Learner Autonomy in Foreign Language Education and in Cultural Context

摘要

The present paper is a brief review of the theoretical concepts about learner autonomy focusing on highlighting the main themes on learner autonomy in foreign language education and in cultural context as a globalized construct. These themes are based on the concepts of learner responsibility and independence, the importance of the autonomy in foreign language education in both the Western and Eastern style and the role of the culture in the concept of learner independence. The present study also shows that although learner autonomy means a reshaping of the view that the learner is responsible for learning, students and teachers still have their responsibilities of teaching and learning in the language learning process and all this process happens in the frame of the culture as a multifaceted and much-debated concept.