A Study On College English Teacher’s Role Conversion In Network-based Autonomous Learning

With the further development of College English Teaching Reform, the network educational technology has been widely applied and teaching mode has undergone tremendous changes. Students become the center of the classroom; college English teacher’s role in the network environment is undergoing developmental changes.Researches on teacher’s role in the network environment emerged. Most scholars conducted theoretical study on the definition of teacher’s role in a network environment, but further study is still needed to focus on empirical research of the actual conversions for teacher’s role.Based on the existing research results, the present study takes constructivism and learner autonomy as the theoretical basis and surveys the current situation of teacher’s role conversion in Network-based autonomous learning (NB AL hereafter). Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are adopted. With the combination of classroom observations, questionnaires and interviews, the study firstly investigates 108 students and 35 teachers subjects in Xi’an Polytechnic University and then interviews 15 teachers. The recorded interviews and collected survey data are analyzed by SPSS 19.0 software for data descriptive statistics, frequency analysis and independent sample T analysis of results.Through detailed analysis of the data, the results of the study presents that:(1). There are imbalances in the conversions of different roles, between the teacher’s cognition and actual performance, in the role conversion of teacher’s different age range and between student’s expectation for teacher’s role and the teacher’s actual performance. (2). The factors affecting teacher’s role conversion consist of students’ recognition degree of learner autonomy, teacher’s cognition of Network-based autonomous learning and comprehensive abilities and the support from the concerning teaching function institutions.With the analysis of the research results, counter-measures are proposed in the study. College English teachers should reconstruct teaching concept and knowledge structure, enforce teacher’s training program on information technology and systematically fulfill the role conversion in three phases of Pre-class, In-class and Post-class.With the deepening development of the information age, Network-based autonomous learning will be the main stream of the College English Teaching Reform. The present study provides some referential recommendations to those English teachers who are hindered and confused by the current difficulties, hoping it can be instrumental in promoting the successful conversion of English teacher’s role in network-based autonomous learning..