UNDERGRADUATE PRE-SERVICE EFL TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNER AUTONOMY DEVELOPMENT IN EFL LEARNING

Abstract

Learner autonomy plays a vitally important role in supporting learners in language acquisition. Understanding beliefs of in-service and pre-service language teachers about learner autonomy is necessary. The current study, therefore, aims to investigate undergraduate pre-service EFL teachers’ beliefs about learner autonomy development in EFL learning. The study was conducted at Ho Chi Minh City of Technology (HUTECH University) with the participation of 84 undergraduate pre-service EFL students (PETs). Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the employment of the questionnaire and interview; for data analysis, “descriptive statistics” and “content analysis” were employed. The findings of the study revealed that except neutral beliefs about several aspects related to the nature of learner autonomy and challenges in learner autonomy development, the PETs held positive beliefs that EFL teachers must have different roles and responsibilities, and employ different strategies to develop learner autonomy for EFL learners. Particularly, the PETs also believed that “it is quite desirable and feasible for EFL learners’ involvement in decision-making and ability to develop learner autonomy”. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications are made for both EFL teacher educators and pre-service EFL students to develop learner autonomy in EFL learning.