Autonomy and Motivation in Higher Education

Abstract

Learner autonomy and motivation have been recognized by academics, researchers, and practitioners as both critical and problematic elements of linguistics and language learning, among other disciplines in higher education. The ongoing challenge lies at the heart of students exercising a critical sense of agency over their acquisition of disciplinary knowledge, educational experience, and applied practice. However, rather than being understood as a socially constructed action or outcome within limited frames of reference, learner autonomy and motivation may be viewed expansively as culture. Drawing on Raymond Williams's theory of culture and John Law's sociological concept of symmetry, this work attempts to explore how learner autonomy and motivation might be fostered and sustained, in an attempt to rethink how learner agency might be positioned as a normative practice.