Investigation of the Relationships between Autonomous Foreign Language Learning, Learning Styles and Some Variables

The purpose of this study is, firstly, to determine the levels of university students’ autonomous learning capacity and learning style preferences and their relationship with gender, age and each other. Secondly, it is aimed to increase the knowledge level of the students about these two topics through some education activities and lastly, to determine the principles of establishing a self-access center for foreign language learners where students can study on their own. The sample group of the study consisted of 408 students. A background questionnaire, Autonomous Learning Capacity Questionnaire and Kolb s Learning Style Questionnaire were used to collect data. The data were used to provide a descriptive and correlational analysis. The results show that almost half of the students have relatively high autonomous learning capacity, most of the students are divergers and least number of students are assimilators in terms of learning styles. It was also found that there is a significant relationship between autonomous learning capacity and gender; but there is no significant relationship between learning styles preferences with age and gender. Furthermore, there are no significant differences between autonomous learning capacity and learning style preferences.