Perceptions of elt students related to learner autonomy in language learning

This study mainly aims to investigate the perceptions of ELT students related to Learner Autonomy in language learning. 73 male and 139 female students, a total of 212 students, participate in the study. A questionnaire is applied in order to identify the perceptions of ELT students related to Learner Autonomy in language learning. The questionnaire is prepared in four main parts: one of them is for background information of the participants and the other three parts are for their perceptions of ELT learners related to responsibilities, abilities, and activities on learner autonomy. In addition, in order to support the quantitative data, and to have a deeper understanding of the perceptions of ELT students, a total of 20 students, five students from each class, are interviewed. The findings gathered are analyzed according to the year of the study (from 1st year to 4th year) and gender of the participants. Mean, independent samples t- tests and One- Way ANOVAs are used for analyzing the quantitative data. Content analysis is done for the qualitative data and the findings of the qualitative data are organized according to the participants' year of study and gender. The results indicate that there are not any statistically significant differences between male and female students in terms of the perceptions of learners related to responsibilities, abilities, and activity choices. In addition, although there are statistically significant differences between the genders in terms of the perceptions of learners related to abilities and activity choices on learner autonomy, both genders have similar perceptions related to responsibilities of learners. The findings gathered from the qualitative data are in line with the findings of the quantitative data. The participants mainly state similar responsibilities, abilities and activities in terms of their year of study. In addition, qualitative data reveal that although both female and male participants give importance to the similar perceptions related to responsibilities, abilities, and activities on learner autonomy, they state different reasons regarding the perceptions of learners related to responsibilities, abilities, and activities. Additionally, participants utter some definitions related to learner autonomy and they prove how versatile the notion of learner autonomy is. Keywords: Learner Autonomy, Year of Study, Gender.