A Preliminary Study on Learning Autonomy

Abstract

This preliminary study which was carried out with the participation of 408 students and 25 English teachers at a private school in Ankara aimed to investigate both the students and the teachers’ learning autonomy. In the first phase of the study, the students and the teachers’ perceptions of autonomous learning were explored. In the second phase, the teachers’ states/needs of autonomy were investigated through a semistructured interview form which was designed on the basis of the findings obtained in the first phase. The activities used in the current curriculum, and correlation between the students’ scores obtained from standard tests and self-assessment checklists were also examined. Suggestions were discussed to develop an ELT curriculum based on the philosophy of autonomous learning.