“Autonomy”: An anatomy and a framework

These components and domains of autonomy serve as the basis of a conceptual framework for coordinating the authors' strategies for helping learners to develop autonomy in language learning.

Abstract

This article examines the components that make up autonomy in language learning. At the core of the notion of autonomy are the learners' ability and willingness to make choices independently. In foreign language learning contexts, we are concerned mainly with helping learners to make and carry out choices in three domains: communication, learning and (by processes of transfer) their personal life. In this article, these components and domains of autonomy serve as the basis of a conceptual framework for coordinating our strategies for helping learners to develop autonomy. Since the goal of language teaching (and indeed all education) is to develop independent capacities in relevant domains, this framework can also be seen as underlying our overall teaching methodology.