The Level of Autonomy in Iranian High School Textbooks

The Level of Autonomy in Iranian High School Textbooks

There are many factors to measure and determine the level of success in learning a language, but autonomy is a factor which makes learners self-regulated in and outside of class. It is, in fact, the most useful element in the lengthy process of language development. Therefore, it is considered as an important feature in learning a new language. In this line, the present quantitative study aimed at measuring the amount of autonomy skills in Iranian newly published textbooks titled Vision 1 and Vision 2. The study was accomplished by analyzing both student books and work books in all sections. Considering the great role of autonomy in educated, in general, and in language learning, in particular, the results of the study did not present an acceptable amount of attention paid to autonomy neither in content, nor in tasks of Vision series. The issue of autonomy even deserved higher attention in teacher-directed educational context of Iran, but the expected result was not met in the analysis of the gathered data. The related consequences of this finding are discussed and practical recommendations are provided for syllabus designers in the paper.

There are many factors to measure and determine the level of success in learning a language, but autonomy is a factor which makes learners self-regulated in and outside of class. It is, in fact, the most useful element in the lengthy process of language development. Therefore, it is considered as an important feature in learning a new language. In this line, the present quantitative study aimed at measuring the amount of autonomy skills in Iranian newly published textbooks titled Vision 1 and Vision 2. The study was accomplished by analyzing both student books and work books in all sections. Considering the great role of autonomy in educated, in general, and in language learning, in particular, the results of the study did not present an acceptable amount of attention paid to autonomy neither in content, nor in tasks of Vision series. The issue of autonomy even deserved higher attention in teacher-directed educational context of Iran, but the expected result was not met in the analysis of the gathered data. The related consequences of this finding are discussed and practical recommendations are provided for syllabus designers in the paper.