Preliminary Investigations into Learner Agency among Uzbek Students in EFL and ESP Learning

Resumen

A sense of agency refers to an individual’s awareness through which the actions are initiated voluntarily and carried them out under one’s own personal control. Having such awareness in learning contexts plays an important role in achieving learning objectives. In essence, the construct including awareness, the control of actions and choice implies a sense of ownership (Brown, 2014). In this article, I examine preliminary investigations into learner agency among Uzbek students in EFL and ESP learning. Three volunteer students, two are males and one is female, participated in this study. Two types of data, observation and interview, were gathered and analyzed using discourse analysis. The current study revealed some affordances through which the students manifested their agency. Less teacher control, more freedom to speak and share ideas, answering the questions and elaborating on them, setting up goals and attempts to achieve them, taking unsolicited turns and getting involved in the topic or discussions actively, showing resistance to prove ideas are seen the forms of manifesting agency among Uzbek students.