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it’s just trying to help students take charge of their own learning, it’s as muchas possible. Helping them being more independent and developing their ownstrategies.autonomy for me is an opportunity to work independently.The recurrent concepts noted here are common, as noted earlier, in the literatureabout learner autonomy and in this sense the teachers’ views were well-alignedwith this literature. A bias towards individualist views of learner autonomy wasagain evident here, though.RQ2: To what extent, according to the teachers, does learner autonomycontribute to L2 learning?In the questionnaire, 93.4 per cent of teachers agreed that learner autonomy hasa positive effect on success as a language learner, while 85.2 per cent agreedthat learner autonomy allows language learners to learn more effectively thanthey otherwise would. Overall, then, the teachers expressed strong positive viewsabout the contribution of learner autonomy to language learning. In the interviewswe asked the teachers to elaborate on these positive views and they suggesteda number of relationships between learner autonomy and successful languagelearning. These are listed below with a supporting quote after each.■■Autonomous learners are more motivated:I think it’s very important and I think it has a huge effect on motivation. And, themore autonomous the learners are, the more motivated they are. And then ofcourse that affects their ability to learn the language, to learn the language well.■■Autonomous learners are more committed:rather than the teacher just imposing on the students what they thought, thatactually involving the students meant that they were more committed to it, thatthey could identify with what they were doing because they’d decided it.■■Autonomous learners are happier:So, I think if the learner is in charge they know what they’re doing and on aday-to-day basis, or task-by-task basis understand why they’re doing something,why it’s important to them, then they’re going to be happier learners and they’regoing to be more motivated, and more willing to do what’s necessary to reachtheir goals.■■Autonomous learners are more focused:language learners who are independent, they’re the ones who are very focused■■Autonomous learners benefit from learning opportunities outside the classroom:I know that classroom time is not enough, and if I use some additionalopportunities outside the classroom, like watching TV, reading books, readingthe website, and just communicating with people, just involving myself inTeacher Beliefs Autonomy | 229