The Autonomy of Indonesian EFL Students: A Mixed Method Investigation

Abstract

The present study sought to scrutinize undergraduate EFL students’ learning autonomy in a state university in Indonesia. This study employed a triangulation study of mixed-method design by distributing questionnaires and conducting interviews to get quantitative and qualitative data. The questionnaire was distributed to 40 second year participants enrolled in listening, speaking, reading, and writing for academic purposes classes, whereas 15 participants were selected for the interview Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data collected from the questionnaire and the interview. Findings revealed that the level of students’ learner autonomy was classified as moderate level of autonomy. This indicated that Indonesian undergraduate students were considered somewhat autonomous learners. In addition, the Indonesian undergraduate students defined learner autonomy as independent learning with or without the teacher’s assistance, students responsible for their own learning, and learner autonomy was the student’s self-awareness and self-initiated to learn outside the classroom to find ways of learning and collaborate with others. The study recommended that teachers should consistently develop learner autonomy in their teaching practice.