A Study On English Learner Autonomy In Senior High Schools

With the development of society and education, the traditional teaching methods, which merely emphasize knowledge transmission, has become out of date. The new times need talents with the ability to obtain knowledge autonomously and to maintain their lifelong learning. There is a Chinese Proverb, "Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime." In the Normal High school English Curriculum Standards 2003(on trial), one basic concept is "optimizing the way of learning and fostering ability of autonomous learning". Therefore, a premium has been put on promoting autonomous learning both in the new curriculum and in practice. Nowadays, increasing attention has been drawn to the importance of autonomy in language learning. Autonomy has in fact become a buzzword (Little,1991) and a central theme in language learning and teachingThe paper mainly presents the definition of learner autonomy and the related philosophies and analyzes the current situation of English learning in Senior High School. Through investigation and research, the paper also aims to identify students'autonomous problems and find out effective ways to promote English learner autonomy for high school students in China in order to improve the efficiency of English learning. However, during autonomous learning, the teachers'role should not be ignored. Learner autonomy does not mean learning without teachers'assistant. Instead, learners should learn under the guidance of teachers. Fostering learner autonomy is a dynamic process. It needs effort from both the teachers and students.On the basis of previous research and in light of autonomous learning theories, a survey is carried out in order to analyze senior high students'current autonomy level and reveal some problems to be dealt with. The subjects of the survey were 100 students from two classes of Grade one in NO.40 Senior High School in Shenyang. An informal interview is conducted among 20 students after the questionnaire. The findings from the survey indicate that the overall degree of senior high school students'learner autonomy stays at a low level. Although most of the students have an interest in studying English well, they have strong dependence on the teacher. They can't set practical goals. They are lack of proper motivation and attitudes. They can't take good advantage of extracurricular resources. Their study strategies are limited to permit them to learn independently. Therefore, it is important and necessary to improve their English autonomous learning competence.Accordingly, the study offers some suggestions on promoting learner autonomy in English teaching of senior high school. These suggestions include:reconsidering teachers'and students'roles in learning process, raising students'autonomous awareness, enhancing autonomous competence, stimulating students'motivation, cultivating learning strategies and providing supportive learning environment for learner autonomy.