A Study Of The Teaching Mode Combining Web-based Autonomous Learning With Tutoring

With the rapid development of modem technology, computer is playing a more and more important role in our life. In the educational filed, computer-assisted language learning has attracted widespread attention, and it has become a hot topic in foreign language teaching. The 2004 College English Curriculum Requirements issued by the Ministry of Education states: "Colleges and universities should remould the existing unitary teacher-centered pattern of language teaching by introducing new model with the help of multimedia and network technology. The new model should be built on modem information technology, particularly network technology, so that English language teaching will be free from the constraints of time or place and geared towards students' individualized and autonomous learning", "College English course designing should give a full play to the strengths of traditional classroom teaching." At the end of 2005, an English autonomous learning center was established in Guangxi University. In the following year, the teaching mode of combining autonomous learning with tutoring is applied to the non-English majors of Grade 2005. This study aims at exploring: (1) teachers' and students' attitudes to the mode; (2) with the introduction of web-based learning, whether teachers have adjusted their traditional way of teaching; (3) whether students can get used to the mode and whether about their autonomous learning ability is enhanced; what advantages and problems exist. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to collect and analyze the data. The subjects in the study are the non-English major students of Grade 2005 who use the textbook of New College English, and their teachers.The results of the study show that most teachers and students think the current teaching mode, in some degree, can help enhance students' listening ability for they have more chances to practice it; and it also can foster students' autonomous learning ability. Many students claim they basically can get used to the teaching mode, but say the tutoring is not interesting enough because, teachers usually follow a fixed procedure in the teaching. Results also show that most students' autonomous learning ability is quite low which teachers do not take full consideration of, so the situation of students' learning in the web-classroom is not so desirable. In addition, because the autonomous learning center is newly established, the learning platform and equipment are not good enough. For example, the learning resources in the platform are not rich and diversified enough, and there is irregular breakdown of equipment.With regard to the tutoring, the writer proposes that teachers should pay more attention to the practice of speaking skill as well as reading skill; and the Task-Based Approach be applied to the traditional classroom teaching, which encourages students to use language to complete task based on the new language input so that they can learn by doing; the cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies training be used to improve students' autonomous learning ability based on some scholars' studies at home and abroad.