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- Vol 4 RE: Chapter 18
learner agencyrelational agencysocial affordancespsychological safetystudent voicebelongingmeaningful choicesocial networksJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
This article develops a relational view of learner agency, arguing that students' capacity to act cannot be understood as an individual trait alone. Agency emerges from interactions among personal resources, perceptions, social relationships, and the affordances or constraints of particular contexts.
Key ideas
Drawing on qualitative accounts from language learners, the authors examine how peers, teachers, family members, and wider communities can enable action through encouragement, trust, shared purpose, practical help, and opportunities to participate. The same relationships may constrain agency through judgment, unequal power, limiting expectations, or a lack of psychological safety. Learners are not passive recipients of context: they interpret available possibilities, choose whether to use them, and can sometimes reshape their environments. Because agency is dynamic and temporally situated, it may vary across relationships and situations.
Why it matters
The study encourages educators to design for collaboration, belonging, voice, and meaningful choice while recognizing that simply offering options is insufficient. Supporting agency requires attention to learners' confidence, histories, goals, and access to responsive social networks.
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- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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