IMPROVING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ AUTONOMY: IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY

Learner autonomy is one of the issues that have absorbed so much attention among language learning experts. They are trying to investigate new ways to foster it to make language learners more independent and responsible regarding their language learning process. The present study has been performed to investigate the effects of incorporating technology-based activities on learner autonomy. The design of the study was qualitative and quantitative. For this purpose, ۴۰ male and female biomedical engineering students ranging between ۱۸ to ۲۵ years old, who attended a General English course once a week, voluntarily participated in the present study. The participants have divided into two groups of control and experimental, and the experimental group received ۱۲ sessions of treatment using Whats App social media. The learners recorded their voices while describing the pictures they selected and sent them to the group created in Whats App. Also, they did journal writing after each session. The study results showed that language learning through technology-based activities has a positive effect on fostering learner autonomy, and it can improve self-reflection- self-assessment, and control over learning material by enabling the learners to take charge of their learning.