Cultivating Non-English Undergraduates Autonomous Learning Competence Through Self-Access Language Learning Centre

Learner autonomy has aroused researchers' and linguists' interests ever since its birth in the 1970s. There have been numerous studies on this educational philosophy, which mainly concentrate on the description of its definition, analyses of its theoretical bases and the strategies of its application. Researches on cultivating learners' autonomous learning competence in the setting of classroom are few; and the empirical studies carried out in the self-access language learning centres (SACs) are even fewer owing to various reasons. Hence, based on constructivism, social-cultural theory and language learning strategies, this paper studies the roles of the self-access language learning centre played in college English learning and how to cultivate non-English majors' autonomous language learning competence through the SAC, which is the focus of the present study. We conduct the current study to investigate 1. Can non-English major undergraduates enhance their autonomous learning competence through the SAC? 2. What is the role SAC plays on cultivating undergraduates' autonomous learning competence? 3. What else should the teachers, the institutions and the SAC do to meet learners' need?We have designed a 30-item questionnaire to investigate five variables in terms of autonomous language learning behavior, i.e. learners understanding on teaching purposes and requirements, setting goals and making a study plan, learning strategies, monitoring the learning process, and evaluating the learning process. This study has involved 120 second-year non-English majors in Central South University (CSU). 60 of the subjects in the experimental group have been involved both in the SAC and in the classroom and another 60 members from the control group have only been involved in the classroom. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been adopted in order to analyze the data gathered from the questionnaire and interviews. The focuses of the analysis are on the comparison of the data. collected from the experimental group and the control group.The study has found that through their learning in the SAC the experimental group's autonomous language learning competence is generally higher than that of the control group. Data analyses further suggest that, by learning in the SAC, learners have enhanced their competence to evaluate their learning process and can adjust their learning approaches according to the results derived from their evaluation. The study has also found that after learning in the SAC, learners' beliefs towards language learning have changed from their original thought and they can take some responsibilities from their teachers. The most important is that their learning interests have been aroused by learning in the SAC.The findings in this study reveal that the SAC offers convenient conditions for Chinese undergraduates in cultivating their autonomous language learning competence. The establishment of the SAC benefits not only learners but also EFL teachers and the institution to refresh teaching methods.