An Investigation Of English Autonomous Learning Ability Of Vocational College Students In Ethnic Minority Region

Since the autonomous learning theory was put forward in the early 1960 s the development of the students' autonomous learning ability has become an important subject of research in the field of foreign language teaching and learning.English learning is a long learning process.If learners possess proper autonomous learning ability,they can gain better effic iency and effectiveness in language learning.A lot of research at home and abroad has been conducted on this issue.In the existing literature about the research of autonomous learning,limited work seems to be done in examining the English autonomous learning ability of vocational college students in the context of ethnic minority regions.Even though some studies are tried targeted at the vocational college students,they are not specific to the regions where Mongolians mainly inhabit.According to Zimmerman's(1997)definition and the research framework of autonomous learning,the study attempts to investigate the current status of the students' English autonomous learning ability at the vocational college level in ethnic minority region by adopting the questionnaire and interview as the instruments,with 310(grade 2)students from Xilingol Vocational College as the subjects.By comparing the differences in English autonomous learning ability between Mongolian and Han students,and between females and males,the study tries to work out some findings for fostering vocational students' English autonomous learning ability and provide some suggestions for the future English teaching and learning in ethnic minority regions.Referring to The Basic Requirements of Vocational College English Teaching of the country with consideration of the actual situation of Xilingol Vocational College,a questionnaire has been designed including a total of six dimensions and 34 items.Three questions are addressed in the study:(1)What is the status quo of students' English autonomous learning in vocational college?(2)Are there any differences between Mongolian and Han groups of students concerning their autonomous learning ability?(3)Are there any differences between male and female students concerning their autonomous learning ability?The data analysis is carried out through quantitative analysis techniques.The interview is conducted after the questionnaire.The results highlight that:(1)The general situation of the students' autonomous learning ability in Xilingol Vocational College is unsatisfactory,for the majority of the students are lack of learning motivation and their learning objective consciousness is obscure;they are not good at choosing appropriate and adequate learning contents and applying language strategies;they cannot self-monitor their leaning process better and often depend on the evaluation from the teachers while neglecting the importance of making self-assessment;(2)There are obvious distinctions between Mongolian and Han students in learning motivation,setting learning objectives and making plans,choosing the learning content,applying learning strategies,and self-monitoring learning process,while the difference is not distinct in making self-assessment;(3)There are indeed significant differences between female and male students in learning motivation,setting learning objectives and making plans,choosing learning content,applying learning strategies,and making self-assessment,whereas the difference in self-monitoring learning process is not significant.According to the findings,some suggestions are put forward in the study aiming to foster the students' English autonomous learning ability in vocational college.