Learners Autonomy and Independence in Language Learning

Lately, the concepts of learner autonomy and independence had become important concepts in the area of teaching. The former has become a ‘vogue word’ within the context of linguistic communication learning. Autonomous learning is a technical jargon in education which means accepting responsibility and demanding charge of one’s own scholarship. There are many different learning schemes and factors that contribute to the achievement of learner independence as well.

According to Sinclair (2001), learning autonomy is “independent learning, lifelong learning, learning to learn, and thinking skills”. Learner autonomy is though the ability to assume charge of one’s own learning, to have the responsibility for all the conclusions concerning all facets of this learning, to independently make decisions and to critically reflect on different issues. This ability is not inborn, but must be derived either by ‘natural’ deftness or by conventional scholarship. It is clear that autonomy is acquired not merely in conventional contexts, but also in mere exposure to informal context, streets, house, and cyber cafes for instance. In order for autonomy in the learning process to be achieved, there are conditions to be conceived. Gaining independence in learning is not arbitrary, hence it necessitates respecting some measures. The conditions mentioned earlier include a set of strategies for independent learning. There are two types of strategies: language use strategies, and language learning strategies. The former has been defined as strategies for using the terminology that has been determined, whereas the latter is taken to be the conscious and semi-conscious thoughts and behaviors used by scholars with the expressed goal of bettering their knowled...

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