Towards A Model Of Web-based Autonomous Learning For English Majors At Higher Vocational School

Nowadays, the social and economic development in this new era and the informationization and marketization of scientific and technological knowledge push the reform of college English teaching objectives and the updating of teaching mode and methods. The college English courses instruction is on the way to web-based learning and autonomous learning, and how to create a personalized, interactive and cooperative English teaching and learning environment is a study of practical significance. Compared with the education mission and talents training mode of regular higher education, the higher vocational education differs with its unique policy of"service-aiming and career-orientation". It is of top priority to seek for an appropriate teaching and learning model in line with the characteristics of higher vocational English education. All of the above factors give birth to the new learning model of web-based autonomous learning.After 1990s, the foreign studies on learner autonomy have been carried out to a deeper and wider extent with intensive studies on the related topics of the integration of web-based learning and autonomous learning. The related studies at home have come into a hot issue in the field of domestic education. Most of the recent studies highlight the integration and effectiveness of network technology and autonomous learning model and analyze various factors concerned with this model construction. In general, however, they tend to be more principled and theoretical while less operative and explicit, much less are combined with the teaching characteristics of higher vocational education. It is expected from the present study, there is certain pushing and enlightening effect to the cultivation of learner autonomy for higher vocational English majors and their autonomous learning model. The study argues for the feasibility, operability of autonomous learning under web-based environment through field research and teaching practice and analyzes its unique advantages in professional English education at higher vocational schools and the existing problems; demonstrates a supportive integrated classroom and extracurricular web-based learning environment geared to the teachers and learners by virtue of substantial web resources and software, which is individual, cooperative and interactive; cultivate learners'interest, responsibility and conscientiousness towards professional English study and promote learner autonomy and life-long learning competence. Two classes of newly-recruited English majors in HZVTC are selected to participate in the study, with the total number of 75, and are divided into two groups for comparison. After the empirical study and the application of the model of web-based autonomous learning to learners in TG, learners'motivation and beliefs has been greatly promoted, as well as their learning ability and achievements, compared with those in CG and their own before the experiment; However, some problems do exist with regard to learners'consciousness, learning strategies and behaviors which seriously restrict their exertion of learner autonomy on FLL.The study hence suggests the importance for cultivating learners'metacognitive strategies and taking advantage of cooperative study in groups. Besides, the change of the role of both teacher and learner under this new learning model can not be ignored. The study is desired to be of some significance to the improvement of the quality of higher vocational professional English education and facilitation to major students'integrated English skills and their lifelong learning capability.The dissertation consists of five chapters.Chapter 1 comprises a brief introduction to background of this study, and purpose and significance of the present study and the frame of this thesis as well.Chapter 2 is about the literature review on some basic relevant theories about language learning, autonomous learning, web-based learning.Chapter 3 describes an autonomous learning model under web-based context comprising classroom learning and extracurricular learning by Internet.Chapter 4 is for a study checking the efficiency and effect of this kind of model by a designed survey and study consisting questionnaire and test. The analysis on the results of this study is followed thereafter.Chapter 5 provides a brief account of the implication of this study and some suggestions for the future teaching and learning.