The document summarizes research investigating instructors' attitudes towards learner autonomy at a preparatory school. It describes learner autonomy as students taking charge of their own learning. A questionnaire was administered to 51 English instructors to examine their attitudes on issues like learner involvement in lesson pacing and methodology. The results showed majority support for learner autonomy, with most instructors regarding some teaching approaches as more appropriate than others when implementing learner autonomy. Comments from instructors emphasized that promoting learner autonomy through techniques like portfolio assessment and strategy training can help students learn better than spoon-feeding.

1. Cem BALÇIKANLI Gazi University, Faculty of Education, English Language Teaching Department E-mail: [email_address] Vilnius Lithuania 3–4 May 2007 THE INVESTIGATION OF THE INSTRUCTORS ’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNER AUTONOMY AT PREPARATORY SCHOOL

7. Statement 4: Learners should be involved in decisions on the time, place and pace of the lesson. T he learners should be considered as equal partners and through the process of interaction, they thus should be given a share for determining the time, place and pace of the lesson (Dickinson, 1987 ). N ever Partly Much Missing 46% 34% 20% -

8. Statement 5: Learners should be involved in decisions on the methodology of the lesson. learners need to be involved as equal partners in the decision making process regarding the methodology of the lesson if they are expected to take initiatives that shape their own learning processes and accept control over more aspects of their own learning (Little, 1991 ). Never Partly Much Missing 3 0 % 2 8 % 42% -

9. Statement 6: Learners should be involved in decisions on classroom management. In order for the learners to feel the ownership over their learning contexts, they can be encouraged to formulate classroom and group rules through negotiation (Dörnyei, 2001 ). Never Partly Much Missing 26 % 4 4 % 28% 2%

10. Statement 12: Learners should be encouraged to explore their own learning strategies. “ W ithout strategies, learners will remain trapped in their old patterns of beliefs and behaviors and never be fully autonomous” ( Wenden , 1998 ). Never Partly Much Missing 20% 29% 51% -

11. Statement 13: Learners should be informed on how to study English better on their own. L earner training aim s to help learners develop the ability to take more responsibility for their own learning (Dickinson, 1993). Never Partly Much Missing 18% - 78% 4%

16. Gazi University Gazi Faculy of Education Department of Foreign Languages Unit of English Language Teaching Res. Assist. Cem BALÇIKANLI [email_address] Thank you so much for your attention