One’s identity formation process as a learning advisor is inevitably determined or molded by her or his personality features that stand out. It is often these prominent characteristics that dominate her or his understanding of and attitude towards the science and practice of language advising although it is very likely that the formal advisor training content often helps surface relatively dormant qualities as well. In this respect, the focus in this visual message board is how nineteen learning advisors from Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University School of Foreign Languages (AYBU-SFL) and one from the Middle East Technical University School of Foreign Languages (METU-SFL) define their advisor selves with reference to their most prominent characteristics as reflected in their end-of-the-course thank you and appreciation cards designed by their trainers.
The face-to-face mentoring session described in this paper took place on 20th June, 2018 at the School of Foreign Languages of METU in Turkey, as part of my final assignment to Course 4: Advisor Education of Learning Advisor Training Program.
Advising in language learning (ALL) can be defined as “the process of helping someone become an effective, aware, and reflective language learner” (Kato & Mynard, 2016, p. 1). In order to promote learner autonomy, a learning advisor conducts an intentionally structured reflective dialogue, the purpose of which is to engage the learner in reflective processes so that the learner can reach a deeper sense of understanding and control of language learning (Carson & Mynard, 2012; Kato & Mynard, 2016). The main role of the learning advisor in this process is to “activate learners’ reflective processes through a one-to-one dialogue” (Kato & Mynard, 2016, p. 104). To encourage active and critical reflection, learning advisors need to be provided with proper training. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of the experienced English language teachers regarding the effectiveness of the learning advisory training program (LATP) they have attended and its effects on the teachers’ professional and personal lives. To achieve this aim, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaires and interview findings. The results suggest that the teachers who attended the LATP developed a deeper awareness of how to promote learner autonomy.
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