Learners’ perceptions of the effectiveness of using self-reflection to understand English literary texts: towards an autonomous learning approach in Libya

Abstract

Teaching learners to reflect on their work has been widely researched within language-learning contexts in higher education. Research has revealed that self-reflection leads to both development in learners’ reading comprehension and lecturers being enabled to write more meaningful corrective feedback on learners’ assignments. Using a collaborative teaching approach at Benghazi university, this research evaluated the effectiveness of using a self-reflection worksheet for understanding short stories based on the perspectives of 19 tertiary Libyan learners and the course lecturers’ feedback. The research process involved the learners first reading a short story and answering text comprehension questions and a reflection question in which they commented on their understanding. They were then introduced to the self-reflection worksheet and advised how to use it in their second reading of the same story. This self-reflection worksheet included a section where students added reflections on their understanding following the second reading, supported by the worksheet. Content analysis was used for the qualitative data that investigated the learners’ reflection after their first and second reading. It was also used for staff feedback on the learners’ reflections. The findings show the usefulness of using the self-reflection worksheet in supporting the learners’ meaning understanding. It also helped them make positive changes during their second reading of the story. Evidence suggests that using worksheets for reading literary texts is effective in improving levels of reading comprehension. Implications and suggestions for effective teaching practice and future research are provided in this paper.

Keywords

• self-reflection; self-reliance; learner autonomy.