Learner autonomy in the language classroom: from teacher dependency to learner independency

The field of language education has for the last three decades been witnessing the debate over the issue of learner autonomy. The present study is a literature review of learner autonomy focusing on highlighting the main themes of learner autonomy since it first entered the arena of language teaching. These themes are based on the concepts of learner responsibility and independence, the importance of the classroom context in both the Western and Eastern style and the role of the language classroom teacher. The present study also shows that although learner autonomy means a reshaping of the view that the learner is responsible for learning, teachers do not abdicate their responsibilities of teaching in the language learning process and on the contrary teachers become the primary agents on fostering the development of learner autonomy within the classroom context. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved