Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning in a Virtual
Learning Environment
M. Hamilton
Bloomsbury 2013, viii + 248 pp., £52.50 (hardback)
isbn 978 1 4411 5064 6
As digital technologies become ever more a part of
our daily lives, it is natural that teachers and learners
should incorporate both hardware and software into
the language learning process. To many, it appears
self-evident that technology offers great potential
for autonomous learning and learner autonomy. Of
course, in reality things are never as straightforward
as we would hope. In this book, Miranda Hamilton
adds to an increasing body of research looking at the
interplay among language acquisition, technology, and
autonomy.
The book is well written, with a clear and crisp style
that allows the reader to follow the theoretical drive
of the book without strain. It is divided into nine
chapters and it has the feeling of a doctoral study;
this is not a criticism, as the original study was clearly
worthwhile and well conducted, and the conversion to
a book has been carefully managed. I only mention it
to give a feeling for the scope and organization of the
study. The first three chapters contain the literature
review; the central section describes the context,
the subjects, and the findings; and in the final two
chapters, the author seeks to draw some conclusions.
The first, brief chapter, entitled ‘Paradox and promise’,
acts as a general introduction and sets out the key
issues and the research questions. Fundamentally,
Hamilton argues against the blind assumption that
the introduction of technology automatically bestows
autonomy upon the learners. This assumption, she
suggests, misrepresents both the nature of learner
autonomy and the effects of the introduction of
technology into a learning environment. As she puts
it, ‘The theoretical aim of this book is to examine
how the introduction of technology impacts upon
the dimensions and interconnectedness between
elements in a learning environment relative to
autonomy’ (p. 9).
Once this is established, the second and third
chapters situate the study within the relevant
literature. Chapter 2 does a fine job in fulfilling the
requirements of its title ‘Understanding autonomy:
an overview’. As Hamilton points out, ‘autonomy
is problematic not only to define, but also to
operationalise and evaluate’ (p. 17). None the less, in
this chapter she covers most of the key literature from
the early days of learner autonomy thinking (Holec
Reviews
1981), charting developments in the field through
the eighties and nineties (Dickinson 1987; Benson
and Voller 1997), right up to contemporary research
(Dam 2009). The author addresses the concept of
learner autonomy from several angles: technical (the
capacity or ability to act autonomously), psychological
(the desire to act autonomously), political (the power
structures of education), and cultural (the social
structures of education). Hamilton then applies these
frameworks to the virtual learning environment (VLE),
emphasizing the social aspect of language learning,
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in tandem with the learners’ capacity and opportunity
for self-determination, to arrive at an ecological
understanding of learner autonomy. This draws heavily
on the work of van Lier (2004), which Hamilton
elaborates on in the fourth chapter.
Unfortunately, there is still a belief among both
teachers and learners that doing something alone or
out of class is equal to learner autonomy. Technology
has certainly liberated learning from constraints
of time and location, but drills and quizzes do not
become autonomous learning activities simply
because you do them on your mobile phone on the
bus. In Chapter 3, ‘Technology: virtual promise or
virtual reality–the pedagogical challenge’, Hamilton
calls for temperance in the implementation of
educational technology. This is well-trodden ground
for anyone with more than a passing interest in the
field and I would argue that, within academic circles
at least, mainstream thinking is for a balanced and
considered take on the advantages of technology.
Here, Hamilton starts with historical approaches to
Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), such
as structural, communicative, and integrative, in order
to situate her study. This is a solid theoretical base,
and the author ties the technology to her ecological
vision of learning to clarify her research goals in more
detail. The main questions that emerge here regard
the relationship between technology and autonomy,
and in particular how the introduction of technology
into a learning environment (physical or virtual)
affects learner behaviour.
In the fourth chapter, ‘Shadow dancing: autonomy in
action’, the author returns to the themes she began
to outline in Chapter 3 and, melding autonomy with
technology, develops a conceptual framework for
understanding learner autonomy in the VLE. Her
basis is van Lier’s (2004) ecological approach, in
which the complex interactions between learners with
and within environments are studied. Rather than
examining educational technology in isolation, the
researcher needs to understand that learning is social.
Hamilton sets three ‘cornerstones’ for her conceptual
framework: affordances (learning opportunities),
235
the totality of relationships, and language defined by
context (p. 76).
In this chapter, we are also introduced to the
participants in the study and learn more about their
context. Hamilton provides a brief but sufficiently
detailed precis of English language education in
Mexico, and fleshes out the theoretical skeleton
supplied in the early chapters. The methodology for
the study is outlined along with several examples of
blended lesson plans.
Control, Autonomy and Language Learning. Hong Kong:
Hong Kong University Press.
Dickinson, L. 1987. Self-Instruction in Language
Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Holec, H. 1981. Autonomy and Foreign Language
Learning. Oxford: Pergamon (first published 1979,
Strasbourg: Council of Europe).
van Lier, L. 2004. The Ecology and Semiotics of
Language Learning. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic
Publishers.

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The concluding chapters report the findings of The reviewer
the study, learners perspectives on technology in Darren Elliott is originally from the United Kingdom
general and EFL (Chapter 5), using the VLE in class and has been teaching in Japan since 1999. He is
(Chapter 6), and using it in their free time (Chapter Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign
7), respectively. What emerges from these chapters
Studies at Sugiyama Jogakuen University. His research
is a nuanced understanding of the simplistic
interests include learner autonomy, technology in
assertion that technology enhances autonomy. In
language learning, and teacher development. He is
the penultimate chapter, Hamilton returns to the
ecological perspective she introduced earlier in the currently researching the connection between learners’
book and outlines the three significant issues that metaphors for learning and their propensity for
surface from the data; firstly, that learners respond autonomous learning, and student video production
to direction from the task rather than the technology, and identity.
secondly, that technology enables students to extend Email: darrenrelliott@gmail.com
their access to learning and encourages autonomous doi:10.1093/elt/ccw002
behaviour, and finally, that the configuration of the
two factors (task and technology) affects behaviour.
Hamilton makes a strong argument in support of
her conclusions, returning to the earlier chapters for
reference. As is the convention, in the final chapter
the author summarizes neatly and suggests future
directions for research in this area.
The publishers, as is their way, perhaps cast the net a
little too wide in pitching for potential readership on
the back cover. This is an academic work, albeit an
accessible one. Having said that, institutions are very
attracted to software systems (something tangible to
put into the marketing brochures), and as a result,
many teachers and learners find themselves planted
in VLEs without a real sense of direction. There are
other books out there if you are looking for practical
activities and nuts and bolts instruction, but this book
is a thought-provoking exploration into the theoretical
background. If you have an interest in learner
autonomy, educational technology, or both, this book
is definitely worth your time.

References
Benson, P. and P. Voller (eds.). 1997. Autonomy
and Independence in Language Learning. London:
Longman.
Dam, L. 2009. ‘The use of logbooks–a tool for
developing learner autonomy’ in R. Pemberton,
S. Toogood, and A. Barfield (eds.). Maintaining

236 Reviews