“It’s Difficult Not to Intervene Sometimes”: Language Teacher Cognition, Emotion, and Agency in a Self-Directed Learning Unit

Abstract

Despite the increasing recognition of language learning beyond traditional classrooms, little is known about how language teachers support and guide students in self-directed learning environments. Drawing on qualitative data from a team of experienced English as a Foreign Language teachers, this article reports on the intersections between teachers’ cognition, emotions, and agency in a self-directed language learning unit (SDLU) at a university in Japan. Thematic analysis of the data illuminated dialectal relationships between teachers’ feelings, beliefs, and agency during the implementation of the SDLU. Although teachers were supportive of SDLU’s goals and the overall approach it promoted, they were cautious of intervening in their students’ self-directed learning due to concerns about protecting the learner autonomy that SDLU was designed to foster. As well as confusion over how best to meet the needs of their learners in this novel context, they experienced vulnerability in relation to their professional identities and there was considerable variation in ways teachers enacted agency and managed the new learning environment. The findings suggest teachers may need guidance and support to help them recalibrate existing competencies and develop strategies for nurturing their students’ self-directed learning in novel classroom contexts.