The Relationship Between Learner Autonomy and English Proficiency of Yemeni Postgraduate ‎English Students: A Correlational Study in Hodeidah University

Abstract

Knowing the level of students' learner autonomy and its impact on their language proficiency makes teachers aware of the significance of this term for better EFL learning. Also, this helps in fostering learner autonomy especially that one of advanced students. This study investigates postgraduate students’ level of learner autonomy and its relationship with their English proficiency in a sample of 35 second-year postgraduate students undergoing two-year Master degree course in English, in the Department of English at the Faculty of Education affiliated to the University of Hodeidah, Yemen. The needed data are collected by a means of a learner autonomy questionnaire and a standard proficiency test. For data analysis, one-sample t-test and Pearson Correlation are used. The findings reveal that the learner autonomy and English proficiency of postgraduate English students, in Hodeidah University, are not ‎significantly correlated and this implies that the high or low level of English proficiency of the ‎students doesn’t imply that their learner autonomy will be high or low correspondingly.‎

Keywords: Learner autonomy, language proficiency, postgraduate (PG) ,‎ correlation and relationship.