Although learner autonomy has been discussed for more than thirty years in Applied Linguistics, there seems to be less literature available documenting teachers’ perspectives.
This study, conducted at the Waikato Institute of Technology in New Zealand was modelled on a former study by Borg and Al-Busaidi (2012). It found that most teachers thought that there were strong links between learner autonomy and learner motivation and confidence. They thought that learners seemed to be strongly influenced by social and psychological influences.
Yet teachers also perceived that they had a role to play in developing the capacity of learners to become more autonomous. However, in an additional enquiry about teachers’ views on the autonomy of limited literacy learners, there were more divergent views. The data reveals how teachers endeavour to provide an environment which provides learners with spaces to develop themselves, but are aware too that others may require more scaffolding.