Autonomous learning has already established itself as the key element to language
learning for almost three decades, but the concept just received serious attention in the context of
Vietnam three years ago when certain colleges and universities started to apply the credit-based
system in education. Given the circumstance, this study investigated into how non-English
majored undergraduates and graduates perceived their responsibility and ability related to
autonomous learning of the language and into the students’ autonomous learning activities in and
off class. The results show that the concept of learner autonomy is still alien to both the students
and the teachers although the former do want to change their current learning situation. The study
suggests that autonomous learning be incorporated in the students’ language curriculum.
