An Experimental Study Of Fostering The Ability Of Senior High School Students' Autonomous English Learning

The Chinese Education Ministry has set the main goal of English teaching and learning as "developing the students' autonomous English learning" in The New English Course Standard for the Basic Education Stage. This urgently demands that teachers and the education authorities create the prerequisites for autonomous learning. Students' autonomy in foreign language learning turns out to determine their foreign language learning efficiency. Self-access language training is an approach to foster students' autonomy in foreign language learning. However, the traditional examination-led English teaching models and methods result in a low efficiency in foreign language learning at senior high schools. Therefore, it is of vital importance and of great significance to develop our students' autonomy in ELT in senior high schools. This thesis attempts to probe into methods to foster our senior high school students' autonomy in Chinese senior high school classroom context. The author states that motivation enhancement and the strategy training are the two main aspects of developing students' autonomy in their English learning, and she advocates that direct instruction and guidance in the English classroom is an effective approach to promote the students' autonomy and to improve their English learning efficiency. This thesis also attempts to help teachers to teach their students how to learn and how to become autonomous in their own English learning by combining learning strategy instruction with the content of English classroom teaching.In this thesis, the author,first at all reviews the current relevant literature and research at home and abroad, discusses the significance of developing senior high school students' autonomy from the perspective of reforming English classroom teaching and learning, and introduces the research methods the author has used in her research. She also defines the terms "learner autonomy" from the perspectives of psychology, language learning and the Chinese cultural setting, and explores the psychological components that make up autonomy in foreign language learning.After that, two questionnaires are designed to examine the degrees of the students'autonomy and teachers'understanding of autonomy to get information from the students in Tongxin Middle School and Yangjiang No.1 Senior High School. According to the results, the author analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the present conditions of the students' autonomy. The author finds that the students in her school have different degrees of ability in different aspects of autonomy. In dealing with this kind of problem,the author puts forward the self-access English teaching and learning model for senior high school English teaching. An experiment is designed and carried out on the self-access English teaching and learning model at the author's school. The results of the experiment show that the students in the experimental class achieved greater autonomy and made greater progress in their English learning during the experimental time.After analyzing the results of her experiment and practice, the author concludes that the LA English teaching and learning model is superior to the traditional classroom English teaching models. The author points out that there exist three problems in the practice of LA English teaching and learning model in middle school: the course design, the textbooks and the evaluation system. These are also the areas that the author will probe in the future.