TEACHER SUPPORT AND TEACHER CHALLENGE IN PROMOTING LEARNER AUTONOMY Perspectives, a Journal of TESOL-Italy - Vol. XXIII, No. 2 Fall 1997 www.learningpaths.org/papers/papersupport.htm Luciano Mariani 1. Introduction In this paper I would like to take a closer look at the concept of learner autonomy and discuss the ways in which this concept affects us as educators. I will try to do this, first, by discussing the relationship between the need for autonomy and its opposite, that is, the need for dependence: in the light of this opposition, I will argue that autonomy is not an absolute value, but is in fact a very relative and individual feature. Then I will try to describe the role we, as teachers, play in this context: to do this, I will introduce and contrast two ways of behaving that are part of our basic stock-in-trade, i.e. the challenge and the support we give our students. I will try to show that a valuable way of describing our own individual teaching style is to look at the ways in which we provide challenge and support, both in the tasks we set for our students and in the interaction patterns we establish in the classroom. Finally, I will argue that this challenge/support framework is more than just a feature of the learning process - it is indeed a condition for learning to take place. 2. Autonomy: redefining the concept As we all know, autonomy has become a very fashionable word in EFL today. Most coursebooks claim that they promote some kind of learner independence; teacher training courses often include autonomy as an area for investigation; and there has been a considerable body of academic research, as well as action research, to explore what learners and teachers do or can do to promote more independent and responsible learning - and more responsible teaching, of course (Benson and Voller 1997; van Lier 1996; Tudor 1996). Despite all these efforts to refine the concept, autonomy is still sometimes seen in our profession as a kind of monolithic concept, Learning Paths Papers