SKILLED INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION TO NURTURE AUTONOMOUS AND INTRINSIC ENGLISH LEARNING Adriadi Novawan Politeknik Negeri Jember, Indonesia adriadinovawan@gmail.com Abstract The nature of pedagogic practice in ELT and other educational setting is inseparable from the interpersonal behaviors of teacher. Moreover, theoretical and empirical evidence on the centrality of interpersonal communication in teaching is abundant. However, particularly in ELT, there has been little attention given to studies in its prominent role. Therefore, this paper will unpack the notion of skilled interpersonal communication which is aimed at negotiating consensus on reshaping ELT approach in light of autonomy and intrinsic motivation. It will start with a discussion on the idea of classroom as social system which underpins the centrality of skilled interpersonal communication in pedagogical encounters. A model developed by Owen Hargie is employed and its aspects are addressed as a framework. Then studies and researches will be presented in support of its imperativeness in the teaching and learning context. Keywords: skilled model, interpersonal communication, autonomy, intrinsic motivation, English language teaching 1. Introduction Extensive studies elaborated in [1] demonstrate positive relationships between the quality of interpersonal skill and the benefits of it, such as: mental well-being [2], successful relationship, and enhanced academic/ professional attainments [3], [4]. Otherwise, without effective interpersonal skills, communication occurs in the absence of awareness and reflectivity that easily drives the communicators into social and psychological predicaments, as in [1], [2], and [5]. The gains from having such interpersonal skills in more systemic view refer to social capital [1]. The tenet of social capital confirms the emergence of skilled model that promotes self-efficacy for fruitful interactions [1]. This model highlights ‘intentionality, learning, control, and synchronization of behavior [6] which suggests that getting involved in the ‘flowing’ social interactions without having considerable control on our own interpersonal behaviors is insufficient for quality life. Hence, a postulate behind the notion is that interpersonal communication skill can be learned and nurtured to reach a repertoire which enables one to create profound social capital [1]. Particularly in English Language Teaching context, the role of interpersonal communication has little been addressed and studied. Therefore, this paper aims to sustain the imperativeness of skilled interpersonal communication in the context of ELT particularly to nurture autonomous learning and intrinsic motivation which are vital in educational setting. 2. Classroom as social system and its implications The centrality of interpersonal communication in education setting gains a strong support from the tenet of classroom as social system [7], [8], [9]. Classroom situation, in this point of view, encompasses values, beliefs, cognition and emotion which 250 Proceeding: International Conference of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (COTEFL), 2015