Online peer-tutoring: a renewed impetus for autonomous English learning

Main Article Content

Luis Ignacio Herrera Bohórquez
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0102-371X
José David Largo Rodríguez
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9260-8387
John Jairo Viáfara González

Abstract

Challenges to an existing face-to-face peer-tutoring model grew into an opportunity to integrate online technologies as a support for English autonomous learning in two undergraduate teacher education programs at a Colombian public university. This qualitative study examines how a group of tutees’ exposure to an online-based peer-tutoring model shapes their autonomy. Informed by data from questionnaires, a focus group interview, tutees’ logs, and records of their engagement with the model’s internet resources, researchers identified a change in participants’ conceptualization of autonomous learning and an impact on their self-directed practices rooted in the immediacy, accessibility, comfort and availability of resources that the online peer-tutoring model favors.

Article Details

How to Cite
Herrera Bohórquez, L. I., Largo Rodríguez, J. D., & Viáfara González, J. J. (2019). Online peer-tutoring: a renewed impetus for autonomous English learning. HOW, 26(2), 12–31. https://doi.org/10.19183/how.26.2.503
Section
Research Reports
Author Biographies

Luis Ignacio Herrera Bohórquez, Universidad de la Sabana

Luis Ignacio Herrera Bohórquez is an English teacher at the Smart Languages Academy in Chía (Colombia). He is currently studying for a Master’s degree in ELT at Universidad de La Sabana. His research interests include online environments, peer-tutoring, and autonomy.

José David Largo Rodríguez, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia

José Largo holds a B.Ed, in Modern Languages from UPTC. He was part of the Research Network RETELE at UPTC for three years. He is currently a professor at a private institution. His research interests include culture and identity issues in English language teaching.

John Jairo Viáfara González, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia

John Jairo Viáfara González is a professor at Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC). He holds a B.Ed. in education (English), a Master in applied linguistics and a PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona. He specializes in pre-service teacher education and is a main researcher in the group RETELE.

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