Call for papers - special issue of Language Learning & Technology on 'Learner Autonomy and New Learning Environments'

This special issue of Language Learning & Technology will focus on the relationship between technology and learner autonomy. The affordances and constraints offered by new learning environments, whether in mobile, immersive, distance, or other forms of learning, often place greater, and in many cases different, demands on learners’ ability to manage their own learning. At the same time, they can also offer greater potential to support learners in the learning process. We are inviting submission for papers that explore these affordances and constraints and the development of autonomy. Papers should be grounded in a theoretical framework that formulates research hypotheses and then seeks to confirm or disconfirm them by following an appropriate research methodology (http://llt.msu.edu/resguide.html).


Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• Metacognitive demands of new learning environments

• New ways of using technology to foster autonomy

• Technology and social aspects of autonomy, e.g., social networking

• Effects and outcomes of technology use in relation to learner autonomy

• Sociocultural inquiry into autonomy-related aspects of learning through technology

• Technology and the measurement of autonomy


Please send an email of intent with a 500-word abstract by March 20, 2010 to llt-editors@hawaii.edu.


Publication timeline:

• March 20, 2010: Submission deadline for abstracts

• April 15, 2010: Invitation to authors to submit a manuscript

• September 3, 2010: Submission deadline for manuscripts

• October 3, 2011: Publication of special issue