Learner Autonomy and Holec’s Model

Holec’s seminal definition of learner autonomy as the capacity to take charge of one’s own learning has guided my work as a language educator in both classrooms and self-access centres over the past 30 years. Implementing his model, I encouraged learners to take responsibility for all aspects of their learning from goal setting to assessment. However, my focus has gradually shifted from the individual learner working independently towards individual learners working collaboratively. I adopted a community of practice perspective to conceptualize to conceptualize the learning I saw happening through social interaction. Gradually, this frame of reference expanded to encompass ecology and complexity thinking. In this chapter I explore how adopting complex dynamic systems theory as a theoretical orientation has influenced how I view learner autonomy and Holec’s model. To illustrate my points, I draw on data from three studies carried out over an eight-year period in a social space for language learning at a Japanese university: an ethnography, a multiple-case study and a narrative inquiry. After describing the learning context, tracing the evolving theoretical orientation, and outlining the studies, I examine learner autonomy as an emergent phenomenon in relation to such themes as control, change, space and place, and imagination. Before concluding, I reflect on the implications for practice, further inquiry, and Holec’s model.