A Case study of an intermediate EFL class following a self-direction program

This descriptive case study was designed to investigate whether and to what extent both staff and students at Bilkent University School of English Language (BUSEL), Ankara, Turkey, have adopted independent learning as exemplified in the Independent Study Component (ISC) of the school syllabus. One teacher administrator responsible for producing the assignments, one teacher adminstrator responsible for evaluating the assignments, one teacher, and 25 students of intermediate class X participated in the study. Open-ended interviews were held with all the participants. In addition, the class was observed with a special focus on two student peer groups and the students were asked to keep journals and turn them in to the researcher. The present study considered four specific research questions. The first research question was to discover the goal of ISC. The results of the interviews with the teacher administrators suggested that there were two goals: 1. To develop academic skills in students 2. To prepare students for independent learning. However, these goals did not appear to be shared by the teacher and the students. The second research question considered whether the ISC promoted independent learning. This question also had different responses depending upon which of the participants answered. The third question was how the ISC was understood by staff and students. The results proved that there was a confusion at BUSEL as to what the term ISC represented. The fourth research question was how useful and achievable the aims of ISC were. The results were again varied. The administrators believed that the aims were realistically achievable, whereas the teacher disagreed. The students agreed with the teacher. According to the results of the data, the students and teachers lacked an understanding of independent learning. What the results suggest is that first, all involved parties must reach a consensus on the concept of independent learning and through these negotiations, the administrators, the faculty, and students will then be prepared to agree how to incorporate this concept into their lessons.