Exploring University Teachers’ Understanding of Learner Autonomy

Al-Busaidi, Saleh; Al-Maamari, Faisal

doi:10.4304/tpls.4.10.2051-2060

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Teachers who have traditional views on their role are expected to adopt a teacher-centered approach while those who believe in the idea of student-centered learning are more expected to develop independent learners. There are some studies conducted on teachers' perspectives and beliefs with regards to language learner autonomy (Al Asmari, 2013;Borg & Al-Busaidi, 2012, Al-Busaidi & Al-Maamari, 2014Nguyen, 2014).…”

Section: Constraints On Learner Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Teachers in Promoting Learner Autonomy in Secondary Schools in Saudi Arabia

Alonazi¹

2017

ELT

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Today, learner autonomy is considered as a desirable goal in language education. The movement towards learner-centered approaches has resulted in more emphasis on the benefits of learner autonomy in the success of language education. The objective of the study was to investigate the roles of the teachers in promoting learner autonomy in Saudi EFL secondary school, with emphasis on the important roles of the facilitator, counselor, resource and manager. A survey questionnaire was used in this study to elicit the responses of 60 EFL teachers in Riyadh during the academic year 2015-2016. The findings of this study revealed that English language teachers often encouraged autonomous learners in their classrooms. They usually implemented different teaching strategies, which demonstrated the four roles: facilitator, counselor, resource and manager. Moreover, the findings showed that teachers were hindered by some difficulties including learners' lack of independent learning skills, rules and regulations applied in schools, and teachers' lack of basic strategies to encourage autonomous learning. Furthermore, the teachers believed that approaches such as teachers' continuous reflection and analysis of their own teaching process, reducing the school rules that restrict the teachers' independence, and offering teachers with professional development programs on learner autonomy can be helpful in developing both learner and teacher autonomy.

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Section: Constraints On Learner Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Teachers in Promoting Learner Autonomy in Secondary Schools in Saudi Arabia

Alonazi¹

2017

ELT

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“…Review of relevant literature reveals that there exist several definitions for LA which "differ depending on the writer and the context where the term is used (Al-Busaidi, & Al-Maamari, 2014, p. 2051. A broader definition of LA can be summed as learners' ability to take decisions about their own learning.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the definition of Holec (1981), the linguistics have used several terms for LA such as, 'ability' by Benson, 2006, 'capacity' by Little, 1991, 'take responsibility', and 'take control' as reported by Al-Busaidi, & Al-Maamari, (2014). According to Benson and Voller (1997), the term LA has been applied to the following five learning modes; 1) situations where learners control their own learning, b) self-directed learning skills, c) an inborn capacity that is suppressed by formal education, d) demonstration of learners' responsibility towards self-learning and e) learners' freedom to decide about the learning dynamics of their learning.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditionally the emphasis of LA research has been on the learners and the "researchers have tried to identify the traits that characterize autonomous learners" (Al-Busaidi, & Al-Maamari, 2014, p. 2051. The recent years have seen a shift in this regard as a growing mass of LA studies have been conducted to investigate language teachers' beliefs related to LA.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research also reports that such traits of competitive human beings can be developed by practicing learner autonomy (LA) (Bullock, 2011;Yoshiyuki, 2011). Review of relevant studies transpires that LA has been a focus of international discourse amongst scholars as well as practitioners in the field of pedagogy (Al-Busaidi, & Al-Maamari, 2014). LA is conceived as a process of empowering learners and making them responsible for their learning process through active participation in the process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Gender-based Investigation of the Perception of English Language Teachers at Saudi Universities Regarding the Factors Influencing Learner Autonomy

Al-Malki¹

2019

Preprint

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Learner autonomy has been a focus of attention in the realm of English Language Teaching (ELT) research nowadays and the study in hand is an attempt to investigate learner autonomy in theory and practice from the perspective of English language teachers. It aims to identify gender-based perceptions of English language teachers from a Saudi university regarding the role of the textbooks, study material, support of English language teachers, the students’ learning strategies, students’ motivation and self-evaluation in enhancing learner autonomy. This empirical survey has involved 30 male and 30 female (n=60) English language teachers from English language center of Taif University, Saudi Arabia to record their insights and views about their perceptions and prospects of these pedagogical constructs in their teaching practices. The participants of the study responded to a 35-point Likert-scale modified questionnaire to generate data. Independent-samples T-test has been run to calculate percentages of their responses as well as to identify any statistically significant gender-based differences. The results revealed that only six items out of the total 35 have shown significant gender-based differences in the perceptions of the participants of the survey. The findings have revealed that the participants of this study bear extremely positive attitudes towards the pedagogical significance of learner autonomy and have exhibited encouraging trends about the implementation of this construct in the classrooms. Recommendations have been forwarded based on the results of this survey.

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Foreign language learner autonomy in online learning environments: the teachers’ perspectives

Ludwig

Tassinari

2021

Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching

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Exploring University Teachers’ Understanding of Learner Autonomy

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

The Role of Teachers in Promoting Learner Autonomy in Secondary Schools in Saudi Arabia

The Role of Teachers in Promoting Learner Autonomy in Secondary Schools in Saudi Arabia

A Gender-based Investigation of the Perception of English Language Teachers at Saudi Universities Regarding the Factors Influencing Learner Autonomy

Foreign language learner autonomy in online learning environments: the teachers’ perspectives

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