Promoting learner autonomy to increase the intrinsic motivation of the young language learners

Motivation is in the agenda of most of the English language teachers because it is one of the basic needs of the students to be satisfied, so that they will begin to learn a language appropriately. Intrinsic motivation which stems from the learners themselves is very crucial in terms of willingness to learn a language and enjoy doing the tasks. The reason for most of young language learners for not joining the activities is the lack of intrinsic motivation indeed. Therefore the major concern of this case study is the lack of intrinsic motivation I observed in my sixth grade students at Çatalan Primary School in Adana. The specific purpose of the study was to examine the impact of learner autonomy on the intrinsic motivation of young foreign language learners. Assuming the fact that self-assessment checklist prepared in accordance with the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) is a valuable tool in promoting learner autonomy, I made used of it with the purpose of providing students opportunities to raise their awareness in autonomy so as to foster their intrinsic motivation in the classroom environment. Furthermore, I involved the learners in the decision making process by presenting them task choices to promote their autonomy.As sources of data Autonomy Learner Questionnaire (ALQ) and Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) were administered. Also classroom observations were done to support the data obtained from these instruments. The results were discussed by content analysis and Paired Samples T-Test.Keywords: intrinsic motivation, learner autonomy, young language learners, self-assessment checklists.