Foreign langauge instructors' attitudes towards learner autonomy in foreign language learnin

Abstract

Learner autonomy has been a buzz word in foreign language education in the past decades. Learner autonomy can be defined as the situation in which learners accept the overall responsibility regarding their own learning. In formal learning contexts, teachers are expected to share some instructional responsibilities with students, acquire new roles and lead their students accordingly for the promotion of learner autonomy. The purpose of this study is to determine if there has been a change in the foreign language instructors' attitudes towards learner autonomy and sharing some instructional responsibilities with their students throughout time at Niğde University. It also aims to determine the direction and the possible causes of this change. For this study, trend survey study design was employed. 25 instructors participated the study. Data for these two studies was collected by a questionnaire designed on a 5 point Likert-Scale consisting of 13 main questions. The overall results of the study indicated that foreign language instructors' attitudes towards learner autonomy have changed within time in a positive way. The possible reasons for this change could be the development of the facilities, opportunities for professional development, increase in the awareness regarding the concept, cultural and traditional changes in attitudes towards learning a foreign language.