Research On Autonomous English Learning Of The Graduate Students In Terms Of Motivation And Metacognition

Since 1980s, autonomous learning has become a"buzz word"in the filed of education both home and abroad. The responsibility shifted from teachers to students propels students to take charge of their own learning in a strategy-oriented way. Great achievements have been made in the research of mixed type of students and undergraduates, especially in the context of formal educational institutions. However, empirical studies are rare and few studies have been carried out in the fostering of graduates'autonomous learning outside classroom. This paper is a research on the autonomous English learning of graduate students in terms of motivation and metacognition. The purpose is to investigate how graduate students study English in teachers'absence and get an idea of their current problems, thus helping them manage their studies more efficiently after class. In addition, this paper provides some suggestions for English teaching in the university and learning of the graduate students in universities.At the beginning is the literature review of autonomous learning, motivation and metacognition, followed by the analysis of the relationship among three variables. An investigation was carried out in the graduate students in the University of Electronics Science and Technology of China (UESTC) by means of some questionnaires mainly based on MSLQ (The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire) developed by Pintrich and MAI ( Metacognitive Awareness Inventory) by G.Schrew and R.S.Dennison. Some interviews were conducted among some students as well. The result of the research indicates that autonomous learning is closely correlated with academic achievement in terms of motivation and metacognition. In addition, motivation is a more powerful predictor on academic achievement than metacognition. To conclude, some suggestions are put forward to the teaching and autonomous learning of the graduate students.