Culture and Learner Autonomy

Abstract

Recent reforms in Algerian higher education couple with challenges related to difficult working conditions especially a very high student-teacher ratio to require that learners assume higher responsibility for their own learning. Learning is a complex phenomenon that does not occur in a vacuum. Whether formal or informal, face-to-face or at a distance, learning takes place in a specific cultural and educational context. Culture determines the roles learners and teachers can take in educational settings; i.e. their duties and rights in the learning activities, who should do what, when and how. In this paper, the researcher explores the relationships between culture, both general and educational, and autonomous learning from the standpoint of teachers and learners. The present research discusses data collected via a review of relevant literature and a field study. The study consisted of the development and administration of a survey questionnaire to thirty five teachers and one hundred and thirty students from the English department at the University of Blida 2, Algeria. The results seem to indicate that the surveyed teachers and students hold positive attitudes and conception of learner autonomy and its effects on EFL students’ academic achievement. Nonetheless, some uncertainty among teachers and learners emerged from the questionnaire data about the role of the English department (educational culture) and the wider Algerian culture in developing learner autonomy. The researcher attempts to argue that general culture as well as educational culture must be taken into consideration in the preparation and implementation of reforms in education. This paper closes with some implications related efforts to consider fostering learning autonomy for EFL learners.