I often find general education literature inspirational. I also feel it can help give autonomy research the scientific veneer it so badly needs. Especially the area of research into metacognition is particularly relevant. I recently came across an old paper by Winne & Hadwin on this topic who discuss the different conditions, operations, products, evaluation and standards (their ‘COPES’ model) of the learning process, as they are affected by metacognition. This is a useful model to more accurately describe and investigate autonomous language learning behaviour. As an example, they divide ‘conditions’ into cogntive and task-related aspects:
Resources
Instructional cues
Time
Social context.
The latter include:
Beliefs, dispositions and styles
Motivational factors and orientations
Domain knowledge
Task knowledge
Knowledge of study tactics and strategies
I think this type of work can be very interesting not just for research but also for teacher education as it gives an excellent framework for teachers to learn about the conditions that need to be in place for the development of autonomy to take place. I am looking forward to applying this model in my workshops.
Winne, P. H., & Hadwin, A. F. (1998). Studying as self-regulated learning. In D. J. Hacker, J. Dunlosky & A. C. Graesser (Eds.), Metacognition in educational theory and practice (pp. 277–304). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.