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Investigative Research: How It Changes Learner Status
Author(s) -
KENNY BRIAN
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
tesol quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.737
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1545-7249
pISSN - 0039-8322
DOI - 10.2307/3587144
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , autonomy , independence (probability theory) , pedagogy , learner autonomy , psychology , work (physics) , sociology , language education , political science , mechanical engineering , statistics , mathematics , comprehension approach , law , psychotherapist , engineering
What matters about an educational activity is how learners respond to it. This involves questions of “authenticity” (Widdowson, 1981) and of meaning, especially “meaning which is one's own” (Prabhu, 1987). If a learner responds as a pupil, not showing much personal interest, I call this an exercise . If a learner responds in a creative way, with spontaneity and independence, I call this a piece of work . Work authored by the learners themselves is authentic in a way that assignments provided by a teacher or materials designer are unlikely to be. This is significant for notions of learner autonomy which is partly a matter of learners having an opportunity to define their own meanings and develop them. Investigative research facilitates learners pursuing their own interests and meanings, and releases them from the need to behave as pupils. The change of status is emancipating and is a way of engaging learner autonomy.