On Fostering Autonomous Learning Ability In College English Teaching

Autonomous learning, as a new concept of teaching, has been a general tendency of college English teaching reform. Many universities have practiced autonomous learning and more and more related researches have been made in this field, which has undoubtedly promoted college English teaching in China. However, a review on previous domestic researches on autonomous learning shows that large amount of researches is on the basis of theoretical discussions from the students'perspective. Many researchers have reached the conclusion that the prospect of adopting autonomous learning in China is quite optimistic. In practice, colleges and universities compete to practice autonomous learning regardless of the autonomous learning and teaching abilities of students and teachers as well as the self-access learning environment of the school.The present research, based on the origin and the relevant theories of autonomous learning, takes as samples freshmen and sophomores (students of non-English majors) of six schools in Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. Through the research instruments of questionnaires, interviews and class observations, the paper investigates autonomous learning conditions from both perspectives of students and teachers: students'motivation, their perceptions of their own responsibilities, their teacher's roles and their barriers and preferences of online self-access learning; teachers'attitudes within self-access learning scheme. The thesis intends to find out the most appropriate ways to foster students'autonomous learning ability in the transitional period from traditional teacher-centered approach to autonomous learning approach.Findings indicate that although most students and teachers hold positive attitudes towards autonomous learning, the prospect of adopting autonomous learning approach in China is by no means optimistic. The changes of students'autonomous learning behavior, especially the changes out of class, lag far behind their attitudinal improvement and the description of their motivation. They still have a high expectation of the teacher's role, prefer the teacher to keep authoritative demands, and hope to have face-to-face communication with teachers. While many teachers, influenced by their own learning experiences and traditional teaching approach, do not have much knowledge about autonomous learning and are insensitive to the change of teacher's role. Therefore, they appear to be lack of confidence in the face of the innovation. In addition, some management and technical problems are also found in the study.Based on the above findings, three suggestions are put forward in the aim of fostering students'autonomous learning ability in present Chinese context: firstly, setting up a mode of autonomous learning which integrates traditional teaching; secondly, enhancing teacher education in order to help teachers complete the shift from lecturers and teachers to facilitators; and lastly, creating a favorable environment for both autonomous learning and teaching.