A Survey On English Learner Autonomy Of Non-English Major College Students

With the rapid development of knowledge renovation, lifelong education is now gaining gradual attention. More and more foreign language workers have been aware of the significance of fostering learner autonomy. Education is gradually gearing towards learner- center and the call of strategy training and fostering learner autonomy find expression in all levels of English curriculum standards. Early researches have revealed a close correlation between learner autonomy and the learning outcome. Since we only have limited time on classroom learning, it's out of the question to gain mastery over any subject within such a short time, foreign language in particular. This requires learners'endeavor after class. Education can bring to learner not only knowledge but also the competence to get access to knowledge.The notion of learner is formally put forward by Henri Holec in 1981, scholars in the field has carried out a great deal of researches on it since its birth, most of which are constrained to the exploration into the definition of learner autonomy, its'theoretical background and the ways to foster learner autonomy. Seldom can we find the quantitative studies in this field. Employing questionnaire as the major medium, this study aims to make an investigation into the learner autonomy of non-English major college students in Guangxi and get a clear description of learners'attitude and the real situation of students'autonomous English learning. In the questionnaire, we focus on learners'performance on the following five aspects of material selection, personal and learner agenda making, learning process monitoring, learning environment selection as well as strategy employment. Moreover, we look into the differences between male and female learners, between students of liberal art and students of science, which is rarely found in the previous research. Further, we add some items concerning learner's motivation, classroom input, and learners'attitude towards autonomy into the questionnaire.Through this survey, we find that most college students are equipped with both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for learning. They are enthusiastic about English learning and have a high expectation for classroom input. However, to their disappointment, teachers'instruction still greatly occupies the class hours, and as students they seldom have the opportunity to get adequate practice in class. This unitary classroom activity is far away from their need for knowledge, thus drive them to develop learner autonomy. From the survey, we know that in mind, learners hold a positive attitude towards learner autonomy, but in action, their action was not so satisfactory. Most learners don't do synchronous tutorial exercises to solidify the knowledge learned in the classroom. Nor do they read some extra curricular materials to broaden their eyesight or actively take part in any English concerning activities. Around 50% of them do have a definite objective and learner agenda, which unfortunately accords not so well with curriculum standards. Meanwhile, they can not consciously reflect on their learning process and modify their plans timely to identify their disadvantages and measures to take. Instead, they look to the teachers for help, passively waiting for others'to find their existing problem and even solve the problem for them. As for the employment of learning strategies, strategy awareness does exist, due to the lack of a systematic training on it, learner can not choose freely from a variety of strategies when confronted with different tasks. Generally speaking, female display stronger learner autonomy than male students, while students of liberal arts display stronger learner autonomy than students of science.Based on these findings in this survey, this thesis brings up some suggestion for fostering learner autonomy in the future. Firstly, we should raise learners'awareness on autonomy, making them clear that they are the centre of learning and that they should actively take part in it. Secondly, we should guide the learners to set a definite and attainable objective which gears to the curriculum standard. Thirdly, systematic strategy training is needed to raise learners'strategy awareness and free use of all kinds of strategies. Finally, learners should be encouraged to take an active part in monitoring and assess on their own learning process, identifying merits and demerits respectively, improving study method and increasing the efficiency of learning.