Editorial Introduction to the Archival Reprint Issue on Learner Autonomy, Technology, and Language Development

Tin T. Dang

Authors

Tin T. Dang Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering

Keywords:

learner autonomy, learning engagement, virtual space, technology-supported learning space

Abstract

This editorial introduces a reprinted issue that consolidates four influential but difficult-to-access articles on learner autonomy, student engagement in virtual learning spaces, and teachers’ ideas in English language education in Vietnamese higher education. Drawing only on the reprinted works and accompanying framing documents, it argues that autonomy is best understood as a dynamic cycle of initiating, monitoring, and evaluating learning, and as a socially shaped capacity emerging through interaction, negotiation, and community participation. The editorial synthesises empirical evidence that student engagement in a Moodle-supported environment is differentiated and patterned (task-, content-, and community-oriented) and that meaningful online interaction and community formation require explicit pedagogical facilitation, assessment-aligned task design, and links to offline relationships. It further highlights how teachers’ beliefs and institutional, personal, and social mediators condition technology uptake and shape learners’ online participation. To conclude, the editorial proposes a prospective agenda focused on operationalising autonomy in technology-supported learning, testing design principles for sustainable online communities, and examining teacher facilitation under emerging digital conditions.

Author Biography

Tin T. Dang, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering

Dr. Tin T. Dang is an EFL and TESOL lecturer at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Vietnam. He currently works at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education. He has also been supervising research students at several other institutions. He completed his MA in TESOL at University of Queensland and PhD at La Trobe University. His research primarily focuses on learner autonomy, teaching methodology, curriculum development, and technology in education. He has published in TESOL in Context, The Journal of Asia TEFL, The Asian EFL Journal, The Internet Journal of Language, Culture and Society, and a few others. He has chaired Language Teaching and Learning Today Conference (LTLT) in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2023.

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