Basic Components of Autonomous Training for Future Philologists

Abstract

Abstract. The article defines and describes the basic components of autonomous learning.  Four main components of autonomous learning were identified: motivational, cognitive, operational and reflective. Their formation provides the readiness of students for the learning autonomy.

There is a clear connection between the basic components of autonomous learning. Motivational component encourages students to achieve academic excellence, self-improvement, to take responsibility for their own quality of education, to wish for constant self-education and development. The student has a desire to learn to learn, that have autonomous learning strategies. There are five main reasons that best contribute to the formation of autonomous learning skills among philological students, namely:

• educational and cognitive motive,

• self-development motive,

• self-affirmation motive,

• affirmative or communicative motive,

• motive for success.

It is very important for students to develop intercultural competences. This requires stimulating their aspiration to communication, expression of their ideas, the need to study the culture and traditions of a foreign country, interest in authentic material and a wish to put their knowledge into practice. The student, who is motivated for intercultural communication, activates his / her previous knowledge, independently finds the means of solving communicative problems, is more responsible for performing tasks that are aimed at developing students' communicative abilities. This leads to autonomy in learning. Therefore, we identify the affirmation motive as one of the effective means of forming among students-philologists the components of autonomous learning, namely: activity, independence and responsibility during learning.

The cognitive component is the basis for the implementation of autonomous learning. When students begin to understand their own learning process and can play back control over this process, they  try to take responsibility for their own learning. Such skills in regulating their own learning is an indicator of successful students. Students who think and work strategically are more motivated to learn and have more confidence in their abilities. Therefore, they want to work independently.

A detailed list of effective strategies was worked out, the groups of main learning stratigies are organized in such a way that they integrate easily into the initial process. 20 strategies are divided into two categories: metacognitive and  applied learning.

Metacognitive strategies are the general strategies, so that you can effectively pass all phases of self-control in the process of autonomous start-up, and the very same: start, plan, management and control, summary. To metacognitive strategies belong: organization / plan (setting up a one-step plan, setting goals and tasks, planning fulfilment of the tasks); management (definition of an individually effective way of learning,  creating the conditions for facilitating learning, finding opportunities to practice focusing on the task at hand); control (check the success of the task, checking the comprehension of a foreign language and the correct use of foreign words); summary (evaluation of the results of the task, evaluating strategies used in the task, choosing the most effective strategies).

Applied learning strategies focus on how students can use their own resources to learn most effectively. They are divided into four categories: memory strategies, organizational strategies, personality-oriented strategies, cognitive strategies. Memory strategies involve the use of prior knowledge (associations), inferences or assumptions from the context (line reading, logical reasoning), analogies (use of one's own linguistic experience in another language (including one's mother tongue). Organizational strategies include templates (using rules, models, creating your own rules), notes (graphic representation of information, recording of important words and ideas), summaries (written or oral conclusions based on the information learned), selective attention (understanding of keywords, specific structures, phrases or main ideas), the use of additional resources (dictionaries, the Internet, textbooks, etc.). Personality-oriented strategies are an reliance on internal resources (defining one's own learning style, expressing and registering feelings, learning diary, resting ability, finding inspiration), collaboration (with other students, with a teacher), role-playing (reincarnation, playing different roles). Cognitive strategies include strategies for reading, writing, listening, speaking.

Operational component allows to use on practice the knowledge of the main learning strategies and techniques, which promotes self-confidence and develops independence and responsibility.

Reflexive component helps students learn how to monitor and evaluate their achievements.

Therefore, the set of four components forms the skills of autonomous learning. The motivational, cognitive, operational and reflexive criteria and their indicators were identified to measure the level of formation of each component.

The motivational criterion is characterized by the following indicators: the presence of cognitive interest, the presence of positive emotions during the task, the need for constant self-education, the desire for self-improvement, the desire for communication, the need to study the culture and traditions of a foreign country, the desire to succeed, desire for self-fulfillment.

The cognitive component has the following indicators: knowledge of the essence of autonomous learning, knowledge of basic strategies of autonomous learning, knowledge of their own style of learning, the ability to think strategically, the ability to plan their learning.

The operational component is characterized by the following indicators: the ability to navigate problematic (critical) situations, the availability of communicative abilities, the presence of organizational skills, the ability to work effectively in a team, the presence of leadership abilities, the ability to take responsibility, the willingness to make responsible decisions.

The formation of the reflexive component is measured by the following indicators: mastery of learning process management skills, the ability to evaluate their abilities and capabilities correctly, the ability to generalize their own ideas, the ability to think analytically, ability to concentrate.

Based on the criteria for determining the readiness for autonomous study of students-philologists, we have developed a scale to diagnose the levels of study quality formation, which reveals the value of indicators at low, medium and high levels.

Low level: The student has a low level of motivation. He is not interested in getting knowledge, inattentive, has a negative attitude to the learning process as a whole, has no wish to take responsibility. He has a low level of general theoretical knowledge, not familiar with basic strategies and techniques of autonomous learning. Such a student performs tasks intuitively, does not have a clear algorithm of actions, does not know how to plan, divide tasks correctly, needs constant supervision and help from the teacher. He does not  understand the overall picture and the main goal of learning, often conflicts with classmates and teacher. He has a low level of self-control, unsure of his decision-making skills.

Intermediate level: A student with an average level of readiness for autonomous learning has a strong interest in acquiring knowledge, shows initiative and activity during the tasks. But his interest and desire to learn is unstable and needs constant stimulation from the outside. The student has average ability and average level of general theoretical knowledge. He is familiar with the basic techniques and strategies of autonomous learning and tries to put them into practice. He regulates its learning process independently, but does not always find effective and acceptable solutions to the tasks.

High level: A student with a high level of readiness for autonomous learning has an internal motivation for self-improvement and success, has a desire to learn, shows and fulfills his abilities, takes the initiative, responsibility and actively organizes his educational process. Such a student plans and implements the process of cognition, selecting the most effective sources of knowledge acquisition to solve the task. He uses instructional techniques and strategies, justifies his choice, is able to correct his knowledge. The student shows his creative ability in solving problems. During training he develops hypotheses and tests them. He successfully uses his knowledge in practice.

Prospects for further investigation of the problem of are connected with the modification of curricula and providing the basic components of autonomous learning into the educational process.