Exploring Learner Autonomy: Secondary School EFL Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in the Saudi Context

Abstract

Learner autonomy is considered one of the fundamental factors leading to success in foreign language learning. This research study explored 76 Saudi secondary school EFL teachers’ beliefs and reported practices of learner autonomy. The English Language Teachers’ Beliefs about Learner Autonomy Questionnaire (Borg & Al-Busaidi, 2012a) was employed as the data collection tool. The results indicated that the teachers had positive perceptions of various features of learner autonomy. The findings also showed that while most teachers positively desired to implement learner autonomy principles in their teaching, they were less optimistic about the feasibility of developing these principles in practice. In addition, most of the teachers indicated that they offered their students opportunities to promote learner autonomy. However, the majority of the teachers did not view their students as autonomous. They identified four main factors that contributed to their perceptions of a lack of learner autonomy in their students: lack of motivation, students’ low proficiency in English, students’ overdependence on their teachers, and limited time allocated for teaching the syllabus.