Autonomy CALLing: A systematic review of 22 years of publications in learner autonomy and CALL

Abstract

While research on language learner autonomy and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is abundant, few studies have sought to systematically explore the relationship between the two. By adopting a rigorous approach that identifies transparent inclusion and exclusion criteria, this paper presents a systematic review that seeks to identify: (a) the scope of interest, (b) features, and (c) the trends that emerge at the intersection of the empirical research on learner autonomy and CALL. A dataset comprising of 41 research articles published over a span of 22 years was coded and quantified, with the data extracted, then compared over two distinct periods, 1997 to 2010 and 2011 to 2020. Results show that there is a significant increase in the number of participants targeted for studies, which are situated in non-formal and informal learning contexts with an unstructured degree of formality. Moreover, online applications, such as social media and downloadable apps, seem to be favored and can be directly linked to the ubiquitous autonomous learning experience through either mobile-assisted language learning or informal learning.