Prediction of ELT Students’ Academic (Language) Achievement: Language Learning Orientation and Autonomous Learning

Abstract

Learner autonomy is frequently debated among English language teachers and scholars around the world. From the perspective of Self-determination theory, autonomy supported learning environment has close relation with intrinsic motivation, higher perceived competence and academic achievement. The present study aims to define the prediction level of ELT students' academic achievement using their language learning orientation and autonomous learning. The participants of the study were the undergraduate students from two different universities studying in English Language Teaching departments. Results show that there is a positive correlation between intrinsic motivation and academic achievement, and also between autonomous learning and academic achievement. The regression analysis shows that autonomous learning and intrinsic motivation predict academic achievement strongly.© 2015 IOJES. All rights reserved Keywords: 1 Language learning orientation, autonomous learning, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, academic achievement IntroductionIn a normal educational context learners are not willing to take responsibility for their learning process and will not find it easy to reflect critically on the learning process. That is why there is a need for an intervention in ongoing classroom practice to promote learner autonomy. Learner autonomy has been regarded as an ultimate goal of education for a long time (Benson, 2001(Benson, , 2009. Especially in second language learning, the concept has been argued to be socially driven (Smith & Ushioda, 2009). Freedom, choice, and negotiation are often identified as important factors for learner autonomy improvement (e. g., Lamb, 2009).Researches carried out on language learning have consistently showed that autonomous language learners sustain their learning with a strong motivation, beliefs in what works in learning and strategies that help learners achieve their language learning objectives, all of which are essential elements of autonomous language learning (Gao, 2006;Oxford, 2003Oxford, , 2008 Wenden, 1998Wenden, , 2002Yang, 1999;Zhang, 2003).For several decades, researchers in social psychology and education have recognized the importance of motivation as an undeniable factor for successful second language learning. In fact, affective variables, such as attitude, orientations, anxiety, and motivation, have been shown to be at least as important as language aptitude for predicting language achievement (Gardner, 1985).Self-determination theory (see Ryan & Deci, 2000 for a review) suggests that one key aspect of the classroom climate is autonomy support. There has been a considerable growth of interest in the theory and practice of autonomy in language teaching and learning as a consequence of the innovations that have taken Hakan Karatas, Bulent Alci, Nihal Yurtseven & Hatice Gulru Yuksel 161 place in recent years. The recent innovations such as learner centered, resource-based, technology-based, and communicative approaches make the point clear that learners should...

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