Experimental Research With Independent Learning Nurturing In A Senior High English Class

The main task of English course in the fundamental period is to foster and improve students' interest of English learning, form the good learning habits, and develop the ability of independent learning. For this reason, the teacher should help students grasp the basic English knowledge, develop four basic language skills, and form the ability to use these skills, all of which will provide a good foundation for lifelong English learning.In this research, the author referred at times to the educational characteristic of American culture, which is that they pay much attention to the development of individual children and emphasize on children's ability of learning, cooperating and communicating. American educational culture and its system are good for developing and improving the students' ability of creativity. They believe that the teachers should help the individual student to explore the knowledge, speak out their own ideas, and learn independently.The author of the thesis went to America to attend the AFS program as a visiting teacher in 2001. After a year's observing, attending lectures, and studying, the author summarized a set of self-learning nurturing methods adaptable to his own English teaching back in China. But the methods had not been experimented till the fall of 2004.In 2004, the author was able to carry out this teaching reform when he took two classes in 10^th grade, who entered the senior high school that fall. For the convenience of the experiment, he chose Class 11 as the experimental class, and Class 12 as the controlled/comparison class.This research aimed at improving the students' ability of independent learning and self-development. The theoretical basis of the experiment was based on the constructivism, which emphasizes on student-centered instruction method and contends that students are active learners who should be given opportunities to construct their own frames of thought. Teachers need to spend time creating these learning situations rather than lecturing massively.As the results of the experiment indicated, the experimental class got greater achievement in ability of independent learning than the controlled after a year's trial. Students in the experimental class have apparently developed the sense and notion of independent learning as well as the motivation to explore the unknown. More importantly, they have built up the similar confidence in the learning process as their American peers. Their achievement shows that independent learning skills can be largely cultivated in the process of English teaching and learning. Since this kind of research has been conducted in other similar high schools of China, it is hoped that the findings of this research can benefit other teachers in the same endeavor.