Establish Autonomous Reading Teaching Model To Foster Learners' Autonomy

Teaching of reading is an important aspect in English classroom. The idea of autonomous reading in classroom is originated from Vygotsky's theory of Zone of Proximal Development, the theory of Humanism and Constructivism, This teaching mode aims to improve the learner's autonomy and enhance reading ability.Autonomy is viewed as a process of self-directed learning, or learning in which the objectives, progress and evaluation are determined by the learners themselves. However, the survey made by the author in Anhui Vocational Foreign Language College suggests that the students lack the sense and capacity in large scale. This situation results from the fact that the teachers do not pay enough attention to fostering the learner's autonomy in teaching practice. The present paper tries to implement autonomous teaching model in English classroom in hope of improving students reading ability.The hypothesis of the research is that the autonomous teaching model is more effective than the traditional reading teaching, because it can foster learners'autonomy in reading and improve their reading ability. The experimental study lasts one year in AnHui Vocational Foreign Language College, with 2007 Logistic Class One as the experimental group and 2007 Accountant Class Two as control group. The data collection procedure includes examinations, questionnaires and class interviews., The results of the experiment is processed by statistics and comparison. The data finally shows that the new teaching model is more effective than the traditional teaching in fostering the learner's autonomy and improving their reading ability.