Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University

Contradictions often occur when concepts that originated in the West are applied in other contexts. Such is the case when concepts like autonomy and attributions are introduced in the context of language education in Asia. The claim that autonomy is universally applicable is refuted when researchers...

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Main Authors:	Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, Thang, Siew Ming
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit UKM 2013
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/6325/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/6325/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/6325/1/3306-7238-1-SM.pdf

id	ukm-6325
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-63252016-12-14T06:40:51Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/6325/ Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, Thang, Siew Ming Contradictions often occur when concepts that originated in the West are applied in other contexts. Such is the case when concepts like autonomy and attributions are introduced in the context of language education in Asia. The claim that autonomy is universally applicable is refuted when researchers revealed findings which indicate that some Asian learners appear more teacher-dependent than autonomous. In the case of attributions, the claim that people in general credit themselves for successful outcomes (self-enhancing bias) and blame others for poor outcomes (ego-protective bias) appears to contradict findings that revealed some Asian learners have the opposite pattern of attributions, namely self-critical tendency. Such contradictions suggest the need to consider a number of factors like social, cultural and political when interpreting such concepts. Studies undertaken in the Malaysian context propose students‟ socio-cultural backgrounds as the reason behind their general tendencies to be teacher-centred and self-critical in the learning of English. They suggest that societies that nurture its members to respect teachers may produce self-critical learners. However, no empirical study has been undertaken to establish the relationship between autonomy and attributions in the Malaysian context. This study is an effort to bridge this gap in knowledge. A questionnaire survey was administered to 169 students of a Malaysian public university and its findings revealed their general tendencies to be both teacher-centred and self-critical. Difference in proficiency levels has some minor influence on autonomy and attributions, and the relationship between them. Penerbit UKM 2013-05 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/6325/1/3306-7238-1-SM.pdf Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, and Thang, Siew Ming (2013) Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 13 (2). pp. 41-64. ISSN 1675-8021 http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/Gema/gemahome.html
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Contradictions often occur when concepts that originated in the West are applied in other contexts. Such is the case when concepts like autonomy and attributions are introduced in the context of language education in Asia. The claim that autonomy is universally applicable is refuted when researchers revealed findings which indicate that some Asian learners appear more teacher-dependent than autonomous. In the case of attributions, the claim that people in general credit themselves for successful outcomes (self-enhancing bias) and blame others for poor outcomes (ego-protective bias) appears to contradict findings that revealed some Asian learners have the opposite pattern of attributions, namely self-critical tendency. Such contradictions suggest the need to consider a number of factors like social, cultural and political when interpreting such concepts. Studies undertaken in the Malaysian context propose students‟ socio-cultural backgrounds as the reason behind their general tendencies to be teacher-centred and self-critical in the learning of English. They suggest that societies that nurture its members to respect teachers may produce self-critical learners. However, no empirical study has been undertaken to establish the relationship between autonomy and attributions in the Malaysian context. This study is an effort to bridge this gap in knowledge. A questionnaire survey was administered to 169 students of a Malaysian public university and its findings revealed their general tendencies to be both teacher-centred and self-critical. Difference in proficiency levels has some minor influence on autonomy and attributions, and the relationship between them.
format	Article
author	Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, Thang, Siew Ming
spellingShingle	Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, Thang, Siew Ming Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University
author_facet	Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, Thang, Siew Ming
author_sort	Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar,
title	Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University
title_short	Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University
title_full	Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University
title_fullStr	Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University
title_full_unstemmed	Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University
title_sort	revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a malaysian university
publisher	Penerbit UKM
publishDate	2013
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/6325/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/6325/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/6325/1/3306-7238-1-SM.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:46:36Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:46:36Z
_version_	1777405941400993792

Revisiting autonomy and attributions: a case in a Malaysian University

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