Speaker
Description
This paper explores the relationship between learner autonomy and meaning-making in a project involving students of Spanish as a foreign language (CEFR A1/A2 levels). Learner autonomy refers to students being encouraged to take responsibility for making decisions about their learning, while meaning-making refers to the process of constructing knowledge by connecting prior and new information in meaningful ways. Both concepts involve creativity and imagination. Promoting autonomy and meaning-making requires educators to design learning experiences and environments that encourage students to make connections, exercise choices, and build on each other’s ideas.
In this work, we will describe a video project that shows how students construct and adapt knowledge to achieve specific learning outcomes. During their study abroad programs in Spain, students select topics, conduct interviews to gather information, and adapt that information to create videos. We will report the results in terms of language use, and discuss two key aspects in depth: a) autonomy and problem-solving—how students planned and conducted interviews independently, decided how to use the information gathered, and solved linguistic difficulties; b) meaning-making—how students connected prior and new knowledge, and how they integrated text and images to convey their intended meanings.
KEYWORDS
learner autonomy, meaning-making, problem-solving, videorecording
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the relationship between learner autonomy and meaning making in a project involving students of Spanish as a foreign language (CEFR A1/A2 levels). Learner autonomy refers to students being encouraged to take responsibility for making decisions about their learning, while meaning making refers to the process of constructing knowledge by connecting prior and new information in meaningful ways. Both concepts involve creativity and imagination. Promoting autonomy and meaning making requires educators to design learning experiences and environments that encourage students to make connections, exercise choices, and build on each other’s ideas.
In this work, we will describe a video project that shows how students construct and adapt knowledge to achieve specific learning outcomes. During their study abroad programs in Spain, students select topics, conduct interviews to gather information, and adapt that information to create videos. We will report the results in terms of language use, and discuss two key aspects in depth: a) autonomy and problem-solving—how students planned and conducted interviews independently, decided how to use the information gathered, and solved linguistic difficulties; b) meaning making—how students connected prior and new knowledge, and how they integrated text and images to convey their intended meanings.
| TITLE | Fostering Autonomy through Student-Generated Videos |
|---|---|
| RELEVANT SIG | Other Language Educators (OLE) |
| FORMAT | Practice-oriented Oral Face-to-face presentation (25 minutes, including Q&A) |
