An exploration of learner autonomy in an international university in Japan

Sociocultural perspectives on learner autonomy demand a whole-life perspective on the learner, who has agency in the construction of their identity. The full implications of this have not until now been accounted for in learner autonomy research. Central to an understanding of the autonomy in learner autonomy from a sociocultural perspective, I argue, is the relationship between choices and values. Through participatory ethnographic inquiry that involved the iterative process of generating multimodal qualitative data and relating it to theories of learner autonomy, identity and personal autonomy, I conceive learner autonomy as: the capacity to exercise control in learning (a process of identity construction), which amounts to self-definition through self-direction on the basis of authentic values arrived at through self-reading; in relation to the affordances and constraints inherent to the embodied, sociohistorical and emplaced self. This universal construct is manifested in ways that are particular to place. In the English medium, international, liberal arts university, situated in Japan, that was the context of this inquiry, learner autonomy was manifested in students’ attempts to reconcile disruptions to their identities caused by the heterogeneity of the student body, the English (foreign) language environment and opportunities for experiencing novel ways of life. The emotional responses to these disruptions prompted self-reading, which led to self-definition and often self-direction, which were afforded by opportunities for friendships (which afforded emotional support and opportunities for value-oriented dialogue), an institutional ethos of autonomy, opportunities for the development of knowledge (which facilitated the development of knowledge of oneself in relation to the world) and support for participating in communities of practice. This thesis documents the inquiry from its autobiographical and contextual origins, through its positioning in relation to learner autonomy literature, development of the theoretical framework and research methods, presentation and interpretation of data on the learning trajectories of students at the university, and discussion of its implications for the field, for practice and for the Japanese educational context.