On The Autonomous English Learning Of Non-English Major Postgraduates In The Information Era

Autonomous learning has been a heated issue in the field of modern education,especially in that of foreign language teaching and learning. The Internet, as a product ofthe information age, brings unparalleled advantages for autonomous learning, providingabundant learning resources and enriching the ways for English learning. The research onnetwork-based autonomous learning has been developed rapidly in recent years. However,the previous research is not satisfactory, especially in network-based English learning, andthere’s few research on non-English major postgraduates. This paper aims to investigateexternal and internal factors that affect English autonomous learning among non-Englishmajor postgraduates. In addition, it summarizes both the positive and negative effects ofnetwork-based learning environment on the subjects in the hope that students can make fulluse of the Internet for better learning achievement.Two questionnaires and interviews are used in the research to explore the currentsituation of non-English major postgraduates’ autonomous English learning. The subjectsare non-English major postgraduates from Jiangnan University. The data are analyzed bySPSS.13.0. Descriptive analysis is also employed. The results of the study are as follows:(1) With regard to external factors in network-based autonomous learning, most of thenon-English major postgraduates take positive attitudes to network-based learningenvironment and the Internet learning resources. In addition, they have a clearunderstanding of teachers’ roles played in network-based learning environment. However,there are some negative factors hindering learner autonomy. For instance, the disorderlyand unsystematically displayed online resources demands greater capability of findingsuitable learning resources. Compared with face-to-face traditional communication, thecommunication through the Internet causes the emotional gap between teachers andstudents to some extent.(2) As for individual factors in network-based autonomous learning, the researchreveals that most of the non-English major postgraduates are weak in intrinsic motivationand self-efficacy. They seldom set goals for their own learning and lacks strong volition toresist various temptations form the Internet. Moreover, the effective employment of learning strategies is also in shortage, especially the use of metacognitive and affectivestrategies.The study provides an insight into the current situation of non-English majorpostgraduates’ network-based autonomous English learning. And based on the results,some tentative suggestions for English learning in network-based environment are putforward.