Fostering The Ability Of Learner Autonomy In EFL In Vacation And Technology College

Learner autonomy has become a "buzz-word" with the context of language learning. It is a truism that learning process should place the importance on the role of the learner. Autonomous learners are expected to assume greater responsibility for. and take charge of. their own learning.Most language learners in the current Vacation and Technology College (V&T College) in china learn English with passive attitudes. This negative situation has been caused not only by the learners' motivation problem, but also by the problem of learning strategies, the inadequacy of evaluation systems and the teachers' inappropriate contribution to their teaching process.Learner autonomy is the focal topic of study, relevant with three dominant approaches to knowledge and learning, which are constructivism, social-interactions, and social-constructivism. Constructivism posit the view that, rather than internalizing or discovering objective knowledge (what ever that mean), individuals reorganize and restructure their experience. Social-interactionism is an approach within the humanities and language studies, shares with constructivism the view that knowledge is constructed rather than discovered or learned. Moreover, it argues that knowledge does not reflect reality, but rather comprises 'competing ideological versions of that reality expressing the interests of different social groups' (Benson & Voller, 1997: 22). Within this approach, learning concerns issues of power and ideology and is seen as a process of interaction with social context, which can bring about social change. Social-constructivism supports, and extends to cover, psychological versions of autonomy that appertain to learners" behavior, attitudes, motivation, and self-concept (Benson & Voller. 1997:23). As a result, social-constructivist approaches encourage and promote self-directed learning as a necessary condition for learner autonomy. Learner autonomy can't exist without learning strategies and motivation strategies. At the same time, learner autonomy does not mean that the teacher becomes redundant, giving up his/her control over what is happening in the language learning process.In order for learners to be actively involved in the learning process and to be autonomous, basically on the theories list above, the author provides the following solution:1. Fostering students' motivation.2. Developing learning strategies in the classroom.3. Cultivating group-work learning.