This study sets to explore a constructive approach of empowering students to be mentors in PELE course. It looks at how students use autonomy associated with the new identity as mentors. The study is hoped to benefit students, teachers and global higher education.
In Australian Higher education, multilingual sojourners face significant challenges brought by English language. In order to alleviate such challenges, UNSW offers a course called PELE, which is designed on the basis of Personalised Autonomous (PA) model (Kim, 2014), of which pedagogical efficacy has been demonstrated (Kim and Jing, 2019). In PELE, students are guided to identify their specific, immediate challenge within context and address it by carrying out a personal project. Those who complete the course with high (Distinction) academic record are invited to join PELE mentoring program after the course, where they can continue to enhance English skills by playing various leadership roles, such as leading PELE social clubs and facilitating PELE teaching activities. Mentors report their weekly learning outcomes in a personal journal. The study sets to explore the impact of PELE mentoring program on mentors’ motivation on their continuous English language competence enhancement, through taking a close look at their strategies used in PELE community building, motivating mentees and facilitating teachers’ teaching activities. This paper will present major findings from an in-depth qualitative analysis of mentors’ weekly journals that are collected from 2016 to 2019. The study aims to provide practical implications for empowering and motivating students to utilise their autonomies in self-direct learning in the whole higher education sector. References Kim, M. (2014) ‘Action Research on Advanced Bilingual Enhancement in Translator Education’, in K. Kunz, E. Teich, S. Hansen-Schirra, S. Neumann and P. Daut (eds), Caught in the Middle – Language Use and Translation, Saarbrucken: Saarland University Press, pp. 195-213. Kim, M. and Jing, B. (2019) ‘A Personalised Autonomous Model for Enhancing Translation Students’ Linguistic Competence,’ in M. Koletnik and N. Froeliger (eds), Translation and Language Teaching – Continuing the Dialogue between Translation Studies and Language Didactics, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 127-146.
