Language Learner Autonomy: Teachers' perspectives in a New Zealand tertiary institution

Learner autonomy is widely understood to mean “to take charge of one’s learning and to hold the responsibility for all the decisions concerning all aspects of this learning” (Holec, 1981, p. 3). Less is understood, or has been researched, about what English language teachers believe about their own learners’ capacity for self-direction (Borg & Al-Busaidi, 2012a). The case study reported here occupies this research space by investigating the perceptions of a group of English language teachers working in a New Zealand tertiary institute. Data were collected by open-ended items in a questionnaire and interviews adapted from those used by Borg and Al-Busaidi (2012a). In the present study, unlike previous investigations, there was a particular focus on the teachers’ views on the extent to which learner autonomy could be fostered with students with low levels of English proficiency. The findings suggested that while teachers thought most of the learners in the cohort were becoming independent and autonomous learners with their support, they also perceived that beginner or limited literacy learners were not very autonomous learners