An investigation on prospective German language teachers’ autonomous learning level

Abstract

Developments in the last decades necessitated the acquirement of diverse skills that enables to keep up with the changing conditions of todays’ world. In this context teachers as learners are in need of a continuous renewal. The acquirement of autonomous learning skills promoted at the teacher education might be contributory for the development of a life-long learning ability. The aim of this study is to analyze the factors affecting the autonomous learning behaviors of prospective German language teachers to determine their actual state. Thus the purpose of the study is to identify students’ autonomous learning behaviors in view of different variables and to discuss the results with respect of learner autonomy and foreign language teacher education. For data collection Autonomous Learning Scale was developed and used. Non - parametric Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney –U tests were used to identify whether there is a significant difference between students autonomous learning behaviors according to class, age, gender and educational background. The results of the study showed that there is no statistical significant difference among class level and educational background in terms of autonomous learning, but there were statistical significant differences with regards of age and gender. Further the subscales “planning†and “performing†had on average a higher score as the subscale “evaluatingâ€. The findings of the study indicated that teachers as learners have to be promoted with regard to their actual state. Further studies regarding learner autonomy in teacher education are recommended for the promotion of teacher competences.