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Vol. 3, No. 2, 2020, pp. 86-94  86 

      10.12928/eltej.v3i2.2361               http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index        eltej@pbi.uad.ac.id 

EFL students’ attitudes towards learner autonomy in English 
vocabulary learning 

Thao Quoc Trana,1,* 

a Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH), 475 A Dien Bien Phu Street, Ward 25, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 
1 tq.thao@hutech.edu.vn * 

* corresponding author 

 

1. Introduction 

Many researchers (e.g., Nation, 2001; Richards & Renandya, 2002; Schmitt, 2010) have claimed 
that vocabulary is one of the most important components of language learning in which learners are 
able to use it in order to support for four language skills. Likewise, Balci and Çakir (2011) have 
confirmed that vocabulary plays a vital role in any stages of the learners’ language development. 
Moreover, it is impossible for a learner to communicate without the required vocabulary. Indeed, a 
number of scholars (e.g., Willis, 1990; Lewis, 1993; Folse, 2004) in the field of vocabulary believe 
that communication can occur without syntax and grammar, but not vocabulary. As such, it cannot 
be denied that if learners have no vocabulary, they cannot express their ideas, thinking or feelings as 
well as are unable to understand the meaning of written and spoken texts. Thus, vocabulary learning 
is a prominent domain to approach a satisfactory language proficiency level (Boers & 
Lindstromberg, 2008). 

The concept of learner autonomy (LA) has generally been focused as an alternative approach 
(e.g, Gremmo & Riley, 1995; Benson, 2001; Duong & Seepho, 2013, 2014; Duong, 2015; Tran & 
Vo, 2019), and it has been emphasized in educational environments and particularly in language 
learning (e.g., Holec, 1981; Dickinson, 1995; Little, 1991; Benson, 2003). McDevitt (1997) states 
that “the end product of language learning is an independent learner” in every aspect of the 
language” (p. 34). Therefore, vis-à-vis the aspect of vocabulary, helping learners to learn how to 
learn vocabulary autonomously is an immensely important element which ESL/EFL teachers have 
to take into account in teaching.   

Nevertheless, in the Vietnamese context as well as other EFL ones, it is noticed that the matter of 
LA in English vocabulary learning is not yet much emphasized (e.g., Duong, 2015; Tran & Nguyen, 
2017). Many EFL learners are still educated with the passive style along with the teacher-centered 
belief (Nguyen, 2014), and their proficiency in vocabulary today is still poor as they focus on 

 

A R T I C LE  IN F O  

 

ABST RACT  

 

 

Article history 

Received   22 June, 2020 

Revised   03 August, 2020 

Accepted   25 August, 2020 

 Whether EFL learners can use English well or not depends much on 
vocabulary they possess. Learner autonomy (LA), however, plays a 
pivotal role in amassing EFL learners’ vocabulary. This study 
endeavored to explore students’ attitudes towards LA in English 
vocabulary learning. Two hundred English majors from a Ho Chi Minh 
City based higher institution, Vietnam got involved in answering the 
closed-ended questionnaire, and ten students took part in semi-
structured interviews. The findings indicated that participants were 
cognitively aware of the importance of LA in English vocabulary 
learning, but affectively and behaviorally they showed low interest in 
LA in English vocabulary learning. Such findings may shed light on 
how to improve the teaching and learning of the English language in 
general and English vocabulary in particular at the research context and 
other similar EFL contexts.     

 

This is an open access article under the CC–BY-SA license. 

    

 

 
Keywords 

Attitude 

English major 

English vocabulary learning 

higher institution 

learner autonomy  

 

https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v3i2.2361
http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index
mailto:tq.thao@hutech.edu.vn
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 87 
 Vol. 3, No. 2, 2020, pp. 86-94 

 Thao Quoc Tran (EFL Students’ Attitudes towards Learner Autonomy in English Vocabulary Learning) 

memorizing a long list of English vocabulary provided by EFL teachers (Nguyen, 2013). In 
addition, learners are spoon-fed with vocabulary rather than learning the vocabulary independently 
(e.g., Duong, 2015; Tran & Nguyen, 2017). Therefore, this study endeavors to explore the students’ 
attitudes toward LA in English vocabulary learning at the context of a Ho Chi Minh-based higher 
institution, Vietnam. The research question is ‘What are English majored students’ attitudes towards 
LA in English vocabulary learning at a Ho Chi Minh-based higher institution?” 

The notion of LA has been differently defined by scholars and researchers (e.g., Holec, 1981; 
Little, 1991; Littlewood, 1996; Macaro, 1997; Benson, 2001; Vanijdee, 2003). Holec (1981) defines 
LA as the ability of learners to take charge of one’s own learning. Likewise, Littlewood (1996) 
defines LA as “learners’ ability and willingness to make choices independently” (p. 427). In 
addition, Macaro (1997) states that LA is “an ability to recognize the value of taking responsibility 
for […] learning” (p. 168). In the same vein, Benson (2001) highlights that LA is “the capacity of 
taking control of learning management, learning content” (p. 47), and other researchers (e.g., Duong 
& Nguyen, 2018; Tran & Duong, 2018; Tran, 2018; Tran & Vo, 2019) have pinpointed that LA as a 
complicated process in which learners must become more active and independent agents of language 
classrooms and even outside classrooms in different arenas such as selecting extra materials, 
selecting learning strategies, and self-evaluating their learning outcomes. In short, there are different 
ways to define learner autonomy. Within the scope of this study, LA is considered as learner’s 
willingness and ability to take responsibility for his/her own learning. 

Vocabulary learning is one of the major challenges faced by language learners (Ghazal, 2007), 
and it is impracticable for a learner to communicate without the necessary vocabulary items. 
However, a learner cannot learn all vocabulary in language classes, so he/she must seek other useful 
ways to help her acquire language vocabulary in the best way. LA is an extreme support for learners 
in vocabulary learning because it provides many advantages for learners (Gu & Johnson, 1996) as 
follows. LA not only enhances the learner’s motivation to help them learn vocabulary more 
effectively but also accommodates learners with more opportunities for language communication. In 
addition, it caters to the individual needs and abilities of learners as well. Moreover, it heightens the 
learners’ readiness towards active learning and helps them become more self-confident. In another 
aspect, according to Nada (2015), LA is very valuable because of two following reasons. The first 
reason is that LA helps students to develop their learning. The next reason is that it helps them to 
become interactively motivated learners. Therefore, the importance of LA in language learning 
process is undeniable. During that process, attitude is the core element that helps to build LA. 
According to Qui and Li (2006), positive attitudes are considered as a crucial factor which leads to 
the success of the development of LA.   

Attitude is defined as “a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular 
entity with some degree of favor and disfavor” (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993, p. 1), and it is composed of 
three components, namely cognitive, affective and behavioral components (Luu, 2011). According 
to Kara (2009), learners’ attitude has an important impact on their behaviors as well as on their 
performance. Attitude can shape the way students think, understand, feel and behave. In other 
words, it is believed that attitude shapes all decisions and actions (e.g., Brown, 2001; Eagly & 
Chaiken, 1993; Tran, Duong & Huynh, 2019; Tran & Seepho, 2016; Tran & Tran, 2017). 
Richardson (1996) asserts that “Attitudes and beliefs are a subset of a group of constructs that name, 
define, and describe the structure and content of mental states that are thought to drive a person’s 
actions” (p.102). Furthermore, Dörnyei (2007) states that not only intellectual capacity but also 
attitudes do contribute to the success of language learning. More academically, Ellis (1994) 
mentions that learners’ attitudes have been identified as an important variable on learning outcome. 
There are two tendencies of attitudes, i.e. positive and negative ones. A student who has a positive 
attitude towards a target language will attempt to do well in the classroom and study hard. In 
contrast, negative attitudes can impede language learning continuity.  

Prior studies have shown that research on different areas of LA in English language learning has 
been conducted. In respect of attitudes towards LA in English language learning, many researchers 
(e.g., Chan, 2001; Joshi, 2011; Mohamadpour, 2013; Chen & Pan, 2015; Sedighi & Tamjid, 2016) 
have conducted studies on this area. Remarkably, Chan (2001) investigated the degree of LA from 
the learner perspective in Hong Kong. Her research explored the learners’ attitudes of language 
learning, teacher and learner roles, their learning preferences and perception of learner autonomy. 
To achieve the aims of her research, 20 second-year English majored students in Polytechnic 



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University were asked to fill in four questionnaires. The findings revealed that the participants had a 
positive attitude towards autonomous learning. In addition, they had a clear understanding of learner 
autonomy and the role of the teacher. Chen and Pan (2015) carried out a survey with the use of 
questionnaire on students in a junior high school in central Taiwan.   Findings from 130 ninth-grade 
students revealed that the students held positive attitude towards autonomous in language learning, 
however, they are medium autonomous learners. The researchers also found that there was a 
correlation between learners’ learning autonomy levels and the use of language learning strategies.  

In the context of Vietnam, researchers (e.g., Luu, 2011; Le, 2013; Duong & Seepho, 2014; 
Nguyen, 2014) have conducted studies on learners’ language learning strategies in general and 
vocabulary learning in specific. Luu (2011) carried out his study at University of Finance-Marketing 
to investigate learners’ attitudes toward vocabulary learning autonomy and strategies they utilized in 
vocabulary learning. The participants belonged to two groups. The first group consisted of 140 first 
year students from four pre–intermediate English classes. The second group consisted of 13 
teachers. The findings indicated that although the students found their vocabulary very poor, and 
understood the importance of vocabulary learning autonomy, they still did not have a good habit of 
autonomous vocabulary learning. They even had low intrinsic motivation to learn and their 
confidence level for vocabulary learning is also not high. They thought that vocabulary learning was 
hard and they self-assessed their ability for the skill as rather low. For learning strategies, the 
students reported high familiarity to using bilingual dictionary, asking for L2-L1 translation, spoken 
repetition and word list for vocabulary retention. Le (2013) did a study on students’ belief about and 
performance of LA, and designed an integration between learner training with language courses of 
Listening and Speaking 3 at a private university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The findings 
indicated the major perception of LA relevant to taking initiative in self-study and some hindering 
factors such as time constraints, a stringent syllabus, and relationship between teachers and students.  

It is noticed that different studies have been conducted exploring various aspects of LA in 
English language learning; however, the research area on attitudes towards LA in English 
vocabulary learning seems not to be much focused. Therefore, there is a niche for this current study 
which aims at exploring attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary learning of English majors at a 
higher institution in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  

2. Method 

2.1 Research location and participants 

This mixed methods study was conducted at a higher institution located in Ho Chi Minh City, 
Vietnam. The research participants were 200 first and second-year English majored students who 
were purposively sampled to answer the questionnaire. Table 1 indicates that there were 88 male 
students (44%) and 122 female students (56%). In respect of the number of hours of learning 
English vocabulary, over a half of the students (68.5%) spent less than one-hour, while a very small 
number of students (2%) allocated more than two hours to learning vocabulary daily. In addition, 
17% of whom spared about one hour, and 12.5% of students spent from one to two hours. Of 200 
participants, ten students were purposively invited for semi-structured interview. They were chosen 
based on their volunteering and number of daily vocabulary learning hours. 

Table 1.  Research Participants’ General Information 

No. Information 
N=200 

F % 

1 Gender 
Male 88 44.0 

Female 112 56.0 

2 Number of daily hours of learning English vocabulary 

Less than 1 hour 137 68.5 

About 1 hour 34 17.0 

1 - 2 hours 25 12.5 

More than 2 hours 4 2.0 

Note: F: frequency; %: Percent 
 



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2.2. Research instruments 

Two research instruments, viz. closed-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interview, were 
employed for data collection. The questionnaire consists of two parts: Part A asking the 
respondent’s background information; Part B (main content) asking the respondent’s attitudes 
towards LA in English vocabulary learning. The main content which was adapted from Luu (2011) 
includes 12 closed-ended items with five-point Likert scale (from Strongly disagree to Strongly 
agree). Items 1 to 8 are for the significance of autonomous English vocabulary learning (cognitive 
component), while Items 9 - 12 are for interest in autonomous English vocabulary learning 
(affective & behavioral components). The questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese so that 
respondents did not encounter any language difficulty in answering the questionnaire. The 
Cronbach’s alpha value of the whole questionnaire was .79, which means that the reliability of the 
questionnaire was high. The semi-structured interview includes three main questions for in-depth 
information on participants’ attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary learning. The interviews 
were conducted in Vietnamese so that learners could express their ideas and thinking fully. 

 

2.3. Procedures for data collection and analysis 

With respect to data collection, the official questionnaire and interview protocol were conducted 
after they had been piloted. The questionnaires were administered to respondents in person, and 
instruction was conducted. It took the respondents approximately 15 minutes to finish the 
questionnaire. The questionnaires were returned after that. Then, ten students were invited for face-
to-face semi-structured interview. The interviews were conducted at break time and after class. The 
interview protocol was explained to interviewees. Each interview lasted from 20 to 25 minutes. All 
the interviews were recorded for later analysis.   

Regarding data analysis, the quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS in 
terms of descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data from interviews were analyzed by the 
content analysis approach. The interval scores of the five-point Likert scale were interpreted as 1.00 
– 1.80: strongly disagree; 1.81 – 2.60: disagree; 2.61 – 3.40: neutral; 3.41 – 4.20: agree; 4.21 – 5.00: 
strongly agree. The interviewees were coded as S1, S2 to S10. In order to make sure that qualitative 
data analysis was valid and reliable, two researchers in the field of English language studies were 
invited to re-analyze the three randomly chosen pieces of data. The percentage of convergent results 
among researchers should be at least 95%.   

3. Finding and Discussion 

3.1 Finding 

1) English majored students’ attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary learning 

As can be seen from Table 2, the overall mean score of English majored students’ attitudes 
towards LA in English vocabulary learning is 3.42 (out of 5). Particularly, the mean score of the 
significance of autonomous English vocabulary learning was very high (Group 1: M = 4.32, SD = 
.44); however, the mean score of the interest in autonomous English vocabulary learning was 
relatively low (Group 2: M = 2.51, SD =. 92). It can be indicated that cognitively, the participants 
were well aware of the importance of autonomous English vocabulary learning, but affectively and 
behaviorally they were not much interested and engaged in learning English vocabulary 
autonomously.  

Table 2.  English Majored Students’ Attitudes towards LA in English Vocabulary Learning 

No.  
N=200 

M SD 

1 Cognitive component 4.32 .44 

2 Affective and behavioral components  2.51 .92 

Total 3.42 .51 

Note: M: Mean; SD: Standard Deviation 

 



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2) English majored students’ attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary learning in terms of cognitive 

component 

The results in Table 3 illustrate the significance of autonomous English vocabulary learning. 
Cognitively, the participants strongly agreed that autonomous English vocabulary learning “is 
necessary” (Item 2: M = 4.60, SD= .62) and “plays an important role in English language learning” 
(Item 1: M = 4.32, SD = .74). In addition, they strongly believed that autonomous English 
vocabulary learning could help them to improve their language skills, i.e., speaking skill (item 4: M 
= 4.21, SD = .69), listening skill (Item 5: M = 4.35, SD = .88), reading skill (Item 6: M = 4.52, SD = 
.69), writing skill (Item 7: M = 4.37, SD = .78) and to understand English grammar (Item 8: M = 
4.36, SD = .79). However, the participants were in agreement that autonomous English vocabulary 
learning “helps [them] to develop my English language proficiency” (Item 3: M = 4.07, SD = .89).  

 

Table 3.  English Majored Students’ Attitudes towards LA in English Vocabulary Learning 
in Terms of Cognitive Component 

No. Autonomous English vocabulary learning… 
N=200 

M SD 

1 plays an important role in English language learning. 4.32 .74 

2 is necessary in English language learning. 4.60 .62 

3 helps me to develop my English language proficiency. 4.07 .89 

4 helps me to improve my speaking skill. 4.21 .89 

5 helps me to improve my listening skill. 4.35 .88 

6 helps me to improve my reading skill. 4.52 .69 

7 helps me to improve my writing skill. 4.37 .78 

8 helps me to understand English grammar. 4.36 .79 

Note: M: Mean; SD: Standard Deviation 

 
Qualitatively, the findings from the semi-structured interviews showed a consistent tendency 

with those of questionnaires that interviewees highlighted the importance and necessity of autonomy 
in English vocabulary learning. They shared as follows:  

I think that autonomous English vocabulary learning is very important because it helps 

me understand new words which I learned in class more carefully and from that it also 

helps me comprehend and remember the previous lessons in general and vocabulary in 

particular better. (S2) 

I think learner autonomy is extremely vital and necessary in not only learning vocabulary 

but also in learning other English skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing 

skills. I recognize that the help from friends and English teachers is very helpful, but they 

are not always available to help me at any time. (S1) 

To me, autonomous English vocabulary learning is very significant because I think the 

more I self-learn vocabulary, the better English I will have. (S4) 

 
3) English majored students’ attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary learning in terms of affective 

and behavioral components  

As shown in Table 4, it is noticed that the participants did not have clear affective attitudes 
towards whether they found it “interesting to learn English vocabulary autonomously” (Item 9: M = 
2.64, SD = 1.17) and “enjoyable to learn English vocabulary autonomously” (Item 10: M = 2.73, SD 
= 1.04). Regarding behavioral component, they did not “set the goals for autonomous English 
vocabulary learning” (Item 11: M = 2.39, SD = 1.03), and they did not “often prepare vocabulary 
before class” (Item 12: M = 2.28, SD = 1.06). Regarding the standard deviation scores of items 9, 
10, 11 and 12, they are relatively large, which means participants’ answers to the mentioned items 
were scattered.       

 



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Table 4.  English Majored Students’ Attitudes Towards LA in English Vocabulary Learning in Terms of 

Affective and Behavioral Components 

No.  
N=200 

M SD 

9 I find it interesting to learn English vocabulary autonomously. 2.64  1.17 

10 I find it enjoyable to learn English vocabulary autonomously. 2.73 1.04 

11 I set the goals for autonomous English vocabulary learning. 2.39 1.03 

12 I often prepare vocabulary before class. 2.28 1.06 

Note: M: Mean; SD: Standard Deviation 

 
The findings from the semi-structured interview exhibited some similar trends as those of the 

questionnaire. For example, some students said that: 

 It is very difficult for me to learn vocabulary autonomously after class. Although most of 

the students are advised to learn vocabulary autonomously by our teacher, we do not 

know how to do it. Therefore, I usually only set the time to learn vocabulary only before 

tests or exams. (S3) 

I admit that I am not interested in learning vocabulary. I know that it is very important, 

but to me, but learning vocabulary is very boring. (S2) 

I hate learning vocabulary because I do not know how to learn it effectively and fast. I 

found it difficult to learn vocabulary autonomously after class without the help and 

instruction of my English teachers. (S5) 

 
In addition, infrequent planning of any specific goals for vocabulary learning was also found in 

the interview results. For instance, 

I don’t set any goals for my learning vocabulary. I am not good at English. I just wish to 

pass the exams. (S7) 

To tell you the truth, I seldom plan any specific goals for my vocabulary learning. After 

class, I have to study other classes and do a lot of homework. Thus, I often concentrate on 

learning it in my free time when my English teacher asks me or before important English 

exams or tests. (S10) 

 

3.2. Discussion 

This study revealed some significant points. Participants, in general, had positive attitudes 
towards LA in English language learning. This finding is in alignment with that in previous studies 
(e.g., Chan, 2001; Chen & Pan, 2015) which have significantly asserted that the students held 
positive attitudes towards LA in learning English in general and English vocabulary learning in 
particular. This is viewed as a favorable condition which can strengthen the teachers’ efforts and 
beliefs in teaching vocabulary to their students. In other words, English majored students’ positive 
attitudes towards learning English vocabulary autonomously can be considered as a powerful 
motivating source for students to pay serious attention to vocabulary learning. 

Cognitively, participants perceived that LA played important roles in English vocabulary 
learning. This piece of evidence may show that the EFL high school students were ready to take 
responsibility for their own English vocabulary learning. This finding was confirmed by the results 
from Sedighi and Tamjid (2016) who found out that the respondents were willing and capable of 
taking responsibility for their own learning. Conversely, the findings from Mohamadpour (2013) 
found out that the awareness of EFL students of learner autonomy and their readiness to become 
autonomous learner were relatively low. One of the possible explanations may be that the 
participants were English majored students who had learned English for many years. That is why 
they were well aware of the importance of English vocabulary learning, and perceived the 
importance of LA in English vocabulary learning in order to improve their English language skills.  

Notwithstanding, the participants had neutral affective attitudes towards LA in English 
vocabulary learning, and they had negative behavioral attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary 



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learning. In another aspect, many of the participants may have had positive affective attitudes as the 
standard deviation scores were not convergent. Such findings contradict their cognitive attitudes 
towards LA in English vocabulary learning. It can be understood that although the participants 
believed that LA in English vocabulary learning was very important and useful to improve their 
English, they seemed to be quite reluctant to perform it. There are some possible explanations for 
such findings. The first reason may be that many participants may find learning English vocabulary 
independently boring, and they may have a tendency of dependence on their teacher who can supply 
them with new words in each lesson. The second reason may be due to the fact that participants 
were first- and second-year students, so they did not know how to use vocabulary learning strategies 
appropriately. The next reason may be that participants were not autonomous in learning as the fact 
shows that nearly 70% of the participants reported that they allocated less than one hour to learning 
English vocabulary daily. These findings are consistent with Joshi’s (2011) finding which found that 
although the learners were ready to take responsibility for their own language learning, they had 
tendency to accept the teachers’ power and authority in the learning process, and they are supported 
by the finding of Sedighi and Tamjid (2016) who have found that when students explored 
appropriate language learning strategies, they could develop their autonomy gradually through 
individual selection and application of different words in various circumstances. This may imply 
that there seems to exist a gap between participants’ awareness of LA English vocabulary learning 
and their emotion and action of autonomous English vocabulary learning. The implication seems to 
be consistent with the result from Luu (2011) which has shown that students were clearly aware of 
the role of autonomy in learning vocabulary; however, their level of interest in broadening their 
English vocabulary knowledge was only neutral.  

4. Conclusion 

Some conclusions can be drawn up in this study. Participants perceived that LA played important 
roles in learning English and improving their English proficiency, but some participants were in 
favor of LA in English vocabulary learning affectively and behaviorally. A gap exists between 
participants’ cognitive attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary learning and their affective and 
behavioral attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary learning.  

Such conclusions can suggest some implications. The findings showed that although students 
were well aware of the importance of LA in English vocabulary learning, their interest (affective and 
behavioral attitudes) in English vocabulary learning was low. Hence, it is imperative that teachers 
should motivate students and show them how to learn vocabulary independently by learning 
vocabulary by listening to English songs and watching English captioned movies. Additionally, 
students should be encouraged to make plans, set goals and manage their learning as well as self-
evaluate their English vocabulary learning. Along with that, teachers should get involved in 
monitoring and checking their students’ English learning process in general and English vocabulary 
learning in specific. This small-scale study is subject to some limitations. First, this study focuses on 
only one aspect of LA in English language learning. Secondly, this study involved only first and 
second year students. Hence, it is recommended that further research should include a wide range of 
students so that the results can be generalized to larger populations.         

 

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