A Critical History of Autonomous Language Learning: Exposing the Institutional and Structural Resistance Against Methodological Innovation in Language Education

Abstract

In our current information societies, opportunities for innovative language teaching methodologies are plenty, yet we continue to teach languages as we did centuries ago. In this paper, I will conduct a critical review of the history of language learning, the institutionalization of language education, and the information revolution in order to unveil the structural and material factors that limit methodological innovation and hinder the development of learner autonomy, critical thinking, and life-long learning. Based on this review I further argue that scarcity and the system’s rational functionality are the root problem as well as the foundation of traditional language teaching. The conclusions of this paper offer a critical assessment of the possibilities as well as necessary conditions for the development of truly innovative methodologies and education reform. Keywords: learner autonomy, self-access, language learning, self-directed learning, life-long learning