Language Learner Autonomy: Some Fundamental Considerations Revisited

The concept of learner autonomy is often applied to the process and content of language learning but not specifically to its intended outcome, the development of proficiency in a second or foreign language. Against this tendency, the present paper argues for an understanding of language learner autonomy in which the development of learner autonomy and the growth of target language proficiency are mutually supporting and fully integrated with each other. It further argues that only on the basis of such an understanding can learner autonomy move to the centre of language teaching theory and practice. The paper begins by considering the origins of the universally accepted definition of learner autonomy, ‘the ability to take charge of one's own learning’. It then briefly reviews social-psychological and cognitive evidence in favour of promoting learner autonomy before discussing constructivist theories of pedagogy and their implications for a theory of language learner autonomy. From this it derives three fundamental principles – of learner involvement, learner reflection and target language use – and concludes by considering some of the ways in which these principles may be implemented in the language classroom.