Vietnamese EFL Learners’ Perceptions of Abilities and Challenges of Learner Autonomy
Authors
- Duong Thanh Hung Duc Faculty of Foreign Languages, Van Lang University, Vietnam
Abstract
Learner autonomy is a common requirement for all Vietnamese university students. However, to become a successful English autonomous learner, the students are required to perform several tasks, namely setting learning objectives, making learning plans, taking advantage of useful learning resources, having high learning motivation, adjusting their learning strategies, and interacting with others. The present survey study used one online questionnaire to investigate Van Lang University’s English amajor’s perceptions of abilities and challenges of learner autonomy in English learning. Convenience sampling strategy was employed to include 57 students, who confirmed several abilities and very few challenges of learning autonomously. The reported learner autonomy level ranged from moderate to high, with the strongest ability in using the Internet (M= 3.84) and the weakest in self-evaluation (M= 3.51). The results have practical implications for local EFL lecturers and students. The lecturers are recommended to provide explicit training in self-evaluation strategies and material selection. Students are advised to utilize all mental, physical, and psychological resources to study English more effectively.
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