A Study On The Correlation Between College Level-A Class Students' Learner Autonomy And Their English Proficiency

As an increasing number of foreign language educators have become aware of the importance of fostering learners'autonomous learning ability, the study of learner autonomy has become a rapidly growing field of research in language teaching and learning. Foreign learning theory has advocated that autonomy is the stated objective of many educators. The purpose of this study aims at investigating the relationship between learner autonomy and students'English proficiency of College English Level A Class students. The level of learner autonomy was determined by using the Learner Autonomy Profile (LAP), while English proficiency was measured by their CET-6 scores.The sample of this study consists of 134 Non-English major freshmen of Level- A class at Hunan University, who took the CET-6 in June 2010. There are 105 (78%) returned valid surveys. The present research adopted quantitative and qualitative research. The first phase is a quantitative research, and it aims at revealing whether there is a positive and significant correlation between the LAP and the students'English proficiency measured by CET-6. And among the factors of learner desire/ learner initiative/learner persistence/learner resourcefulness construct, which construct or component has the greatest correlation and contribution to English proficiency. The purpose of second phase using the qualitative research is to interpret and testify the primarily quantitative study. In this phase, semi-structured interview was conducted with eight students who had completed the first phase questionnaire.Significant correlations of all constructs and components of Learn Autonomy Profile scores and CET-6 score have been found after the Pearson's correlation analysis except Group Identity component and Communication Skills. Multiple Regression analysis revealed that the combination of three variables-Change Skills, Deferring Gratification and Being male made a great contribution to CET-6 score. The qualitative research confirmed and testified the aforementioned quantitative data.This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One gives a brief introduction of formulation and significance of the study. The research purposes and questions are also included. Chapter Two provides a theoretical framework for present research, including the learner autonomy, Learner Autonomy Profile and some detailed information about the two topics. Previous studies at home and abroad concerning the topics are discussed at the end of this chapter. Chapter Three demonstrates the methodology of this study, mainly interns of purpose of the study, the research questions, research design, the instrument, and data collection and analysis. In chapter Four the results of this study are carried out concerning the quantitative and qualitative research. And it also discusses those findings. The last chapter summaries the whole thesis. The limitations and suggestions of further study are also provided in this chapter. The results of this study shed light on a number of theoretical and practical implications regarding both learner autonomy and academic achievement. Meanwhile, it also provides some references to learner autonomy, English learning and College English Placement Teaching and Learning.