An Investigation Of English Majors' Extracurricular Reading In Autonomous Learning Environment

Autonomous learning is defined as the ability learners develop to control and manage their own learning.The cultivation of students' autonomous learning ability has gradually become one of the important goals of education.In recent years,researchers at home and abroad have carried out a great deal of research on learning autonomy from different angles.At the same time,extracurricular reading provides an important means for the cultivation of autonomous learning capacity.However,in spite of possessing the advantage of language in their curricula study,many English major students have to improve their learner autonomy.Besides,since their reading ability is not strong enough,their English proficiency has not been totally improved,which is not conducive to the improvement of personal lifelong quality.Accordingly,based on the theory of Learner Autonomy and Constructivism learning theory,this research utilizes the instruments of questionnaire and interview and attempts to analyze the extracurricular reading situation of English major students in autonomous learning environment.Then,some feasible suggestions have been put forward for the improvement of the English Majors' extracurricular reading ability.The subjects of this study are 360 English majors of sophomore,junior and senior students in Chengdu University of Technology.The questionnaire mainly referred to Lin Lilan's Autonomous English Learning Scale(AELS).The main research step is: First,the current situation of extracurricular reading for English Majors in Chengdu University of Technology is showed;second,the reasons for the extracurricular reading of English majors are analyzed;and third,suggestions for improving the ability of English majors to conduct extracurricular reading are put forward.The results show that,firstly,the time more than half(53.6%)of English majors spend on extracurricular reading is less than 1 hour each week;secondly,English majors' extrinsic motivation(Mean=4.18)in extracurricular reading is stronger than their intrinsic motivation(Mean=3.92);third,among the three categories of learning strategies English majors utilized in extracurricular reading: meta-cognitive strategy(Mean=3.61),cognitive strategy(Mean=3.22)and social-affective strategy(Mean=3.53),cognitive strategies are used least;fourth,a lot of English majors(51.9%)only view library as their most popular extracurricular reading place and a large amount English majors(90.2%)are reluctant to be engaged in extracurricular reading in a cooperative way;and fifth,most English majors(65.6%)still expect the instructors can give them more guidance in extracurricular reading.On the basis of research results,this thesis puts forward some suggestions to improve students' reading ability in the current teaching setting: First,raising the students' awareness of extracurricular reading;Second,stimulating students' interest in extracurricular reading;Third,conducting reading strategy training;Fourth,establishing self-access reading center;and Fifth,offering more instruction.