Autonomy in Assessment: Bridging the Gap between Rhetoric and Reality in a Distance Language Learning Context

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is on the exercise of autonomy by learners in higher education during the assessment process, rather than the assessment of evidence of learners’ autonomy or the use of peer-assessment. It identifies the key features involved in the exercise of autonomy as critical reflection and decision-making, and examines the significance of these features, before considering debates about the extent to which learners can be trained to reflect critically and make decisions about their learning. These debates include questions about whether autonomy is a capacity or an innate characteristic, exercised individually or collaboratively, and how it may best be developed in language education.