Interaction in the Concept of Autonomous Language Learning

Abstract

The study focuses on the role of interactive activities in the process of developing students' autonomy in language learning. The research into the problem of interaction in learner's autonomy involves two aspects: the elaboration of the theoretical grounds for encouraging interaction in autonomous language learning and some practical evidence of exploring those perspectives by empirical means within the communicative and cognitive approach. The article outlines the structure and the constituents of autonomy in language learning, reveals both the universal and the individual components of language acquisition and shows how important these components are for the modern understanding of communicative competence in language learning. The study emphasizes the idea that communicative and cognitive skills that constitute a student's autonomy in language learning are triggered in real communication only through their use in the interaction and cooperation with partners. The concept of interactive autonomous learning is based on the theoretical consequences of a social-interactive view of cognition, learning and language and the idea that autonomy and independence in learning must always be supported by interdependence and collaboration with other learners.