is a psychological
concept,
then what form does the affect-autonomy link take?