A Study Of Learner Autonomy In A Tertiary-level Web-based EFL Listening Context

By exploring students’ autonomous learning behavior change in a web-basedlistening course, this paper is intended to investigate the learner autonomydevelopment of tertiary level English major sophomores as well as the factors thatinfluence the development.The theoretical foundation for this study is a combination of Constructivistlearning theory, Humanistic learning theory and Stephen Krashen’s Input Hypothesisand Affective Filter Hypothesis. In this study, H. Holec’s four essential elements inlearner autonomy development are employed as research framework. They aregoal-setting, strategy choosing, self-monitoring and self-evaluation.The quantitative data in this study are collected from a pre-course and post-courselearner autonomy survey of124English major sophomores in Wenzheng College,Soochow University. The qualitative data are obtained through semi-structuredinterview and classroom observation in order to gain the in-depth insights into theprocess of participants’ learner autonomy development and get a general idea of thefactors which influence the learner autonomy development. The major findings can besummarized as follows:Firstly, both quantitative data and qualitative data show that participants haveundergone statistically significant changes in all aspects of learner autonomydevelopment, especially in the areas of setting learning goals, choosing learningstrategies. However, the learners have some difficulties in interaction with peers andcould not find solutions to the problems during the autonomous listening process bytheir own.Secondly, many factors seem to influence the development of participants’ learnerautonomy in this web-based listening context. The internal factors are learners’ beliefsand attitudes toward learner autonomy, learners’ motivation and learning styles, whilethe external factors include web-based environment, website use, teacher support andpeer influence. In light of the above findings, the researcher draws some implications for bothteachers and students, such as the need for teachers’ more instruction and involvementin autonomous learning and the students’ more active in taking part in it.