LEARNER AUTONOMY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING CLASSES: TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION

Abstract

Learner autonomy is of much importance in the context of teaching and learning with an emphasis on the learner. It is more important for the learners to be autonomous in language learning and teaching in general, and English language learning in particular. Giving students an opportunity to have their active part in decision making positions in advance level is a good strategy adopted by a number of teachers and learners. Considering the importance of learner autonomy in ELL, the study was conducted to find out whether the learners in English language classes are autonomous or not, to explore the teachers’ perceptions regarding learner autonomy in English language classes, to identify teaching practices to promote learner autonomy in English language classes. The study was qualitative in nature. Population for the study was English language students and teachers at advance level. From the population, forty students and eight teachers were selected as a sample of the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from teachers and students. Thematic analysis was done to analyze the data. The results indicate that Students are not self-directed learners in general. They do not set their learning goals, do not select the content or use other books and rely only on what the teacher has told them. The students are confident enough to declare that they will reach a good level in the English language. However, they need the help of the teacher in every assignment to score and correct it, as well as helping them learn better English. So they have a weak approach towards decision making position.