E.g. the skill independent learner retained in modern times (7)
I believe the answer is:
article
'e g' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'the skill independent learner retained in modern times' is the wordplay.
'the skill' becomes 'art' (I've seen this before).
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'learner' becomes 'l'.
'retained in' indicates putting letters inside.
'modern times' becomes 'ce' (abbreviation for common era).
'l' going within 'ce' is 'cle'.
'art'+'i'+'cle'='ARTICLE'
(Other definitions for article that I've seen before include "Newspaper item" , "Division" , "leader" , "Newspaper feature or a separate thing" , "Recital (anag.)" .)