A Survey Study On The Learner Autonomy Of Tibetan-speaking English Learners At The Tertiary Level

By means of questionnaires and interview on autonomous learning abilities of Tibetan students from Northwest University for Nationalities, it is found in this survey study that l)the Tibetan students' autonomous English learning abilities are not so high; 2) some individual factors, i.e., sex, grade, birthplace, categories of the subjects, living areas and majors, exert little influences on the Tibetan students' autonomous English abilities; whereas, the learning time, means of English learning of the subjects in this research correlate positively with their autonomousEnglish learning abilities; 3) the subjects' participation in the English class correlates negatively with their autonomous English learning abilities.Based upon to the results of descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, T-test, linear regression and interview, the causes of the difference on their autonomous English learning are analyzed. It is found that the main reasons for the difference are 1) short learning time both in and out-of class; 2) over-reliance on the sole learning method; 3) failure to fulfill the learning plans; 4) inadequacy of English learning strategies; and 5) lack of monitor and evolution of the learning process. Based on this analysis, it is proposed that we should 1) Reshape the educators and learners' traditional learning conception, especially their bias towards autonomous English learning; 2) Alter test-orientated learning and teaching situation; 3)Change the traditional ideas of teacher-centeredness; 4)Pay more attention to the basic education, make full use of present teaching devices to widen the approach of learning, and conduct out-of-class activities; 5)Trigger the students' intrinsic motivation and facilitate the establishment of student-centered learning model to cultivate the students' autonomous English learning abilities.