THOUGHTS ON LEARNER AUTONOMY IN A COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING PROGRAM

Abstract

In our institution, Quartet (computer software program) was a part of the curriculum which provides the students with the opportunity to work on their own in order to develop their language skills. To what extent the learners benefit from the materials and the time provided for them mainly depends on students since as Dakin suggests (1973) “though the teacher may control the experiences the learner is exposed to, it is the learner who selects what is learnt from them” (p. 16). According to the observations of teachers, some, but not all students worked effectively in lab lessons. This paper aims to identify the students’ perceptions about themselves, the teacher, their peers and language learning to have an idea of their autonomy and their thoughts on computer assisted language learning. Data were gathered through a 46- item questionnaire. Frequency tests were used to determine the frequencies and percentages of each item to find out the perceptions of participants on learner autonomy and the usefulness of computer lab lessons. Though the students shoulder the responsibility of learning, most students need guidance of their teachers to set goals for their learning process. Keywords: learner autonomy, computer assisted language learning