A Study Of Students' Autonomous Learning Development In Senior High Schools

With the development of global communication, the coming of the information age, China's entry into WTO and host of 2008 Olympic games, the English language has started to play an increasingly important role in our social and economic life. More and more Chinese teachers and students are aware of the significance of learning the international language and are trying to master it as a tool and as an opportunity for their future development.However, some students do not achieve satisfactory outcomes though they put much time and efforts into learning. According to the research into the current situation of ESL in China and the latest available literature, the problem seems to lie in the students'lack of responsibility for their language learning. The situation calls for the urgent need of learner autonomy in EFL classroom.In this regard, this paper focused on how to promote learner autonomy to improve the efficiency of English learning of senior high students. Altogether there are six chapers. Chapter One gives a brief introduction of the background and the significance of the present study. Chapter Two presents the definition and theoretical background. The third chapter questionnaires are used to analyze current situation and problems in senior high school EFL classroom. The fourth chapter deals with the possibility, necessity and benefit of learner autonomous learners. The key issues are presented in Chapter Five how to help students to be autonomous learners. Chapter Six some questions, which remain to be solved, are presented and the thesis draws a conclusion at last.Based on the research, a three-step suggestion is made on promoting learner autonomy in ESL. First, teachers should create a relaxing and positive classroom atmosphere. Second, equip learners with autonomous learning skills through strategy training. Finally help learners to reflect on their learning process, be aware of their own learning strengths, weakness, learning styles, language abilities etc. and thus lead to students'goal-setting, plan-making, and goal-realizing at last. In this way, it is hoped to get a better result in senior high school EFL classroom.