Abstract
Learner autonomy is widely regarded as essential to meaningful language learning, but in contexts shaped by high-stakes tests and strong familial involvement, it often proves elusive. This study explores how twelfth-grade Jordanian EFL students experience and understand autonomy in the shadow of the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (commonly known as the Tawjihi), the high-stakes national exit examination that exerts a pervasive influence over students’ future academic trajectories and educational priorities. Drawing on responses from 600 students across six public schools, the study examines how gender and academic stream influence perceptions of autonomy and which factors are most likely to support or constrain it. While internal factors, such as metacognition, critical thinking, and motivation, were rated low, respondents pointed overwhelmingly to environmental and sociocultural pressures, crowded classrooms, peer disengagement, family control, and exam anxiety as major barriers to autonomy. Female students and those enrolled in the scientific stream consistently reported higher levels of learner autonomy, whereas male and literary-stream students conveyed a stronger sense of being externally regulated. The findings underscore that learner autonomy is shaped less by personal disposition than by broader sociocultural and institutional contexts. The authors call for contextually responsive interventions across pedagogy, family engagement, and curriculum.