Cooperative Learning in a Blended Environment:From Interdependence to Autonomy or Vice Versa?

Learner autonomy is an important pedagogical goal in education. In the literature researchers mainly address its individual dimensions, with its social dimensions seriously under-researched. This study aims to explore the reciprocal relationships between positive interdependence(and its two types:goal interdependence and resource interdependence) and learner autonomy(categorized into four dimensions: goal autonomy,plan autonomy,strategy autonomy and evaluation autonomy). The participants were 170 sophomores enrolled in a non-major English listening and speaking course from a university in central China which adopted blended cooperative teaching. Data were collected by a self-report questionnaire. Correlation and regression analyses indicated significant reciprocal relationships between learner autonomy and positive interdependence. Specifically, resource interdependence better fostered learner autonomy than did goal interdependence,with evaluation autonomy benefiting the most and strategy autonomy the least. This study also confirmed the positive effect of learner autonomy on cooperative learning as mediated by positive interdependence, and therefore characterized blended cooperative learning as'goal-driven, resource-enabled,assessment-guaranteed, and strategy-initiated'.