Learner autonomy is now regarded as a desirable goal in tertiary education as it is found
to comply with learner-centered approaches and enable students to pursue life-long
learning (Sinclair, 2000a; Ciekanski, 2007). In the time of COVID-19 pandemic, the
essential to conduct in-depth investigations into leaner autotomy and online learning has
become more urgent, especially in the context of a university in Vietnam. This
quantitative research responded to such a pressing call by exploring two aspects: (1) the
students’ perception of online learning, and (3) the potentiality of online learning for
developing learner autonomy. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires
administered to 199 English-majored students in the context of a university in Mekong
Delta. The results revealed that the students possessed positive perceptions toward
online learning. Furthermore, the potentiality of online learning was explored including
the ability of (1) planning learning experience, (2) evaluating learning performance, (3)
determining learning goals, (4) self-controlling learning process, (5) taking responsibility
for learning decision. Last but not least, this study expected that the proposed
pedagogical implications will contribute to the innovation of promoting learner
autonomy in online learning in the context of a university in the Mekong Delta of
Vietnam.

Keywords: online learning, learner autonomy, the potentiality of online learning,
students’ perception