A Study On Autonomous Learning Of English At Senior High School

As the saying goes, "Give a person a fish, and he enjoys a meal. Tell a person how to fish, and he enjoys his whole life." The idea that students should be encouraged to learn by themselves has been proved to be the essential problem being discussed in the current education research in China. It has been advocated from pedagogical point of view that learning autonomy is a means of effective learning and a desirable goal of teaching as well. The mode of autonomous learning, whose theoretical and strategic system has been evolving, has been applied in many countries in the world. Therefore, to apply autonomous learning in middle school English class accords with the requirements of the current curriculum reform in China.This thesis has carried out a case study of autonomous learning in English reading in order to find out the possible approach to promote learner autonomy and the effect of English reading in senior high school. Firstly, the thesis discusses the current ESL and teaching in middle school in China and the necessity for autonomous learning. Secondly, based on humanism and constructivism, this thesis analyses the factors that influence the students' autonomous learning. Finally, the thesis describes an experiment that has been carried out in the author's school and recommends some practical strategies to apply autonomous learning in middle school English class.