Learner Autonomy In Middle School English Study

Learner autonomy has been a buzzword in foreign Language teaching in the recent twenty years. Especially in western context, the concern with teaching and learning has shifted from the teachers' teaching to the students' learning. Some researchers even consider promoting learner autonomy. In China, Education Ministry has set the main goal of English teaching and learning as "developing the students' autonomous English learning" in the New English Standard Course Standard for the Basic Education Stage. This urgently demands teachers and grassroots' education authorities to create the prerequisites for autonomous learning to guarantee all the students will improve both in intellect and in overall abilities.This thesis first looks into the possibility of developing autonomy in English learning among middle school students by introducing the background of and the former researches on the learner autonomy. Then the students' autonomous English learning is thoroughly analyzed in the background of English language teaching in China, including its definitions, focuses, the necessity of cultivating the student autonomy in the process of English learning in middle school and its operability in teaching in terms of principle and action. The concept of learner autonomy falls into educational philosophy and derives from humanistic psychological, cognitive psychological and cognitive linguistic domain. This paper aims to document the advantage of learner autonomy in improving the students' attitudes toward and their abilities of English learning. The autonomous students in English learning are characterized in a number of ways, realizing correctly the teacher's objectives, having their own learning objectives; selecting and employing appropriate learning strategies, often consciously monitoring their own use of learning strategies and using self-assessment regularly to monitor their own learning. In a word, successful students are those who learn autonomously, and are willingly and able to be responsible for their own learning.Based on the theoretical inspection of learner autonomy, the paper presents an investigation into the current English teaching and learning in middleschool(N=475), using one questionnaire and some interviews in a certain middle school in Dalian. Then it makes a measurable analysis of the results gathered in the investigation in relation to the students' autonomous English learning in learning process in addition to the social constraints. From the findings obtained through analysis and generalization, the paper has drawn these elements concerning the autonomous learning and factors preventing students' autonomous learning.(l)Students show positive attitudes toward and strong motivation for the autonomous English learning. On the one hand, they feel strong motivation and devote themselves to tasks with practical value, and have intensive desires to be involved in the learning process. On the other hand, they believe in the value of effort and self-discipline. These crucial elements for learner autonomy make it possible and necessary for teachers to develop the students' autonomous English learning. (2) About 63% junior middle school students and 53% senior students are FD learners. It is challenging for teachers to develop the students' autonomous English learning. Firstly, the teacher's authority in classroom teaching inhibited some students' freedom of choice in learning strategies and styles; Secondly, the teacher's inflexible teaching style could not meet the students' individual learning styles; Thirdly, classroom interaction patterns were often featured teacher-centered in which the students have less opportunities to practice their own learning potentials. And finally, the teacher's evaluation on the students did not provide the students with proper fair feedback on their work. (3) The students demonstrate more disadvantages in using metacognitive strategies due to complex situations.To better the current situation of English learning in middle school, the author, based on the result of her study, vent...