Vietnamese Tertiary Students’ Autonomy in Learning English Listening Skills

Abstract

Autonomy is deemed a crucial component of the learning process since it contributes substantially to learners’ academic achievement and equips them with lifelong learning skills. This paper aims to investigate tertiary students’ autonomy in learning English listening skills (ELS) through a mixed method using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. After selecting participants with the random sampling method, the study surveyed 150 sophomores and 10 EFL teachers at a public university in Hanoi. 10 students and 5 teachers were then randomly selected to take part in 10-minute semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that students were not willing to learn English listening skills autonomously and they needed more guidance from teachers to develop their autonomous listening ability. The data also revealed that one of the most common factors hindering learners’ self-study was their lack of motivation. Based on the findings and discussion, the study suggested some recommendations to improve the effectiveness of students’ autonomy in learning English listening skills.