Learner autonomy and learning strategy use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

This study aims to explore the autonomy level and use of language learning strategies in a preparatory school of a state university before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred fifty-five preparatory school students from a state university participated in the research. For the data collection, Oxford's Language Learning Strategy (LLS) and a learner autonomy questionnaire developed by Zhang and Li were used. Means, standard deviation, t-test, and Pearson's r-correlation were used to analyze the data. The results showed that while participants' level of learner autonomy before the pandemic was high, during the pandemic it was moderate. Additionally, the results from the LLS questionnaires showed that students used a moderate proportion of language learning strategies before and after the pandemic. Finally, the correlation analysis used to determine the relationship between the level of learner autonomy and LLS use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that there is a positive and linear relationship between the level of learner autonomy and LLS use.