Learner autonomy perceptions of EFL teachers

The thesis was conducted with 72 EFL teachers working at English preparatory programs at Yeditepe University and Istanbul Bilgi University. The aim of the thesis was to investigate learner autonomy perceptions of EFL teachers. With that aim, 6 research questions were answered with the collated quantitative data from the questionnaires and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews. The results of the quantitative part of the thesis showed that, EFL teachers working at English preparatory programs have a positive attitude towards the development of autonomy in general. There was no scientifically significant effect of age on the levels of LA perceptions of EFL teachers. LA perception levels of teachers who have 1-5 and 5-10 years of experience were above the levels of teachers who have 10-15, 15-20, 20 and over years of experience. Qualitative part of the thesis stated that, teachers define LA with words such as individuality, awareness, ability, responsibility, aims and goals of the students, strengths and weaknesses and active participation. As for the problems and hindrances for the development of learner autonomy, participating teachers mentioned education system, teacher-centric approaches, students' not being accustomed to guiding themselves, lack of personal aims and dependence to outside sources. The most important roles of the teachers were helper/guide, facilitator, resource, motivator, monitor, moderator and leader.