Learner autonomy is a construct in motion, unfolding in step with our academic imaginary. Over the past forty years, it has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to changing times. Introduced in the late 1970s during an era characterized by the teacher-dominated language classroom, learner autonomy provided a much-needed focus on learners as potentially independent individuals capable of taking charge of their learning. Later, as the so-called ‘social turn’ gained prominence in the field of applied linguistics, autonomy revealed itself to be a social construct developed through interdependence. Now, as applied linguists turn their attention to complexity science, what facets of learner autonomy can be revealed by examining the construct from the perspective of complex dynamic systems theory? This paper addresses this question by drawing on the findings of three studies – a five-year ethnography, a longitudinal multiple-case study and a narrative inquiry – all of which explored a social space for language learning located on the campus of a large national university in Japan. The aim of these studies was to explore the ways in which learners experienced the facility and how it supported their linguistic and personal development. Adopting an ecological approach enabled the author and fellow researchers to focus on the affordances that emerged through learners’ engagement with the environment. Gradually, as these studies were carried out over the past eight years, the thinking on how to view this space, the learners and their learning has expanded from a community of practice perspective to one embracing complex dynamic systems theory. This article will examine how this shift in theoretical focus has offered lessons on learner autonomy in this out-of-class context.

中文翻译：

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复杂时代的自主性：课堂之外的教训

学习者自主性是一种动态的建构，与我们的学术想象力同步发展。在过去的四十年中，它已经展示出了适应时代变化的能力。在以教师为主的语言教室为特征的时代于1970年代末引入，学习者自主性非常需要关注学习者，因为他们是潜在的独立个人，能够负责自己的学习。后来，随着所谓的“社会转向”在应用语言学领域中的地位日渐凸显，自治显示出自己是通过相互依赖而发展起来的一种社会建构。现在，当应用语言学家将注意力转向复杂性科学时，通过从复杂动力系统理论的角度检查构造，可以揭示学习者自主性的哪些方面？本文通过借鉴三项研究的发现来解决这个问题：五年民族志，纵向多案例研究和叙述性探究，所有这些研究都探索了位于大型国立大学校园内的语言学习的社会空间在日本。这些研究的目的是探索学习者体验设施的方式以及它如何支持他们的语言和个人发展。采用生态学方法使作者和其他研究人员能够专注于学习者与环境互动所产生的负担能力。随着这些研究在过去八年中逐渐进行，关于如何看待这个空间的思考，学习者及其学习已从实践社区的角度扩展到一个采用复杂动态系统理论的领域。本文将研究这种理论上的转移如何在这种课外环境中为学习者自主提供课程。