ABSTRACT A STUDY ON LEARNERS&amp / #8217 / READINESS FOR AUTONOMOUS LEARNING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE KO&Ccedil / AK, Ayfer MSc, Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Fersun Payko&ccedil / September 2003, 115 pages The purpose of this study is to investigate whether, or not, students attending English Language Preparatory School at BaSkent University are ready to be involved in autonomous language learning. This study also argues that before any interventions aiming at fostering autonomy are implemented, it is necessary to explore learners&amp / #8217 / readiness for autonomous learning in four different areas. These areas are as follows: (a) Learners&amp / #8217 / motivation level in learning English, (b) Learners&amp / #8217 / use of metacognitive strategies in learning English, (c) Learners&amp / #8217 / responsibility perception of their own and their teachers&amp / #8217 / in learning English and (d) Learners&amp / #8217 / practice of English in the outside class activities. The questionnaire used in the study was administered to 186 students attending Preparatory School of BaSkent University. The data analysis was carried out through quantitative (frequencies, means, standard deviations, t-test and one-way ANOVA) analysis techniques. The results of the study indicated that majority of the students had high motivation. Another result revealed that the students tended to use some metacognitive strategies like self-monitoring and self-evaluation. The third result showed that the learners considered the teacher as more responsible for most of the tasks during their own learning process. Fourthly, majority of the students tended to be spending quite little time for out-of-class activities to improve their English. The fifth result displayed that females and elementary learners had higher motivation in learning English, but a significant difference was not in the motivation level concerning the learners&amp / #8217 / major field. The sixth result pointed out that females used more metacognitive strategies in learning English / however, proficiency level and major field of the learners were not found to be significant factors in the use of metacognitive strategies. The seventh result revealed that responsibility perceptions did not show a significant difference regarding the respondents&amp / #8217 / gender, proficiency level and major field. Finally, the present study indicated that intermediate level language learners tended to do more out-of-class activities in learning English. On the other hand, the frequency of respondents&amp / #8217 / conducting out-of-class activities in learning English did not show a significant difference concerning the subjects&amp / #8217 / gender and major field. Key words: Learner Autonomy, Learner Responsibility, Self-regulated learner.

In this degree project the concepts of student democracy, student influence, learnerresponsibility and learner awareness are discussed. This has been done in connection to the learner autonomy movement in Sweden and the steering documents at a secondary school level. Our study concerns some teachers’ and students’ attitudes to and experiences of working with these issues in school. We came to the conclusion that the teachers that we interviewed are very aware of what the steering documents say and try to incorporate these essential parts in their teaching. We also found that the students are not at all aware of theconcepts and ideas presented in the steering documents in the same way as the teachers are.Also, the teachers’ and the students’ understanding of these terms differ, something that may lead to a misunderstanding and make it hard to discuss matters connected to student democracy and learner autonomy. A lot of work has to be done in schools in order to make the students more aware and to encourage them to take more responsibility for their learning.