Teachers' Challenges in Promoting Learner Autonomy

The Socio-Cultural Barrier of Indonesia EFL Teachers

  • Marzuki Marzuki Universitas Madako Tolitoli
  • Inda Indrawati Universitas Madako Tolitoli
  • Ismail Yunus H Universitas Madako Tolitoli

Abstract

The concept of learner autonomy has garnered significant attention from scholars, educators, policy makers, and researchers across various countries. However, In Indonesia, the body of research dedicated to learner autonomy is still growing, with specific attention needed to identify potential obstacles that might deter its promotion. This study, therefore, aims to delve into the socio-cultural challenges encountered by secondary school teachers when fostering learner autonomy.This investigation is crucial, as socio-cultural influences appear to be a significant barrier for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in Indonesia. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research approach, utilizing a purposive sampling technique to select participants based on specific criteria. These included senior high school teachers with over five years of experience at their respective schools, who were also willing to participate in interviews. In total, six English teachers from different senior high schools within a single Indonesian province contributed to this study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and the teachers' responses were quoted and interpreted in light of the data analysis and supporting theories from relevant literature. The findings revealed three primary socio-cultural barriers impeding the promotion of learner autonomy: (1) barriers due to language issues, (2) barriers related to a limited worldview, and (3) institutional barriers. This research implies that promoting learner autonomy in language learning requires adjustments in teaching strategies, curriculum design, and institutional policies. Research suggestions are also provided to further research to address the limitation of the current study.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Agustina, D., Gleeson, M., & Hubbard, G. (2022). The efl teachers' perceptions of learner autonomy and its development in an indonesian context. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v25i2.4801

Ahmad, J. (2015). Traditional & Socio-Cultural Barriers to EFL Learning: A Case Study. English Language Teaching, 8(12), 191-208. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v8n12p191

Ahmadianzadeh, B., Seifoori, Z., & Hadidi Tamjid, N. (2020). Exploring EFL teachers’ beliefs about and practices of learner autonomy across experience and licensure. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 14(2), 97-113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2018.1501694

Alhamami, M. (2018). Beliefs about and intention to learn a foreign language in face-to-face and online settings. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 31(1-2), 90-113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2017.1387154

Al-Shamsi, A., Al-Mekhlafi, A. M., Al Busaidi, S., & Hilal, M. M. (2020). The effects of mobile learning on listening comprehension skills and attitudes of Omani EFL adult learners. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(8), 16-39.

Amerian, M., & Tajabadi, A. (2020). The role of culture in foreign language teaching textbooks: an evaluation of New Headway series from an intercultural perspective. Intercultural education, 31(6), 623-644. DOI:10.1080/14675986.2020.1747291

Anjomshoa, L., & Sadighi, F. (2015). The importance of motivation in second language acquisition. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL), 3(2), 126-137. https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijsell/v3-i2/12.pdf

Asiri, J., & Shukri, N. (2018). Female teachers' perspectives of learner autonomy in the Saudi context. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(6), 570-579. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0806.03

Baru, M., Tenggara, W. N., & Mataram, M. U. (2020). Promoting Students' Autonomy through Online Learning Media in EFL Class. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(4), 320-331. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v9n4p320

Basri, F. (2020). Factors influencing learner autonomy and autonomy support in a faculty of education. Teaching in Higher Education, 1-16.

Begum, J. (2019). Learner Autonomy in EFL/ESL Classrooms in Bangladesh: Teachers' Perceptions and Practices. International Journal of Language Education, 3(1), 12-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.26858/ijole.v1i1.6397

Benson, P. (2011). Teaching and researching autonomy (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Bhattarai, P. (2021). English Language Teachers' Perceptions and Practices on Learner Autonomy in Nepalese Context. REiLA: Journal of Research and Innovation in Language, 3(1), 17-25.https://doi.org/10.31849/reila.v3i1.6064

Borg, S., & Alshumaimeri, Y. (2019). Language learner autonomy in a tertiary context: Teachers' beliefs and practices. Language Teaching Research, 23(1), 9-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168817725759

Borg, S., & Alshumaimeri, Y. (2019). Language learner autonomy in a tertiary context: Teachers' beliefs and practices. Language Teaching Research, 23(1), 9-38.

Byram, M., & Wagner, M. (2018). Making a difference: Language teaching for intercultural and international dialogue. Foreign Language Annals, 51(1), 140-151. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12319

Cahyana, U., Supatmi, S., & Rahmawati, Y. (2019). The Influence of Web-Based Learning and Learning Independence toward Student's Scientific Literacy in Chemistry Course. International Journal of Instruction, 12(4), 655-668. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2019.12442a

Celik, B., & Yildiz, Y. (2019). The role of foreign language culture on teaching the language and learner motivation. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 5(4), 150-161. http://dx.doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v5i4p150

Chang, L. Y. H. (2020). Taiwanese EFL Language Teachers' Beliefs and Actual Practices Related to Learner Autonomy. TESL-EJ, 23(4), n4.

Coghlan, S., Miller, T., & Paterson, J. (2021). Good proctor or “big brother”? Ethics of online exam supervision technologies. Philosophy & Technology, 34(4), 1581-1606.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE Publication.

De Bellis, E., & Johar, G. V. (2020). Autonomous shopping systems: Identifying and overcoming barriers to consumer adoption. Journal of Retailing, 96(1), 74-87.

Derakhshan, A., Coombe, C., Arabmofrad, A., & Taghizadeh, M. (2020). Investigating the effects of English language teachers' professional identity and autonomy in their success. Issues in Language Teaching, 9(1), 1-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.22054/ilt.2020.52263.496

Donaldson, C., Villagrasa, J., & Sánchez, F. (2021). Learner profile mapping: Stimulating autonomous motivation in entrepreneurship education. Industry and Higher Education, 35(4), 384-402.

Feryok, A. (2020). Perezhivanie and experiencing in language teacher development. European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 9(2), 25-43.

Getie, A. S. (2020). Factors affecting the attitudes of students towards learning English as a foreign language. Cogent Education, 7(1), 1738184. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2020.1738184

Ghazali, F. A. (2020). Challenges and Opportunities of Fostering Learner Autonomy and Self-Access Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.37237/110302

Hilvert-Bruce, Z., Neill, J. T., Sjöblom, M., & Hamari, J. (2018). Social motivations of live-streaming viewer engagement on Twitch. Computers in Human Behavior, 84, 58-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.013

Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and foreign language learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Hollie, S. (2017). Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning: Classroom practices for student success. Teacher Created Materials. https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/teacher-education_masters/58/

Hyland, K., Wang, W., & Jiang, F. K. (2022). Metadiscourse across languages and genres: An overview. Lingua, 265(103205), 10-1016.

Kaharuddin, A. (2018). The communicative grammar translation method: a practical method to teach communication skills of English. ETERNAL (English, Teaching, Learning, and Research Journal), 4(2), 232-254. http://dx.doi.org/10.24252/Eternal.V42.2018.A8

Kazakova, J. K., & Shastina, E. M. (2019). The impact of socio-cultural differences on formation of intrinsic motivation: The case of local and foreign students. Learning and Motivation, 65, 1-9. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.lmot.2018.10.001

Khotimah, K., Widiati, U., Mustofa, M., & ... (2019). Autonomous English learning: Teachers' and students' perceptions. In Indonesian Journal of …. researchgate.net https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v9i2.20234

Kieran, L., & Anderson, C. (2019). Connecting universal design for learning with culturally responsive teaching. Education and Urban Society, 51(9), 1202-1216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013124518785012

Kistyanto, A., Rahman, M. F. W., Wisandiko, F. A., & Setyawati, E. E. P. (2021). Cultural intelligence increase student's innovative behavior in higher education: the mediating role of interpersonal trust. International Journal of Educational Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-11-2020-0510

Klimanova, L., & Hellmich, E. A. (2021). Putting local on the MAP: A model for engaging foreign language students with local cultures. Foreign Language Annals, 54(1), 158-184. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12493

Lengkanawati, N. S. (2017). Learner autonomy in the Indonesian EFL settings. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2), 222-231. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v6i2.4847

Lin, L., & Reinders, H. (2019). Students' and teachers' readiness for autonomy: Beliefs and practices in developing autonomy in the Chinese context. Asia Pacific Education Review, 20, 69-89.

Little, D. (1991). Learner autonomy 1: Definitions, issues and problems. Dublin: Authentik.

Little, D. (2022). Language learner autonomy: Rethinking language teaching. Language Teaching, 55(1), 64-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000488

Liu, M. C., Huang, Y. M., & Xu, Y. H. (2018). Effects of individual versus group work on learner autonomy and emotion in digital storytelling. Educational technology research and development, 66(4), 1009-1028. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-018-9601-2

Ma'wa, J., & Madya, S. (2021). EFL Teachers' Beliefs in Learner Autonomy: A Study on Non-Formal Education Context in Indonesia. In Indonesian Journal of EFL and Linguistics. scholar.archive.org. http://dx.doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v6i2.404

Mardjuki, M. S. (2018). Learner autonomy: Gender-based perception among EFL Indonesian students. Indonesian Journal of EFL and Linguistics, 3(1), 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.21462/ijefll.v3i1.46

Martha, Y. N., Gustine, G. G., & Muslim, M. (2021). Exploring efl teachers' beliefs on the implementation of learner autonomy in online classrooms. Journal of English Language Education, 4(1), 90-106. https://doi.org/10.20414/edulangue.v4i1.3454

Matthews, G., Lin, J., Panganiban, A. R., & Long, M. D. (2019). Individual differences in trust in autonomous robots: Implications for transparency. IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, 50(3), 234-244.

Melvina, M., & Julia, J. (2021). Learner autonomy and English proficiency of Indonesian undergraduate students. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 16(2), 803-818. https://doi.org/10.18844/cjes.v16i2.5677

Melvina, M., & Suherdi, D. (2019). Indonesian ELT Teachers' Beliefs toward Language Learner Autonomy. 257(Icollite 2018), 239-242. https://doi.org/10.2991/icollite-18.2019.53

Mynard, J. (2019). Self-access learning and advising: Promoting language learner autonomy beyond the classroom. In Innovation in language teaching and learning (pp. 185-209). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-12567-7_10

Niño, A. (2020). Exploring the use of online machine translation for independent language learning. Research in Learning Technology, 28.

Nurhayati, N., Jambari, O., Nehe, B. M., Cahyono, H., Siswanto, P., & Nugroho, A. S. (2021). EFL Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices About Learner Autonomy. Proceedings of the 1st Paris Van Java International Seminar on Health, Economics, Social Science and Humanities (PVJ-ISHESSH 2020), 535, 110–112.https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210304.025

Papamitsiou, Z., & Economides, A. A. (2019). Exploring autonomous learning capacity from a self-regulated learning perspective using learning analytics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(6), 3138-3155. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1111/bjet.12747

Pawlak, M. (2022). The impact of self-regulatory strategy use on self-efficacy beliefs and motivated learning behavior in study abroad contexts: The case of university students in Italy, Poland and Turkey. System, 105, 102735.

Petit, E. (2020). Digital storytelling for developing students' agency through the process of design: A case study. Research-publishing. net.

Pham, T. T. (2022). Promoting Students' Autonomy in Online Classes: A Study on First-Year Non-English Major Students at Thuongmai University. AsiaCALL Online Journal, 13(2), 42-59. https://doi.org/10.54855/acoj.221323

Phan, T. H., & Hamid, M. O. (2018). Learner autonomy in foreign language policies in Vietnamese universities: An exploration of teacher agency from a sociocultural perspective. In Language Policy and Planning in Universities (pp. 222-239). Routledge.

Pinar, G. (2019). An Autoethnographic Encountering of Relational Curriculum. Provoking Curriculum Encounters Across Educational Experience: New Engagements with the Curriculum Theory Archive, 42.

Qin, B., Chen, Y., Yu, Z., Song, L., & Zhang, Y. (2020, June). Understanding memory and thread safety practices and issues in real-world Rust programs. In Proceedings of the 41st ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation (pp. 763-779).

Reinhardt, J., & Thorne, S. L. (2020). 17 Digital Games as Language-Learning Environments. Handbook of game-based learning, 409.

Sahlberg, P. (2021). Does the pandemic help us make education more equitable?. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 20, 11-18.

Savolainen, R. (2016). Approaches to socio-cultural barriers to information seeking. Library & information science research, 38(1), 52-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2016.01.007

Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2020). Motivation and social cognitive theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 60, 101832. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101832

Shah, M. A., & Elyas, T. (2019). TESOL at the crossroads: Representation of source cultures in TESOL textbooks. Cogent Education, 6(1), 1643524. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2019.1643524

Sharifi, H., Royanian, S., & Ghahreman, O. (2021). A Study of Nabokov's Humbert in the Light of Karen Horney’s Psychoanalytical Theory. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS), 51. https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.66.9

Taguchi, N., Kostromitina, M. M., & Wheeler, H. (2022). Individual Difference Factors for Second Language Pragmatics. The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences, 310-330.

Tan, C. Y. (2018). Examining school leadership effects on student achievement: The role of contextual challenges and constraints. Cambridge journal of education, 48(1), 21-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2016.1221885

Toshpulatova, D., & Kinjemuratova, A. (2020). Teacher Perceptions on Developing Students' Critical Thinking Skills in Academic English Module. International Journal of Psycho-Educational Sciences, 9(1), 48-60.

Wallace, M. P., & Leong, E. I. L. (2020). Exploring language learning motivation among primary EFL learners. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 11(2), 221-230. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1102.10

Warni, S., Aziz, T. A., & Febriawan, D. (2018). The use of technology in English as a foreign language learning outside the classroom: An insight into learner autonomy. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, 21(2), 148-156. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v21i2.1259

Wirapatni, A., Nitiasih, P. K., & ... (2021). Exploring Senior High School EFL Teachers' Beliefs Regarding Learner Autonomy. Journal of Education …. https://doi.org/10.23887/jere.v5i1.29945

Yasmin, M., Naseem, F., & Masso, I. C. (2019). Teacher-directed learning to self-directed learning transition barriers in Pakistan. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 61, 34-40.

Yosintha, R., & Yunianti, S. S. (2021). Learner autonomy in EFL online classes in Indonesia: Students' voices. Langkawi: Journal of The …. http://dx.doi.org/10.31332/lkw.v7i1.2637
Published
2023-06-30
How to Cite
MARZUKI, Marzuki; INDRAWATI, Inda; H, Ismail Yunus. Teachers' Challenges in Promoting Learner Autonomy. Pioneer: Journal of Language and Literature, [S.l.], v. 15, n. 1, p. 119-137, june 2023. ISSN 2655-8718. Available at: <https://unars.ac.id/ojs/index.php/pioneer/article/view/2853>. Date accessed: 06 dec. 2025. doi: https://doi.org/10.36841/pioneer.v15i1.2853.
Section
Articles