Learner Autonomy in Learning English Language

In the field of language teaching and learning, the most successful learners are believed to be autonomous in a sense that they accept why, what and how they are learning because teachers cannot teach everything and help learners outside the formal setting of education and fulfill the needs of all the learners. Therefore, learners need to learn the language on their own. On the other hand, learners may not come to the classroom with natural gift of autonomous learning principles. Hence, teachers should train learners how to learn the language by themselves. These days, there is no adequate literature concerning learner autonomy in Ethiopia, and it seems that the concept is new for many practitioners. Having considered the situation, this study was conducted to explore learner autonomy in learning English Bahir Dar Higher Preparatory Secondary School in focus. Therefore, this work provides the practitioners some notions about the concept of learner autonomy, reasons for promoting learner autonomy, characteristics of autonomous learners, the roles of teachers in autonomous language classrooms, the role of learners,and how is autonomy fostered.