Study On The Application Of Autonomous Learning To English Pronunciation Teaching

English pronunciation teaching is a complex and often problematical one. Although everyone recognizes the importance of a "decent' pronunciation, there are many factors that conflict with and militate against the teacher's target. Morley (1991), Celce-Murcia et al. (1996) and others have invariably expressed concerns about English as a second/ foreign language users, who have difficulties in pronunciation (necessarily including intonation), may put them at a professional or social disadvantage. Changing views on language learning and teaching have influenced a move from teacher-centered to learner-centered classrooms. Concurrently, there has been a shift from specific linguistic competencies to broader communicative competencies as goals for teachers and students (Morley, 1991). The study is intended to seek a more effective and practical approach to improve students' English pronunciation by adopting autonomous learning in pronunciation learning both in and out of class. Holec (1981) describes autonomous learning as "the ability to take charge of one's own learning". According to Pennycook, autonomy "is based very much on developing strategies, techniques or materials in order to promote individual self-development"(1997). In recent years, it has developed rapidly in China since the communicative teaching method and some other learner-centered approaches were introduced to English teaching during the 1980s. An increasing number of Chinese researchers have put much emphasis on various aspects of autonomous learning. In terms of the concept of autonomous learning, Xu Jinfen et al. (2004) narrow the focus to the investigation of learners' autonomous learning capacity. Yang Shuxia (2002) points out the urgency of developing students' awareness of autonomy, and suggests some strategies. Li Hong (1998) discusses the appropriateness of autonomous learning in China.In addition to pronunciation error analysis, the whole study is based on the following two research questions:1) What are the students' attitudes towards autonomous learning? Are they prepared, both physically and psychologically, for autonomous learning?2) Does autonomous learning facilitate English pronunciation acquisition? Fifty-two English majors who are freshmen of two classes participate in theone-term study, which actually lasts ten weeks, with one class as experimental group engaged in autonomous learning strategy to improve their English pronunciation andthe other receiving traditional pronunciation instruction as the control group. Prior to the study, a pronunciation pretest is conducted for the purpose of ensuring that there are no significant differences between two groups. In addition, a written questionnaire and an interview are administrated in the experimental group to see whether the students are ready for autonomous learning. Meanwhile, the students in the experimental group are supposed to write a report every week about their problems and progress in English pronunciation. At the end of the study, both experimental group and control group are required to take pronunciation post-test to see whether there are significant pre-post differences between the two groups. The data obtained are computed and analyzed via SPSS Version ll.O.The results from the study indicate that incorporating autonomous learning into English pronunciation teaching plays a significant role in enhancing the students' English pronunciation. Autonomous learning approach helps students to understand phonological features better, and more importantly, motivates them to find out their strengths and weaknesses in acquiring English pronunciation. The approach grasps the core of students' pronunciation problems and provides targeted solutions to those problems, thus having many implications for classroom teaching and learning.