Tracking the culture of learning and readiness for learner autonomy in a Turkish context

Abstract

This study aims to investigate ELT student teachers’ culture of learning and their readiness for becoming autonomous and promoting their students’ learner autonomy in a Turkish context. Data were collected through two questionnaires (Culture of Learning Questionnaire and Learner Autonomy Readiness Questionnaires) and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaires were completed by 110 fourth-year student teachers of English who were studying at a Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) program of a university in Turkey. Interviews were conducted with 23 volunteer participants for deeper understanding of the constructs investigated. Findings indicate that the participants did not come from a learning environment in which autonomy was fostered. However, they indicate their readiness to take some responsibility for their own language learning and implementing more autonomous activities outside the classrooms. In terms of their becoming teachers in the future, they are not fully ready for promoting learner autonomy among their future students, but they consider learner autonomy important and plan to take small steps to create an autonomy-supportive environment.