Enhancing Self-directed Language Learning Environment Through CALL

The thesis mainly discusses the effects of Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) on the environment for self-directed foreign language learning, i.e. whether computer applications can improve self-directed learning. In the traditional language teaching, most of the college students are the passive recipients of language knowledge and their individual needs can't be well satisfied, which gradually leads to the decrease of interest and learning efficiency. Furthermore, because of students'poor autonomous learning abilities and the shortage of well-equipped self-directed learning facilities, self-directed learning, which is considered most likely to compensate for the deficiency of the foreign language teaching in class, is also low-efficient. Therefore, the author puts forward applying CALL in self-directed learning to solve the problems above. The author first randomly selects 125 students who will attend the LAC for the project of computer-assisted self-directed learning in UESTC as the subjects. Then, the surveys on two questionnaires are conducted respectively at the beginning and the end of the experimental semester. At intervals, the interviews and observations are also employed. Through the quantitative analysis and the comparison of the two questionnaires, it is revealed that compared with the traditional mode, the CALL mode can better cater for the needs of students in self-directed learning with a significant upgrade of the fulfillment levels. Meanwhile, the similar conclusion is drawn from the qualitative research on the interviews and observations. Thus, the positive effects of CALL on self-directed learning are justified. Furthermore, the author makes quantitative analyses on students'learning achievements in order to further illustrate the effects of CALL on self-directed language learning. The results are shown as follows: Through an experimental semester 1) the students in the experimental class make a significant improvement either in the listening or speaking achievement by using Experiencing English Language Learning System; 2) there is a significantly large difference in the reading and writing achievement between the experimental class, which not only takes the learning system but also Experiencing English II Language Learning Courseware and control class 1, which only attends the learning system; 3) there is a greatly large difference in the achievement for the almost whole language learning (except for speaking) between the experimental class and control class 2 without any CALL...