Vietnamese EFL lecturers' strategies in promoting students' learner autonomy in learning English as a foreign language

Abstract

Improving learners’ autonomy in learning is an urgent issue with long-term significance. Especially, it is thought that one desirable goal in language teaching is learner autonomy. The current study aims to investigate Vietnamese EFL lecturers’ strategies in promoting students’ learner autonomy in learning English as a foreign language. Eight lecturers working at a university in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam volunteered toparticipatein thestudy. The studywas designed asan exploratorystudy employing a qualitative approach. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were employed. The results showed that the lecturers generally applied many strategies to promote their students’ learner autonomy including four dimensions of strategies (1) psychological dimension, i.e., helping students recognize their learning goals, encouraging them with self-assessment, giving bonus points (2) technical dimension, i.e., introducing them English learning source and encouraging them to take notes information, (3) social dimension such as encouraging them have interaction inside and outside the class and encouraging them do the task individually, and (4) political dimension such as reminding them to remember the learning objective, encouraging them to build flexible learning plan, encouraging them to pursue personal style, and giving constructive feedback. Accordingly, it is hoped that the proposed pedagogical implications will contribute to the innovation of promoting learner autonomy in EnglishlearninginthecontextofuniversityintheMekongDeltaofVietnam.