Encouraging Critical Collaborative Autonomy

In this theory-building review essay, we advocate that second language teachers encourage their students to act critically, cooperatively, and autonomously. We discuss the three components of critical collaborative autonomy, explain why these components fit together, and present ideas for promoting their interaction and development. Being autonomous does not necessarily mean learning in isolation, but rather having the ability to metacognitively and critically make decisions as to the means one uses to learn and develop. It is our contention that students learn autonomy more quickly through guided cooperative learning in which they collaborate with peers to find and create their autonomous and critical voices. The incremental assuming of control of one's language learning within a community not only accelerates acquisition but changes group and individual personalities. While we focus principally on this process in second language acquisition, we also briefly address the wider SOCiocultural, political, and philosophical nature of such effort.