Gifts and Spaces: Metaphorical Conceptions of Teacher and Learner Autonomy

The concept of ‘autonomy’ has become an established one in language education research. Many researchers now claim that greater degrees of learner autonomy can lead to better performance from students, and by the same token greater teacher autonomy enables language instructors to fulfil their professional potential. In this paper, the author investigates language teachers’ relationships with the concepts of learner and teacher autonomy, and discusses methodological challenges in implementing metaphor-based research. An initial survey of language teachers working at Japanese universities (n=55) was conducted to ascertain instructors beliefs regarding ‘autonomy’, and how (or if) such beliefs were reflected in their practice. Metaphors generated in this survey were probed further in semi-structured interviews (n=14). The survey data reveals mismatches between self-reported beliefs and practice in connection with learner autonomy, with generally positive beliefs regarding learner autonomy not necessarily reflected in reporting on practice. Further analysis of the metaphor data collected through interviews suggests that language teachers see ‘learner autonomy’ and ‘teacher autonomy’ quite differently, with the former conceptualised as ‘a gift’, and the latter as ‘a space’.