A Case Of Iranian Students Education Essay Example

activities, and assess student progress. Learning English primarily involves memorization of vocabulary and grammar, which is common in public universities. However, self-access centers offer students the opportunity to take charge of their learning by selecting materials and planning their own learning.

According to Holec (1981, p. 3), liberty is the ability to take control of one's own learning. Little (1991, p. 4) defined autonomy as the ability to withdraw, critically reflect, make decisions, and take independent action. The fundamental principle of autonomy is closely connected to scholars' acceptance of responsibility in language acquisition.

The role of Persian students in the learning process is hindering their success; they observe and listen in the classroom and compete with their classmates instead of collaborating. This makes it difficult for them to adapt to self-access learning. According to Gardner and Miller (1999), the introduction of self-access language learning changes the roles of teachers, students, and the classroom environment. It is an "approach to learning language, not an approach to teaching language" (p. 8). The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of law major university students regarding autonomy, acceptance of responsibility, and decision-making ability in different aspects of language learning in order to assess their readiness for self-access language learning.

Readiness for Autonomy

Readiness is a term coined by Cotterrall (1995) and it refers to the level of willingness and ability of learners to engage in independent language acquisition.

According to (Littlewood, 1996), two factors, ability and willingness, influence the development of liberty. Littlewood's definition implies that a person can have the capability to make independent choices but lack the desire to do so. Conversely, a person may possess the willingness but

not the capability to make decisions. Meanwhile, readiness measures the relationship between attitudes and liberty. In a study by Cotterall (1995), 131 learners' beliefs on independent language acquisition were examined using a 90-point questionnaire. The study identified six factors: role of the instructor, role of feedback, learners' self-efficacy, important strategies, dimensions of strategy-related behavior, and nature of language acquisition. The results indicated that learners' beliefs regarding these variables impact their readiness for liberty in learning.

The educational system in Iran is experiencing a rapid transformation, shifting from traditional methods to a more modern and advanced approach. This change is evident in primary and secondary schools, as well as private institutes that provide independent language learning opportunities for students. However, there are teachers and students who resist these changes and struggle to adapt their roles, interactions, and activities in the classroom. Despite not having a self-access center, the University of Guilan acknowledges the increasing number of students and the need to enhance their language skills to encourage lifelong learning attitudes in this rapidly changing society. To assess students' readiness for independent language learning at self-access centers, it is vital to conduct research on their perceptions and attitudes. Many studies have already explored learners' preparedness for independent language acquisition across various settings.

A study conducted by Chan, Humphreys, ; Spratt (2002) examined the readiness of students for independent language learning. The motivation for the study was the introduction of self-access centers at the University of Hong Kong. Researchers analyzed students' attitudes towards their responsibilities and those of their instructors, their confidence in autonomous learning, and their evaluation of motivation in learning English.

The study included 508 male and female students

enrolled in English courses at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The researchers utilized a questionnaire and interviews to gather data. Results indicated that students had limited understanding of their own responsibilities and abilities, regarding their instructor as primarily responsible for their learning.

The sole notable survey on scholars' preparedness and attitudes towards liberty in Iran was conducted by Kashefian-Naini (2002) at Shiraz University. The study examined 168 male and female EFL scholars' readiness for liberty using Cotterall's (1995) questionnaire and factor analysis. The findings revealed the presence of the following factors among this group of Persian EFL students: scholar independence, dependence on the instructor, learner confidence, attitudes towards language acquisition, and self-assessment. Other variables such as age, sex, marital status, GPA, parents' education level, year of study, occupation, birthplace, and place of residence were also considered. Only academic achievement and professional status had an impact on EFL students' preparedness for liberty. In a related research study by Javdani, Ghafoori, and Mahboudi (2011), 120 ESP scholars majoring in Insurance and Biology investigated their beliefs and attitudes towards the role of self-access language learning centers (SAC) in improving their reading comprehension at the University of Tabriz.In addition, the researchers also investigated the perspectives of ESP scholars on various materials and resources such as lexicons, graded readers, graded readers with cassettes, grammar books, vocabulary books with exercises, listening and writing materials, computer programs, and audio-video tapes.

The participants in the questionnaire had a positive view of the resources and considered the SAC as a favorable place for learning. The author acknowledges the lack of previous research on the connection between perception of liberty and responsibility and decision-making ability in Iran. To

address this gap, a study was conducted with law major students attending an English for specific purposes class at university.

Methodology

The main objective of this study was to assess how prepared Persian ESP learners are for independent self-access language learning. Readiness was defined as their perceptions of personal responsibility, instructor responsibility, and decision-making ability in different aspects of language learning.

The research aimed to investigate if there is a connection between students' perception of responsibility and their decision-making skills. The researcher utilized a quantitative research design to objectively describe the perceptions of a large group of ESP students. The focus of the study was on how these students perceive their language acquisition responsibilities and decision-making abilities at university. Additionally, the study explored the potential relationship between these perceptions and decision-making ability in different aspects of language acquisition.

Research Settings and Participants

The study included 133 law major university students from both the University of Guilan and Azad University of Anzali, located in Iran's Guilan region. Purposive sampling was used to select participants, specifically targeting law majors (ESP) without excluding anyone from the study.

Questionnaire

The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the preparedness of ESP students for independent and self-directed learning in terms of their perceptions regarding responsibility and ability in different aspects of language acquisition. In order to achieve these objectives, Chan et al. (2002) utilized a questionnaire that specifically addressed these areas. The original questionnaire consisted of four sections [responsibility, ability, independent activities (both inside and outside the classroom), and motivation], but for this study, only two sections (responsibility and ability) were employed by the researcher. To prevent any confusion, the English version

was translated into Farsi (Iranian language). To ensure the reliability of the questionnaire, it underwent evaluation by experts at the University of Guilan who assessed its content validity, face validity, and clarity.

The final Persian questionnaire was prepared and piloted with 35 law major students, who were not included in the final survey. The data gathered from the pilot survey was analyzed. To assess the reliability of the questionnaire, the Cronbach-alpha value was calculated to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. The Cronbach-alpha value for the Autonomy questionnaire was found to be a??= 0.94, indicating a high level of reliability.

Data Analysis:

For data analysis, first, percentages of responses were calculated for each item in each section to examine ESP students' perceptions of responsibility and decision-making ability in different areas of language learning process.The Chi-square trial aimed to investigate how students' perception of responsibility relates to their decision-making skills in language learning. The results and discussion section presented the findings. In this part of the survey, participants were asked to rate their own responsibility and their instructors' responsibility using a Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 5 (completely).

Table 1 presents the percentages of responses and the statistical correlation between participants' perceptions of themselves and their instructors. To improve readability, we have combined the categories "not at all" and "a little", as well as "mostly" and "completely". According to Table 1, most students believed they shared responsibility with their instructors for various aspects of language learning, including making progress during lessons, stimulating interest in learning, evaluating progress, and overall grades. However, for points 6, 7, 8, and 10, students perceived that their instructors had a

higher level of responsibility. These points involve methodological elements such as determining class goals, selecting activities, and choosing materials for English learning.

The text highlights that students took responsibility for different aspects of language acquisition, such as identifying weaknesses and determining how much time to spend on each activity. This showed their progress in language acquisition and their readiness for independent learning. The second section of the questionnaire aimed to assess participants' perceptions of their ability to make decisions about language learning.

Students ranked their responses on a five-point Likert graduated table from 0 (really hapless) to 5 (really good). Table 2 displays the percentages of students' responses for each question. The "really hapless" and "hapless" categories have been combined, as well as the "really good" and "good" categories, to enhance readability. Most students' responses fell into the "fine" category of the scale. According to Chan et al. (2002), this category suggests that students possess average ability and are capable of autonomously managing their own learning. Only points 17, 20, and 22 indicate that students have a "good/very good" ability to perform these activities.

The main points discussed in this text include taking learning objectives beyond the classroom, assessing learning progress, and identifying areas of weakness. According to the findings of this study, participants stated that they were able to assess their language learning skills but acknowledged sharing this responsibility with instructors. This implies that Persian ESP students still depend on teacher support despite being capable of self-assessment. One premise of this research was to examine how students' perception of responsibility relates to their independent decision-making in language learning.

The significance between these variables was determined using chi-square. Four

pairs of points showed a significant relationship at a level below 0.05 (see Table 3 for the chi-square results). These pairs include items 16 and 6 ("taking learning objectives in class" and "deciding the objectives of the English class"), items 24 and 9 ("deciding how long to spend on each activity" and "deciding how long to spend on each activity"), items 18 and 10 ("taking learning materials in class" and "choosing what materials to use to learn English in English lessons"), and items 20 and 11 ("evaluating learning" and "assessing learning"). The results indicated a connection between students' perceptions of their abilities and responsibilities. Perceiving greater ability may result in perceiving greater responsibility, or vice versa.

The findings of this research indicate that Persian ESP students have the ability to make decisions regarding certain aspects of their language learning process, and their acceptance of responsibility in certain language learning areas directly correlates with their ability. The results also suggest that Persian students require more independence to showcase their ability, such as in selecting goals and activities during the language learning process. Therefore, it is important to consider the role of context and the educational system as a significant factor that can either facilitate or hinder the development of independent behavior among students.

Limitations

Despite achieving its objectives, this research study had certain limitations. Firstly, the participants were limited to law major students, thus the results cannot be generalized to other students. Secondly, the researcher solely relied on a questionnaire for data collection, which limits the extent to which the results can be theoretically substantiated.

Further studies need to investigate other students, including those studying a different major and those

from different age groups. Additionally, the researcher only focused on students' perceptions, so another study could examine teachers' perceptions of preparedness for self-access language learning. Moreover, this study explored participants' perceptions towards ability and responsibility; future studies could explore other factors, such as participants' perceptions of their roles and their instructors' roles.

Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications

The main findings of this study are: (1) students were willing to take responsibility for certain areas, such as identifying weaknesses, working harder, deciding what to learn outside the classroom, and checking progress outside the classroom; (2) students were not willing to accept responsibility for tasks such as determining the objectives of the course, deciding what to learn next, and selecting activities and materials for learning English; (3) students had an average level of ability to manage their learning; (4) there is a significant correlation between how students perceive their abilities and their responsibilities.

Perceptions of greater responsibility would result in perceptions of greater capability, or vice versa. According to the findings of this study and the review of literature, there may be several implications: First, these students demonstrated an average level of proficiency in various situations of independent language learning mentioned earlier (e.g. setting learning objectives outside the classroom, evaluating their progress). Therefore, it seems reasonable to provide them with more opportunities to learn English based on their individual needs, such as offering situations where they can freely choose based on their needs and interests. Developing autonomy also requires resources and facilities, one of which is a self-access center that can foster independent language learning among students. Just like Javdani, et al.

According to (2011), a SAC can function as a

span and prepare scholars for real language usage (p. 17), similar to the findings of Gardner and Miller (1999) who stated that scholars who engage in self-access centres have control over their learning and experience new roles. Therefore, this study suggests that our students are prepared in certain aspects of language acquisition, and providing facilities such as a SAC can help them develop autonomy more easily. Additionally, this study highlights the need for further research on Persian students' perceptions towards other related areas such as their roles as English learners, their engagement in independent activities, their level of motivation, and their use of metacognitive strategies in language learning. As the educational system in Iran is changing and the number of self-access centres in private institutes is increasing, conducting research studies on these topics would assist universities and institutes in preparing themselves before offering self-access facilities to their students, as students' behavior is strongly influenced by their attitudes and perceptions.

Notes on the contributor

Razieyeh Ahmadi obtained a Master's degree in TEFL from the University of Guilan, Iran.

She has experience teaching English to scholars at various institutes. Her research areas include autonomy in language acquisition, computer-assisted language acquisition, English for specific purposes, and self-regulated learning strategies.