Metacognitive Strategy Training In Developing Learner Autonomy For Senior High School Students

Metacognitive strategies involve thinking about the learning process,planning for learning,monitoring the learning task,and evaluating how well one has learned.With a good command of metacognitive strategies,students are able to set goals,plan their learning,monitor their learning process and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used and revise the plan in the learning process.Obviously,metacognitive strategies are high-grade monitoring approach,which makes learners take responsibility for their own learning.The use of metacognitive strategies inspires students' thinking and can lead to profound learning and better performance.It is difficult for students to become autonomous when their learning is planned and monitored by their teachers.According to previous researches by Wang Duqin(1999,2002),the training of metacognitive strategies can help develop learner autonomy.An ancient Chinese saying goes," Give a man a fish and he eats for a day.Teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime".It has become increasingly apparent that teachers not only teach their students what to learn,but also teach them how to learn.To develop students' ability of learner autonomy in language learning is one of the key goals of English teaching.It will also provide a good foundation for lifelong English learning.Chinese traditional English teaching is teacher-centered,because of which students are dependent and passive in English learning.In this research,the author of the thesis carried out a six-month experiment in which the training of metacognitive strategies was integrated into the language teaching, aiming at fostering students' ability of learner autonomy.After investigating Senior Three students' situation of learner autonomy in Yun He High School,the author conducted the experiment in three steps.In the first step,the author introduced to the students the significance of the use of metacognitive strategies and described the names and concepts of the chosen items of metacognitive strategies.In the second step,the author trained students in setting goals and making plans,self-monitoring and making self-evaluation.In the third step,the author analyzed the data collected through the experiment. The results of the experiment indicate that the students in the experimental class have greatly developed their ability of learner autonomy and the average score is higher than that in the controlled class after a six-month experiment.This achievement shows that the training of metacognitive strategies integrated into the language teaching can develop high school students' ability of learner autonomy and improve their scores..