Positive Interdependence for Teacher and Learner Autonomy: The Case of the CARTA Program

Abstract

In recent years, the government of Japan has been encouraging teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in junior/senior high schools to implement communication-oriented, learner-centered instruction (MEXT, 2008, 2009) — a teaching approach that includes cooperation in learning and the development of autonomous learning habits. The previous chapter by Fraser (this book) presents a good example of communicative, cooperative EFL learning through drama in the context of a Japanese senior high school. In this chapter, drama is also involved in my approach to preservice EFL teacher education, where initial teachers help Japanese junior high school students to write and perform short skits in English through cooperative group work. Following Little (2000), who suggests that the development of learner autonomy is promoted by learner interdependence, I would claim that the strong attachment of Japanese culture to group work and the importance that Japanese people attach to mutual support might provide an ideal interpersonal environment for the development of autonomy. On this basis, I emphasize the development of teacher and learner autonomy through positive interdependence in my collaborative, autonomous, and reflective teaching approach (CARTA) to the teaching practicum in the junior high school EFL classroom.