On Developing The Autonomous English Learning Of The Students In Vocational Colleges

The modern science and society are making great strides, so the main goal of modern education is tending more and more to improve one's ability and strengthen one's overall quality. As we know it is impossible for one to adapt to this changing society with the knowledge acquired at school. The situation requires people to learn throughout one's life. In China, Education Ministry has set one of the main goals of English teaching and learning as "developing the students' autonomous English learning" in The English Course Teaching Demand for the College English. This urgently demands teachers and advanced education authorities to create the prerequisites for autonomous learning to guarantee that all the students will improve both in intellect and in overall abilities. For the students in vocational colleges they have less autonomy for some reasons and they will meet more challenges if they cannot keep on learning English after graduation. So it is necessary for them to learn how to take responsibility for their own learning at school so as to develop the ability to continue learning and become more valuable to the society after they complete their formal education.This study was based on constructivism theory, self-regulated learning theory and philosophical and pedagogical theories on autonomous learning. This paper aims to document the importance and necessity of student autonomy in English language learning and in what practical ways and activities to develop the students' autonomous English learning abilities.The thesis first looks into the necessity of fostering autonomy in English learning among vocational college students by introducing the background of and the former researches on the student autonomy. The paper presents an investigation into the current English teaching andlearning in Hunan Art Vocational College, Changsha Social Work College and Hunan College of Information (N=1164), using one questionnaire and some interviews. It also makes a measurable analysis of the results. From the findings obtained through analysis and generalization, the paper has drawn the elements concerning the autonomous English learning and factors preventing their autonomy. (1) The students show positive attitudes towards and strong motivation for autonomous English learning, but their poor foundation and lack of confidence lead to their learning helplessness. (2) The teachers can fully realize the importance and necessity of student autonomy, but their too heavy teaching task^ too old teaching content, and too large teaching classes lead to inflexible teaching style. What's more, classroom interaction patterns are often featured teacher-centered in which the students have less opportunities to practice their own learning potentials and develop their autonomy. (3) The students of vocational colleges have poor autonomous English learning strategies , and their autonomous English learning environment is in great need of improvement.To better the current situation of English learning in vocational colleges, the author, based on the result of her study, puts forward some constructive recommendations. To develop the student autonomy, the teachers should pay attention to these points: (1) To alter the students' belief about themselves. (2) To raise the students' awareness of AEL. (3) To promote the students' ability to select and use AEL strategies; What's more, teachers should focus on the aspects of themselves, such as: 1) To improve the teachers' personality, 2) To improve the teachers' teaching styles. The author, based on the findings of her study, ventures to bring forward two practical approaches to develop students' autonomous English learning, which have been put into practice in the...