learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Yin Ha Vivian Chan et al.
the Independent Learning Centre (ILC) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is also worthy
of mention due to recent developments and transition of its focus.
3. Independent Learning at CUHK: Challenges and solutions
The ILC of CUHK was originally run by the English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) when it first started
in October 1993 and became a bilingual centre shortly after its opening. Staff from the Chinese
Department together with those from the ELTU formed a task force to help students enhance their
language proficiency through independent learning. However, the ILC became an independent unit in
2005 and has its own staff. This independence gives the ILC more freedom in fostering autonomous
learning among students, but at the same time poses significant challenges to it.
Challenge 1:
The fact that most of the self-access centres (SAC) affiliate to their university language centre(s) is not
without reasons. Some of them may even share teaching staff like the ILC did. Such close connection
gives the language teachers a better position to understand the missions and resources of the SAC.
Research has already shown that teachers’ attitude towards the centre and their familiarity with the
resources of the centre are crucial to the effective use of it (Littlejohn, 1985; O’Dell, 1997). Therefore, it
is not surprising to know that the major challenge the ILC faces seems to come from the Centre’s
autonomous status outside the university’s language units. Though many efforts have been made to
establish routine and productive engagement between the ILC and the two largest language units, there
have been some issues that seem to delay or negate this effort. These issues seem to stem from the
differences in understanding of what “self-access” or “independent learning” is among the parties
concerned. This is perhaps understandable considering the difficulty practitioners have in defining
these terms. Many within the language units and top administration appear to be of the opinion that the
ILC’s role should be restricted to that of a resource centre, where students can take out resources or
receive lists of links to use in their language study. Though this kind of provision is definitely one of the
aspects of assisting students in enhancing their language ability and learning autonomy, simply
providing these resources without being involved in discussions with the instructors from the language
units in terms of how to best support their students’ needs within specific courses is not making full use
of the ILC’s capacities, nor is it fully supporting the students’ needs. Therefore, there have been a
number of attempts to work more closely with the language units, of which a recent example may serve
to illustrate the current challenge.
In response to the upcoming four-year undergraduate curriculum, ten per cent of the assessment of a
few required language courses will go to online learning. In order for this to take place, a website will be
set up and the ILC and the corresponding language unit are meant to collaborate to design part of the
associated online learning materials. The language unit head and the instructors concerned have been
invited to communicate with the ILC to share their goals and ideas for the website and online learning,
and in preparation, the ILC has introduced its services and resources in extensive detail. Suggestions
from the ILC have included the inclusion of interactive language exercises for the students, learner
support for assigned readings, and the possibility of linking up the ILC’s website to this new site for easy
access to more independent learning materials. The idea behind this exchange of opinions and
information is to encourage instructors who may still practice face-to-face teaching predominantly to
understand more about the concept of learner autonomy and enable the Centre to gather more
information about what sort of independent learning activities these instructors would consider effective
in enhancing students’ language development.
One of the key factors Sturtridge (1997) identifies in the effectiveness of self-access is whether activities
of the SAC are integrated into the curriculum and teaching timetable. The ten per cent online learning
requirement written in the new language curricula could be an advantage to foster learning autonomy, if
the online learning activities are carefully designed to achieve the goal. However, a couple of meetings
have been held but no serious discussion on the concept of autonomy has been successfully started.
The message implies by the top authorities of the university that independent learning simply means to
shift paper-based materials to a digital format, and ultimately a way to cut cost, seems predominant.
The online learning component is seen mainly as a means to cut down contact hours and to save
marking time. In addition, mutual trust in certain academic circles seems difficult to establish. In a subtle
and indirect way, there seem to be reservations expressed by some parties involved about whether and
how the ILC can academically facilitate language learning, though our instructors all come from the
same academic background and experience level as those in the language units. In other occasions,
121