Reflections On The Role Of The Teacher And Learner Autonomy

It is well known that language teachers are one of the most important factors in learning. They have very powerful influences on their students, and there is no exception in the situation of foreign language learning. However, the current educational situation in China cannot meet the need of the development of economy and society. There is a great gap between them. This requires teachers to reflect on their teaching, observe their actions in class, evaluate the results, and do some research, that is, how do teachers test others' development, form their own beliefs, reflect on themselves and make every decision reasonable. But in the teaching practice, few teachers reflect on their roles. Many of them believe their roles are to monitor teaching. They not only neglect their roles of mediators, but also neglect learner autonomy. According to the social constructivist theory, language teachers should emphasize learners' active role and allow them to form meaningful responses. As mediators, teachers are supposed to help learners to react properly to meaningful language input, facilitate them in grasping learning strategies and controlling their own. This article discusses how teachers' beliefs affect learner autonomy. Moreover, some conducive suggestions are put forward as to how teachers should realize their role of mediators and how students can be helped to develop their autonomy.