The importance of language learner autonomy for plurilingualism

Both education for plurilingualism and education for language learner autonomy require decision-making, self-reflection and autonomous action, implying the adoption of learning strategies. Assuming that the higher the level of language learner autonomy, the more frequent the adoption of (meta)cognitive behaviours to transfer one’s knowledge from a language to another (plurilingual strategies), this study began by investigating young pupils’ perceptions of their autonomy in language learning. Then, autonomy-related variables possibly influencing the use of plurilingual strategies were detected: the teacher’s role, the learner’s motivation and linguistic repertoire, the learner’s ability to connect school and out-of-school knowledge. Findings have shown that the influence of autonomy on the development of plurilingual competences depends on affective factors such as student’s attributions and motivation for plurilingualism and autonomy. Conversely, a critical aspect that still requires enhancement in foreign language education is metacognition, as conditions of potential plurilingualism were shown not to lead to plurilingual competences, if not supported by learning awareness.