This document discusses learner autonomy in language learning. It begins by defining learner autonomy as students taking responsibility for their own learning rather than being passive receivers of knowledge. It then discusses the importance of developing learner autonomy so students can continue learning independently after formal education. Characteristics of autonomous learners are described as understanding learning goals and taking initiative. Different levels of autonomy are outlined from awareness to creating their own learning. The relationship between motivation and autonomy is explored, with intrinsic motivation seen as important for autonomy. Cultural differences in perceptions of autonomy are also noted. The document then lists some research questions and hypotheses for a study on learner autonomy before outlining limitations and the methodology used.

1. Learner Autonomy
Monarchy or Anarchy
Zolfaghar Aaj
Zahra Pourniksefat
MA TEFL Students
Islamic Azad University-Science and Research Branch

2. Nothing can be taught to people but it’s
possible to help them find the answers
within themselves.
Galileo Galilei

4. Agenda

5. Seating Arrangements in Classroom
Jeremy Harmer:
The Round Table in the British and
French legends about King Arthur was
specially designed so that there would
not be arguments about who was more
important than who –and that included
the king himself when they were in a
meeting.
So it is in classrooms !!!!
With all the people in the room sitting
in a circle, there is a far greater feeling
of equality than when the teacher stays
out at the front.
Traditional
orderly rows
Cooperative
separate tables
horseshoes

7. Learner Autonomy
▪ With the advent of Communicative Language Teaching and
its emphasis on the learning process, the role of learners as
active participants in the process of their learning was
highlighted. In this regard, learners were not considered as
empty vessels to be filled with knowledge, but as active
constructors of Knowledge. (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989;
Richards & Rodgers, 2001).
▪ Perhaps the most quoted definition of autonomy is by Holec
(1981, p. 3; cited in Little, 2007), who simply defines learner
autonomy as “the ability to take charge of one’s own
learning”.
▪ Scharle and Szabo (2000) define autonomy as the learner’s
freedom and ability to manage one’s own affairs, which
requires making decisions and acting independently of the
teacher.

8. What is learner autonomy?
Monarchy Anarchy
or

9.  Little (2007, p.26) defines Learner Autonomy as: ‘the product of an interactive
process in which the teacher gradually enlarges the scope of her learners’ autonomy
by gradually allowing them more control of the process and content of their learning.
Autonomy in language learning and autonomy in language use are two sides of the
same coin.’
 According to Littlewood (1999), definitions of autonomy have varied, but they have
usually included these central features:
1. Students should take responsibility for their own learning. This is both
because all learning can in any case only be carried out by the
students themselves and because they need to develop the ability to
continue learning after the end of their formal education.
2. Taking responsibility involves learners in taking ownership (partial or
total) of many processes which have traditionally belonged to the
teacher, such as deciding on learning objectives, selecting learning
methods and evaluating progress.

10. The Importance of Learner Autonomy
• Considering this paradigm shift in language teaching the importance of learner
autonomy, which expects students to assume a greater responsibility for their own
learning, will be in the foreground.
• The influencing goal of teaching is to produce learners who can act and think more
independently, i.e. more autonomously, and a strategy for developing autonomy is the
main target of language teaching (Littlewood, 1996).
• Scharle & Szabo (2000) believe that learner autonomy is a positive relationship
between present and future learning:
Responsible learners are more likely to 
Achieve their learning targets 
By achieving their learning goals they are more likely to 
Maintain a positive attitude toward learning

11. Characteristics of Autonomous Learners
• we do not think of responsible learners as role models (or teacher’s
pets), but as learners who accept the idea that their own efforts are
crucial to progress in learning, and behave accordingly.
• Autonomous learners’ characteristics by Little (1995)
 understanding the purpose of their learning program
 accepting responsibility for their learning
 sharing in the setting of learning goals, taking initiatives in planning
and executing learning activities
 reviewing their learning and evaluating its effectiveness regularly

12. Levels of autonomy by Nunan (1997)
1. Awareness: Learner awareness about the pedagogical goals
and content of the materials, identifying strategy
implications of pedagogical tasks, their preferred learning
styles and strategies.
2. Involvement: is the intermediate stage between simple
awareness and subsequent stage in which learners become
involved in modifying materials. They involve in making
choices from a range of goals, selection of content and a
variety of tasks.
3. Intervention: learners involve in modifying and adapting goals,
content and learning tasks.
4. Creation: (penultimate stage) they create their own goals,
content, and tasks (partly developed to student-generated).
5. Transcendence: learner become truly autonomous in utilizing
what they have learned in formal learning context in
everyday life

13. Motivation & Autonomy
• Ushioda (2010) believed that there is a strong relationship between motivation
and autonomy.
• Scharle and Szabo (2000) pointed, we need to encourage intrinsic motivation, the
source of which is some inner drive or interest of the learner. Intrinsically
motivated learners are more able to identify the goals of learning and that makes
them more willing to take responsibility for the outcome. In turn, a larger scope for
student self-determination and autonomy generates intrinsic motivation.
• Spratt et al ,and Littlewood as well, considered motivation as a key factor that
influences the extent to which learners are ready to learn autonomously and that
teachers therefore might try to ensure motivation before they ‘train’ students to
become autonomous (Spratt, 2002).

14. Autonomy and Culture
▪ Pennycook (1997) believed that autonomy and the autonomous individual are purely a
construct of Western cultures and that the notion has limited applicability to other
cultural contexts.
▪ Chan et al. (2002) supported this view by indicating that in Asian cultures students
perceived the teacher as a dominant figure, and their preference was for the teacher to
take responsibility for their learning.
▪ Hart in 2002 raised this question that whether autonomy is an appropriate approach in
non- Western contexts where it has been observed that students might have had fewer
opportunities for collaborative and other learner-centered approaches.

15. Research Questions

16. Research Hypotheses
H0 : There is no significant relationship between teachers’ and
learners’ perceptions regarding responsibility.
H0 : There is no significant difference between learners and
teachers perceptions regarding learners’ ability.
H0 : There is no significant difference between learners and
teachers perceptions regarding learners’ activities.
H0 : there is no significant difference between learners’
perceptions of autonomy and their level of motivation.

17. Preliminary Limitation of the Study
A. First, learner autonomy is an internal construct, so it is
difficult to isolate and study it by means of objective
instruments. One potential problem with research when
participants rate themselves might be the extent to which
individuals objectively rate themselves; some participant
may inflate or underestimate their autonomy.
B. Second, socio-cultural factors and educational background
of the participant are not controlled.
C. Third, regarding the age factor, this study is limited to
young adult and adult students as participants.

18. Methodology
Participants
1. 14 Iranian EFL Teachers
2. 98 English Language Learners
Data Collections
1. Learner Autonomy Questionnaire
2. Interview
Data Analysis
1. Interview: Thematic Analysis is used in order for the themes to emerge
from data
2. Questionnaire: analyzed with SPSS 20
• Autonomy and Motivation: One Way Anova
• Section One: Chi Square (Mann Whitney U Test)
• Section Two: Independent Sample t-test
• Section Three: Independent Sample t-test

19. Learner Autonomy Questionnaire
by Chan, Spratt and Humphreys (2002)
Ability and Responsibility operate in 5 main areas. (Holec: 1981)
1) Determining objectives
2) Defining contents and progressions
3) Selecting methods and techniques to be
used
4) Monitoring the procedure of acquisition
5) Evaluating what has happened

20. Learner Autonomy Questionnaire
by Chan, Spratt and Humphreys
Responsibility
Level of Motivation
Activities
Ability

21. Preliminary Data Analysis
Quantitative Data
▪ Skewness and Normality Test were
both checked
▪ Independent sample t-test was run
for comparing the means
▪ Comparing the means, learners’
perceptions of their abilities is
significantly higher than those of
teachers which means that teachers
have got less positive attitude about
learners ability regarding
autonomous learning than learners
themselves.
▪
Qualitative Data
▪ Most of the teachers believed that
students cannot hold the responsibilities
themselves because they are not trained
enough for taking the control.
▪ The majority of learners preferred their
teachers to take the responsibilities
since they are not aware of their own
needs and their teachers know the best.
▪ For both teachers and learners it was the
teacher who is responsible for evaluating
learning progress.

22. Next Steps in Ongoing Research
1) Analyzing qualitative data as well as quantitative data
thoroughly
2) Finalizing results and discussing it in detail
3) Framing the conclusion based on existing literature on
learner autonomy
4) Publishing the final research report

23. Work in Progress
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24. Any question !?

25. Thanks
For Your Patience