Shaping efl high school students perceptions of learner autonomy the roles of parental support m a

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY –HO CHI MINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

SHAPING EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’
PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNER AUTONOMY: THE
ROLES OF PARENTAL SUPPORT
A thesis submitted to the
Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature
in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

by
H

CH NHƢ

Supervised by
NG TẤN T N Ph D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, OCTOBER 2015


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY –HOCHIMINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

SHAPING EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’
PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNER AUTONOMY: THE
ROLES OF PARENTAL SUPPORT
A thesis submitted to the
Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

by
H

CH NHƢ

Supervised by
NG TẤN T N Ph D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, OCTOBER 2015


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks and deepest gratitude to my
supervisor, Dr. Dang Tan Tin for his invaluable guidance, assistance and support
throughout the research. He has steadily supported me from the very beginning
stage to the completion of this thesis. Without his tremendous support, sympathy
and encouragement, my thesis might never have been completed.
Secondly, special thank goes to my devoted instructors of the Master course at Ho
Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities for their enthusiasm
in providing me with profound knowledge and valuable experiences from the
program. Also I highly appreciate all members of the class TESOL 2012 for their
help and encouragement during my work.
Thirdly, many thanks go to my colleagues and students at five high schools in
Rach Gia city, who were willing to cooperate in completing the questionnaires and
voluntarily took part in the focus group interviews. This thesis would not have
been completed without their outstanding cooperation.
Finally, I would like to thank my extended family, my husband and my little
daughter for their love, encouragement and being with me along my academic

journey and in my life.

i


STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

SHAPING EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’
PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNER AUTONOMY: THE
ROLES OF PARENTAL SUPPORT
In terms of the statement of the requirements for the Thesis in Master’s Program
issued by the Higher Degree Committee.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in other
institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2015

H

ii

H NHƢ


RETENTION OF USE
I hereby state that I, H

ch Nhƣ, being the candidate for the degree of

Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the
retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in
the library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in
accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for the care, loan
or reproduction of theses.

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2015

H

iii

H NHƢ


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements

i

Statement of originality

ii

Retention of use

iii

Table of contents

iv

List of tables

viii

List of figures

x

List of abbreviations

xi

List of appendices

xii

Abstract

xiii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the study

1

1.2. Rationale of the study

2

1.3. Aims of the study

3

1.4. Research questions

3

1.4. Significance of the study

4

1.5. Scope of the study

4

1.6. Organization of the study

5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Definition of learner autonomy

6

2.2. Learner autonomy in EFL education

7

2.3. Students’ perceptions of learner autonomy

9

2.4. Parental support

12

2.4.1. Definition of parental support

12

2.4.2. Parental support for learner autonomy in EFL learning

13

2.5. Effects of parents on students’ perceptions of learner autonomy

14

2.5.1. Parents’ effects in initiating learning process

14

2.5.2. Parents’ effects in monitoring learning process

15

2.5.3. Parents’ effects in evaluating learning process

16

2.5.4. Parents use ICTs to foster students’ learning process

16

iv


2.6. Students’ expectations of parental support in language learning

17

2.7. Conceptual Framework of the study

18

2.8. Chapter summary

18

CHAPTER 3:

METHODOLOGY

3.1. Research questions

20

3.2. Research design

20

3.3. Context of the study

21

3.4. Participants

23

3.5. Instruments

24

3.5.1. Theoretical considerations

24

3.5.1.1. Questionnaire

24

3.5.1.2. Focus group interview

25

3.5.2. Instrument development

25

3.5.2.1. Questionnaire

25

3.5.2.2. Focus group interview

30

3.5.3. Validity and reliability

30

3.5.3.1. Reliability

31

3.5.3.2. Validity

31

3.6. Data collection procedure

32

3.7. Data analysis procedure

33

3.7.1. Analysis of data collected from the questionnaire

33

3.7.2. Analysis of data collected from the focus group interviews

34

3.8. Chapter Summary

35

CHAPTER 4:

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1. Analysis of data

36

4.1.1. Distribution of data

36

4.1.2. Reliability of the questionnaire

37

4.1.3. Students’perceptions of learner autonomy.

40

4.1.3.1. Students’perceptions in the four dimensions of learner autonomy

40

v


4.1.3.2. Effect of gender on students’ perceptions of learner autonomy

41

4.1.3.3. Differences in students’ perceptions of learner autonomy among groups of
school

43

4.1.4. Students’evaluation on their parental support

45

4.1.4.1. Parental support for the four dimensions of learner autonomy

45

4.1.4.2. Effect of gender on the evaluation towards parental support

47

4.1.4.3. Evaluation of students from different groups of schools on
parental support

48

4.1.5. The relationship between high school students’perceptions of learner
autonomy and their parental support

48

4.1.6. Students’expectations of parental support for their learner autonomy
development

51

4.1.6.1. Students’ expectations for parental support in learning environment

52

4.1.6.2. Students’ expectations for parental support in motivation

56

4.1.6.3. Students’ expectations for parental support in time arrangement

59

4.1.6.4. Students’expectations for parental supervision in their learning process 61
4.1.7. Conclusion

64

4.2. Discussion of the findings

64

4.2.1. Students’ perceptions of learner autonomy

65

4.2.1.1. Students’perceptions on the four dimensions of learner autonomy

65

4.2.1.2. Effect of gender on students’ perceptions of learner autonomy

66

4.2.1.3. Differences in students’ perceptions of learner autonomy among groups
of school

66

4.2.2. Students’evaluation on their parental support

67

4.2.2.1. Parental support for the four dimensions of learner autonomy

67

4.2.2.2. Effect of gender on students’ evaluation towards parental support

67

4.2.2.3. Effect of groups of schools on students’ evaluation towards parental
support

68

4.2.3. The relationship between students’ perceptions of learner autonomy
and their parental support

68

vi


4.2.4. Students’expectations of parental support for their learner autonomy
development

69

4.2.4.1. Students’expectations for parental support in learning environment

69

4.2.4.2. Students’expectations for parental support in motivation

70

4.2.4.3. Students’expectations for parental support in time arrangement

70

4.2.4.4. Students’expectations for parental supervision in their learning process 71
4.2.4.5. Conclusion

72

4.3. Chapter summary

72

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Summary

73

5.2. Pedagogical implications

75

5.3. Suggestions

76

5.3.1. Suggestions for teachers

76

5.3.2. Suggestions for parents

77

5.4. Limitations

78

5.5. Recommendations for further research

78

5.6. Conclusion

79

REFERENCES

81

APPENDICES

89

vii


LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Summary of learner autonomy perceptions of students from
literature review

11

Table 3.1: The description of groups of school from 5 high schools

22

Table 3.2: The description of gender in the study

24

Table 3.3: Modification of some items in Initiating learning process

26

Table 3.4: Modification of some items in Monitoring learning process

27

Table 3.5: Modification of some items in Evaluating learning process

27

Table 3.6: Modification of some items in Using ICTs in learning process

28

Table 3.7: Extracted items from the questionnaire

29

Table 4.1: Distribution of gender in the five schools

37

Table 4.2: An extract from the descriptive statistics of questionnaire
of students

38

Table 4.3: An extract from the descriptive statistics of questionnaire
of parents

38

Table 4.4: Internal consistency of the four factor regarding student’s
perceptions of learner autonomy

39

Table 4.5: Internal consistency of the four factors regarding parental
support

39

Table 4.6: Descriptive statistics on mean difference among 4 dimensions
of learner autonomy

40

Table 4.7: Level differences in the four dimensions of learner
autonomy perceptions

41

Table 4.8: Effect of gender on students ’perceptions of learner autonomy

42

Table 4.9: Descriptive statistics of gender on learner autonomy

43

Table 4.10: Mean difference of the three groups of school on learner
autonomy

43

Table 4.11: Statistical description of post-hoc comparison

44

Table 4.12: Descriptive statistics of four dimensions of parental support

45

Table 4.13: omparing mean between students’ perceptions and parental
viii

support

46

Table 4.14: Level differences in the four dimensions relating to parental support
for the four dimensions of learner autonomy

46

Table 4.15: Effect of gender on students’ evaluation towards parental support for
the four dimensions of learner autonomy

47

Table 4.16: Mean difference of the three groups on the evaluation of parental
support
Table 4.17

48
orrelations between students’ perception of learner autonomy

and their parental
support for the four dimensions of learner autonomy

49

Table 4.18: Themes from students’ expectations for parental support

51

Table 4.19: Students’ expectations for parental support in learning
environment

52

Table 4.20: Students’ expectations for parental support in motivation

56

Table 4.21: Students’ expectations for parental support in parental support in
time arrangement

60

Table 4.22: Students’ expectations for parental supervision in their learning
process

62

ix


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Parental support for students’perceptions of learner autonomy

x

18

LIST OF ABBREVIATION
EFL: English as Foreign Language
ICTs: Information and Communication Technology in learning processes
EAP: English for Academic Purposes
MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

xi


LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A: The thirty items categorized in four core dimensions

89

Appendix B1: Survey questionnaire (English version)

91

Appendix B2: Survey questionnaire (Vietnamese version)

95

Appendix C1: Questions for focus group interview (English version)

99

Appendix C2: Questions for focus group interview (Vietnamese version)

101

Appendix D1: Sample focus group transcripts (English version)

103

Appendix D2: Sample focus group transcripts (Vietnamese version)

108

Appendix E: Normal distribution of the data

112

Appendix F: Internal consistency tests

116

Appendix G1: Statistics on level differences in the four dimensions
of learner autonomy perceptions

120

Appendix G2: Statistics on level differences in the four dimensions of
parental support

122

Appendix H1: Dimensions of learner autonomy and other factors

124

Appendix H2: Dimensions of parental support and other factors

129

Appendix H3: orrelation between students’ perceptions of learner autonomy and
their parental support

133

Appendix I: Modification of questionnaire

134

Appendix J: 30 questionnaire items adapted from Dang (2012)

138

xii


ABSTRACT
Learner autonomy has been identified to foster independent EFL learning in the
last three decades. Therefore, research has significantly focused on students’
perceptions of learner autonomy and the contributions of different teaching
practices in promoting this capacity. However, most of these practices are
investigated in classrooms rather than those beyond this learning context. Taking
this gap into consideration, the current study investigated high school students’
perceptions of learner autonomy and how it is relevant to the out-of-class support

from their parents.
Employing a mixed methods design, the current study collected both qualitative
and quantitative data. A questionnaire was administered to 515 students to
understand their perceptions of learner autonomy, their perceived support from
parents and the relationship between the two. Five focus group interviews were
conducted with 33 students to explore students’ expectations of the further support
from their parents. The two data sets were separately considered with the support
of statistical tests and theme-based analyses.
The data analysis showed that students held positive perceptions in all four
dimensions of learner autonomy. They also appreciated the support from their
parents at different levels. A positive correlation between students’ perceptions of
learner autonomy and their perceived support from parents was identified,
suggesting a significant role of parental support on students’ perceptions of learner
autonomy. In addition, the interview data showed that students wanted to be
supported by their parents in learning environment, motivation, time arrangement
and supervision in their learning process. The findings call for the co-operation
between teacher and parents and more support from parents in stimulating learner
autonomy of high school students in EFL learning.
Key words: Learner autonomy, parental support, perceptions of learner autonomy,
EFL learning, EFL high school students.

xiii


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides an overview of the thesis. First, it aims to give an
introduction to the background of the study. It then provides the critical rationale
for which the study was conducted. Next it presents the study objectives and
purposes. After that, the research questions were proposed to explore learner

autonomy perceptions of high school students and the relationship between
students’ perceptions of learner autonomy and their parental support. Significance
and limitations of the study are also stated. Finally, the organization of the study is
presented.
1.1. Background to the study
Learner autonomy has become a remarkable growth of interest in both theory and
practice in teaching and learning over the last three decades. It has been identified
as a complicated capacity that has a great impact on personal growth and
achievement (Dang, 2010). Researchers around the world have carried out quite a
great number of studies on fostering students’ learner autonomy in various
language learning contexts. (e.g., Benson, 2001; Breeze, 2002; Chan, 2001;
Cotterall, 1995; Dam, 1995; Jing, 2006; Lo, 2010; Nguyen & Gu, 2013,as cited in
Le, 2013). In Vietnam, many studies have been conducted to examine factors
which affect learner autonomy development such as Nguyen (2009), Trinh (2005),
Dang (2012), Le (2013), Nguyen (2014). However, these researchers mainly focus
on learner autonomy promoting practices in class; very few studies examined outof-class practices in EFL learning. In fact, it is important to take out-of-class
learning into consideration as it plays a vital role in theory and practice of learner
autonomy (Benson, 2001). In terms of this aspect, parents are among crucial
factors in home learning environment of their children. Regarding language
learning research, parental involvement is commonly considered as a contributor
to learners’ language learning and Asian parents are often closely involved in their
children’s second or foreign language learning (Sung & Padilla, 1998; Xuesong,
Chapter 1

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2006). Therefore, the present research focuses on exploring the relationship
between parental support and students’ perceptions of learner autonomy in
language learning.

1.2. Rationale of the study
In Vietnamese context, English is becoming more and more important nowadays.
The National Foreign Languages 2020 Project of Vietnam or NFL 2020 project
was created in 2008 with the main goal “to renovate thoroughly the tasks of
teaching and learning foreign languages within the national educational system”
(MOET, 2008). This can be understood that Vietnam wants most of its students to
be able to use a foreign language, especially English confidently in their study,
daily communication, and work by 2020.
However, the situation in regard to EFL teaching and learning in Vietnam is very
challenging for both teachers and students (Dang, 2012). One of the problems is
that high school students are lack of capacity to use English in daily
communication after seven years learning English. Although the new national
English textbook published in 2008 had the goal to develop students’ skills in each
unit, teacher and students mainly emphasized on reading comprehension,
vocabulary and structural patterns for the purposes of passing the end-of-school
and university entrance examinations into college or university. Additionally, there
is a mismatch between teaching, learning and testing English at high school. While
the teaching follows the communicative approach, testing seems to focus on
measuring students’ grammar and vocabulary (Hoang, 2013).
In Rach Gia city, the situation of EFL learning is also similar to that in high school
education across Vietnam. High school students study English so as to be able to
pass the obligatory exam and meet the school requirements. Students are at low
level in English except those who are majoring in it. In order to improve the
quality of teaching and learning, the Department of Education and Training of
Kien Giang province has organized many training courses for teachers to renovate
teaching methodology with the hope to help develop EFL learning for local
Chapter 1

Page 2

students. However, no matter what teaching methods have been employed to foster
EFL learning among students, the result gained from it is not significant. The
reason is that students’ self-learning ability is weak. They want to be good learners
of English but they do not know how to learn. The inspiration from the study in
class and the teachers are not adequate to help them develop their learner
autonomy. This kind of ability should be nurtured from both sides – school and
family. However, it seems that the school and teachers do not take into account the
involvement of parents in fostering this capacity for students. Teachers merely
focus on their teaching in class and do not involve parents in their children
learning. From that practical situation, this research was conducted to help explore
the relationship between of parental support and students’ perceptions of learner
autonomy in EFL learning.
1.3. Aims of the study
The present study aims at investigating high school students’ perceptions of
learner autonomy and the relationship between parental support and students’
perceptions of learner autonomy. The project was set out to achieve four main
objectives. First, it examines students’ perceptions of learner autonomy in EFL
learning. Second, it looks at how students value their parental support for their
learner autonomy. Third, it is to find out the correlation between students’ learner
autonomy perceptions and their parental support in the home learning
environment. Fourth, it aims to explore students’ expectations of parental support
for their learner autonomy development in EFL learning.
1.4. Research questions
The study addressed the following research questions in order to reach the aims
stated above:
1. What are high school students’ perceptions of learner autonomy in EFL
learning?
2. To what extent do high school students value their parental support for their
learner autonomy?

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3. To what extent are high school students’ perceptions of learner autonomy
shaped by the support perceived from parents?
4. What are high school students’ expectations of their parental support for their
learner autonomy development?
1.5. Significance of the study
The study is of the significant importance when providing insights of students’
perceptions of learner autonomy in high school education and the relationship
between their parental support and their learner autonomy perceptions in EFL
learning process. Firstly, understanding students’ perceptions of learner autonomy
help the teachers in adjusting teaching methods and designing more appropriate
activities to improve EFL learning of high school students. Secondly, examining
the correlation between parental support and students’ perceptions of learner
autonomy helps teachers realize the crucial role of parents in language learning of
their children. Thus, it is expected effective co-operation between teachers and
parents to foster learner autonomy for students. In addition, exploring students’
expectations provide parents and teachers with deep understanding towards
students’ desires. With the support from both teacher and parents, it helps enhance
the ability of students in independent EFL learning at high school education in a
particular context in Rach Gia city and in Vietnam generally.
1.6. Scope of the study
This study investigated learner autonomy perceptions of high school students and
parental support from high school students’ perspectives only. As the main
objectives of the study are to understand students’ self-evaluation on their learner
autonomy perceptions, the extent they value their parental support and their
expectations from their parental support, it is important to start with the students’

voice in the investigation. Other perspectives such as parents, teachers, school
management members were not included in this study. Besides, the current survey
restricted itself to high school students of grade 12 in Rach Gia City. Students in
grade 10 and 11 in Rach Gia city were not considered. High school students
studying in other cities in Vietnam and students from tertiary education were also
excluded in the study. Hence, the extent to which the study findings are
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generalisable is limited, but the study instrument can be a reference for any
research relating to students’ learner autonomy perceptions and their parental
support at high school education in the field.
1.7. Organization of the study
This paper consists of five main chapters. Chapter One is the introduction of the
study including the study’s background, rationale of the study, aims of the study,
research questions, significance of the study, scope of the study and the
organization of the study. Chapter Two provides a critical review of the relevant
literature beginning with the definition of learner autonomy, learner autonomy in
EFL education and students’ perceptions of learner autonomy. Next, parental
support and their effects on students’ perceptions of learner autonomy were
explored. Besides, students’ expectations of parental support in language learning
are also mentioned in this chapter. These reviews help generate a conceptual
framework for the whole research. Chapter Three outlines the design and
methodology of the study. Chapter Four details the results of the study and
presents a full discussion and interpretation of the results with reference to the
literature. Chapter Five draws a brief conclusion and presents limitations of the
research. Suggestions for teachers, parents and recommendations for future
research are also entailed in this chapter.

Chapter 1

Page 5


CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents the review of literature related to learner autonomy in foreign
language education. First, it provides the definition of learner autonomy and it
discusses some perspectives of learner autonomy in EFL education. Next,
students’ perceptions of learner autonomy are reviewed. Then, the definition of
parental support and some discussion on parental support for the development of
learner autonomy are given. After that, it looks at students’ expectations of their
parental support in EFL learning. Finally, a conceptual framework of the study was
proposed.
2.1. Definition of learner autonomy
In the last three decades, learner autonomy has become an important focus of
educational practices and research. Tracing back to the ancient Greece, the word
autonomy is derived from auto-nomos (Voltz, 2008), auto meaning “self” and
“nomos” meaning “rule or law”. Auto-nomos refers to a state where one gives
oneself his own law. Although the origin was from politics (Boud, 1981), this
concept could be used in any field, including philosophy, medicine, and
psychology to indicate a capacity that allows a person or organization can have his
or her own reasons for doing things (Dearden, 1972).
Learner autonomy has therefore been perceived and translated into practice in
several ways, depending on particular political, social and contemporary situations
(Dang, 2010). For example, while Wenden (1991) considered learner autonomy as
an ability of knowing how to learn, Cotterall (1995) took the notion of autonomy
as ability to “control” one’s learning activities. In another definition, Little (1991)

assumed that it was an ability for “detachment” or ability to learn “without the
involvement of a teacher” (Dickinson, 1987, p. 11).

esides, it was also defined to

be a “capacity to make and carry out choices” (Littlewood, 1996, p. 428) or an
ability to perform rational decision-making processes over learning activities

Chapter 2

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(Hunt, Gow, & Barnes, 1989). More specifically, Boud (1988) viewed learner
autonomy as an ability to give responses beyond usual instructions.
In short, although there are many definitions of learner autonomy which depend on
different aspects of this ability, the central core of this construct maintaining in the
current research is the capacity to understand and manage learning processes
responsibly and effectively.
2.2. Learner autonomy in EFL education
In language learning, learner autonomy has been considered as a complicated
construct. Therefore, in order to understand learner autonomy perceptions applied
for the current situation of this research, it is crucial to examine it under different
perspectives of researchers in the field. In the literature, learner autonomy has been
perceived by four groups of perspectives, namely psychological perspective,
technical perspective, socio-cultural perspective, and political-critical perspective
(Benson, 2006; Dang, 2010; Oxford, 2003; Sinclair, 2000). The first perspective,
psychological perspective, focuses on personal attributes of learners. The second
one, technical perspective values attributes regarding situational conditions in
which learners use to develop their learner autonomy. Third, socio-cultural

perspective emphasizes the interactions between learners and their environment.
Finally, political-critical perspective refers to learners’ access, control, power and
ideology in their community (Dang, 2010).
From socio-cultural perspective, learner autonomy has been claimed to be a
complex construct which is shaped and influenced by the wider socio-cultural
context in which it is being promoted (Le, 2013) and individual students can only
be autonomous in relation to some social contexts (Murray, 2014). Interestingly,
Palfreyman (2014) developed a new concept in social dimension of autonomy by
using a metaphor namely “the ecology of learner autonomy”.

y paring the

ecology metaphor to a natural ecology, the researcher emphasized that a learner is
always in some context which shapes what and how she learns (Palfreyman, 2014,
p. 180). Therefore, though learning and knowledge exist in individuals, they are in
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an interaction with the world around them because “a person is characterized by a
power for action” (Masciotra, et al. 2007, p.3). This power is manifested in the
person’s action, and this action cannot be understood apart from the circumstances
in which the person finds herself (Palfreyman, 2014). In this sense, context can be
described at different levels such as a class, a peer group, a family, a workplace, a
community or a society in which learning is taken place and become part of an ongoing interaction with it (Bronfenbrenner,1979, as cited in Palfreyman, 2014).
From this point of view, learners are at the centre nested within the family, then
the local community. Especially in modern times, these circles tend to overlap and
cross-cut (ibid.). From what has been discussed, families have some functions as
learning communities in which each member take the roles in promoting learning

among other members (Palfreyman, 2011, 2014).
In brief, learner autonomy described in the context of this study is not indicated as
an ability to work alone but with the support from parents as an important social
factor. Especially high school students, who are much familiar with traditional
learning and teaching, really need explicit instructions and scaffolding to be
autonomous learners.
2.3. Students’ perceptions of learner autonomy
One of the purposes of the present study is to understand students’ perceptions of
learner autonomy. Thus, it is important to review students’ learner autonomy
perceptions under different learning environment in Vietnam and in the world.
In an investigation of 396 EFL students in Japan about their perceptions on learner
autonomy, Yang (2007) proposed six dimensions which were utilized to explain
learner autonomy in Japanese EFL learning context including Self-initiative,
Making plans, Self-management, Flexibility, Taking actions and Concentration.
Among these factors, students perceived self-control, taking action and
concentration better than self-initiative, making plan and self-management. Yang
(2007) then offered some suggestions to the teachers to help encourage students to
take charge of and continue their own learning.
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Kaur (2010) examined learner autonomy of Malaysian first year students through
asynchronous online interactions. Their learner autonomy was measured by the
ability in Planning, Organizing, Monitoring, Evaluating their learning and the
ability in participating in asynchronous online learning. Asynchronous online
interactions were considered as a mean to support students to plan, monitor and
evaluate their own learning to become lifelong autonomous learners. The findings
indicated that they showed some confidence in planning but they needed help in

organizing, monitoring and evaluating their learning. It is suggested that students
should be helped in ICTs skill, knowledge and the ability to plan, monitor and
evaluate their own learning before embarking on an online learning environment.
In an attempt to stimulate autonomous practices among EAP learners in Vietnam,
Humphreys and Myatt (2013) conducted collaborative action research to discover
students’ perceptions of learner autonomy and their autonomous experiences
regarding Goal setting development and Self-reflection. The questionnaire with
Likert scale items was utilized to assess students’ confidence in the use of
autonomous practices, for example, setting their own learning goal and estimating
time engaged in independent learning per week. The results revealed that students
perceived low level of “awareness” and “involvement” in autonomy in practice.
The researcher then suggested that there should be some more focus on specific
skills of goal setting, self-planning and self-monitoring in the intervention’s goal.
In the context of Vietnam, there have been several studies conducted with an
attempt to examine students’ perceptions of learner autonomy. According to Trinh
(2005), in order to improve students’communicative competence, teacher should
enhance their learner autonomy in language learning.

He considered learner

autonomy as self-regulated meta-cognitive activities consisting of three
dimensions called Planning, Monitoring, and Regulating. He suggested that
teaching method should be created the opportunities for learners to develop their
self-regulated skills using task-based language learning as promoting learners’
self-regulated skills aims to stimulate their learner autonomy.

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Another study investigated in Vietnam was of Nguyen (2009). In her argument on
the conception of learner autonomy, there were two basic threads of learner
autonomy called self-initiation and self-regulation. She argued that self-initiation
is learners’ volition and willingness to learn without being forced by other people
and the self-regulation element is task-focused. Although she proposed that selfregulation involves the metacognitive skills of planning, monitoring, and
evaluating, she did not focus on justifying the pre-defined number of learner
autonomy dimensions. In other words, her study aimed to comprehend features of
learner autonomy as learner self-initiation and learner self-regulation and used
strategy-based instructions to promote learner autonomy.
Dang (2012) examined 562 undergraduate students in four universities in Vietnam.
Generated from factor analyses are four dimensions of learner autonomy namely
Monitoring learning processes, Goal-setting and evaluating learning, Using ICTs
in learning, and Initiating learning opportunities.

Students’ perceptions of

autonomy was self-reported at different levels by Vietnamese students but it
showed that students wanted to control their learning process. The findings were
then compared to their performance of learner autonomy in online and offline
environment. Statistical analyses presented a strong relationship between students’
perception and performance of learner autonomy in each dimension at the
beginning of the course but the relationship was not confirmed at the end of the
course. The researcher proposed a holistic approach in educational reforms to
foster learner autonomy, particularly in such an examination-oriented context as
Vietnam.
In short, students’ perceptions of learner autonomy in language education can be
summarized in the following table.

Chapter 2

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