Facilitating Autonomy to Enhance Motivation: Examining the Effects of a Guided-Autonomy Syllabus

Language learning research in Japan has categorized students’ motivational orientations as multifaceted and leaning towards extrinsic orientations. Meanwhile, as self-determination theory correlates intrinsic motivation to academic success, we argue that enhancing intrinsic motivation is necessary to foster autonomous learners. Many studies categorize motivational orientations, but rarely, have any used interventions to measure changes in motivation. We used the guided-autonomy syllabus design as an intervention to enhance motivation through autonomy skills training. We also introduce our ‘Can-Do Booster’ journal based on our C.L.A.S.S. philosophy to guide students and teachers to promote learner autonomy skills. A shortened version of the Academic Motivation Scale was used to measure the change in academic motivation of first year university students during one semester of a required English course. The results suggest the guided-autonomy syllabus in Japanese university contexts enhances intrinsic motivation if importance is placed on student-teacher relatedness. Results of our Wilcoxon analysis are discussed from a self-determination theory perspective.