Autonomous Learning Guided By Constructivism

The promotion of learner autonomy is increasingly being seen as a central goal of education, and the achievement of autonomy is an aspiration already enshrined in many syllabi. Learner autonomy is one of the dominant international topics in language learning nowadays. Constructivism is a learning theory describing the process of knowledge construction. Constructivists believes that knowing is a process and that learners must individually and actively discover and transform complex information to make it their own. This theory is also the theoretical basis of learner autonomy. So combining them together becomes the new angle of the study in this thesis.The first chapter shows that limitations in traditional language instruction make it necessary to develop learner autonomy. At the same time, a brief introduction of the structure of the whole thesis can be found here.The next two chapters make a brief review of both of the theories: constructivism and learner autonomy. Chapter Two engages in the definition, the historical roots and the advocators of constructivism. Constructivist learning theories are introduced in this chapter. It is also involved in the application of constructivism in language learning and teaching. As for learner autonomy Chapter Three focuses on the review of theoretical background, definition, dominant philosophies and conditions of learner autonomy. The significance of learner autonomy in language education is also conveyed in the end of this chapter. According to the survey of the two theories, the author gets a further step to the interrelation between them. A key concept of constructivist theories of learning is a vision of the ideal student as autonomous learner, so it's obvious to see their similarities. Constructivist theory of learning is also the theoretical basis of learner autonomy. Furthermore, both autonomy and constructivism can benefit learners in learning a foreign language in many ways.Chapter Five and Chapter Six are the most important of all. Chapter Five focuses on how to foster learner autonomy guided by constructivism in language learning. And how to design the instructional mode of learner autonomy guided by constructivism becomes essential of the thesis. It first tells the conditions and principles of this kind of instructional mode. Then it puts forward the strategies of conducting this kind of instructional mode. Chapter Six makes a research on constructivist strategies to foster learner autonomy. The author gave a test and questionnaires to the subjects and detailedly analyzed the results. The conclusion of the research was drawn that this kind of instructional mode can benefit students'language study.The thesis concludes that the development of learner autonomy can be fostered guided by constructivism in language learning. And this ability is what every learner needs for their lifelong learning. At the same time, the author sums up what has been done and also points out the room left for further study.