Learner autonomy

Learner Autonomy has been a buzz word in foreign language education in the past decades, especially in relation to lifelong learning skills. It has transformed old practices in the language classroom and has given origin to self access language learning centers around the world such as the SALC at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan, the ASLLC at The Hong Kong Institute of Education, the SAC at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and ELSAC at the University of Auckland [1]. As the result of such practices, language teaching is now sometimes seen as the same as language learning, and it has placed the learner in the centre of attention in language learning education in some places.

The term "learner autonomy" was first coined in 1981 by Henri Holec, the "father" of learner autonomy. Many definitions have since been given to the term, depending on the writer, the context, and the level of debate educators have come to. It has been considered as a personal human trait, as a political measure, or as an educational move. This is because autonomy is seen either (or both) as a means or as an end in education.

Some of the most well known definitions in present literature are:

Taken from Gardner and Miller, Establishing Self-Access from theory to practice. CUP (1999)See also Leni Dam, who has written a seminal work on autonomy. (Dam, L. (1995) Autonomy from Theory to Classroom Practice. Dublin: Authentik.)

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