PROMOTING LEARNERS’AUTONOMY: TO WHAT EXTENT DO STUDENTS PRACTICE AUTONOMOUS ACTIVITIES FOR THEIR LEARNING?

Abstract

Learner autonomy plays a vital role in the success of language education. The specific purpose of this study is to investigate the views English majored first year students regarding the students‟ awareness of the importance of learner autonomy as well as the practice of autonomous activities inside and outside the classroom at Faculty of Foreign Languages ( FFL) of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City ( IUH). This study was conducted with two instruments: questionnaire and interview. The questionnaires were completed to elicit responses from 100 participants who were English majored freshmen at FFL. At the same time, the writer also made two interviews with teachers who were teaching freshmen. There are four conclusions that are obtained from the findings and discussion. First of all, the majority of the participants in the research have intrinsic motivation when practicing autonomous activities for their learning. Secondly, most of them are aware of the importance of learner autonomy in learning English. And the third finding is about students‟ strategies in their own learning English. The result indicates that most of the students usually practice listening when they practice language outside the classroom. Finally, it is found that both of the two teachers in the research suppose that 90% of English major freshman at IUH have good perception of learner autonomy, which is a very positive signal for the language learning process.