On The Cultivation Of Senior Students English Learning Autonomy

Quality education and the cultivation of students’ sustainable development are thebasic requirements of English education for Senior High School students. Accordingto the High School English New Curriculum, the main aim of English teaching is tocultivate students’ autonomous learning ability and comprehensive language usingability. Teachers are required to train students’ independence and autonomy in Englishlearning. Autonomous learning refers to the learners’ responsibility for their ownlearning and their competence in setting learning plans and learning aimsindependently according o their own learning ability. To cultivate talents withinnovative spirits and sustainable development ability, it is essential to foster theautonomous learning ability of the students. Therefore, this study makes an attempt toexplore the cultivation English autonomous learning ability of Senior High Schoolstudents.Many researchers and scholars abroad and at home have committed themselves toautonomous English learning researches from different aspects since it was introducedinto English learning in1981by Holec. Theoretically speaking, it is based on thetheory of constructivism. According to Holec, autonomy means that learners areresponsible for their study. Autonomy focuses on learners’ independence, activityand innovation in learning. The researches at home and abroad hold that whether thelearners can learn foreign languages successfully or not mainly depends on theirautonomous learning ability. Actually autonomous learning ability is mainly shown inthe following five aspects, setting learning plans, identifying learning contents andprocess, selecting proper methods and techniques, monitoring learning process andevaluating learning results. For years researchers at home and abroad have beenexploring the definition and concepts of autonomy and the factors affectingautonomous learning. But few researchers choose Senior High School students as thesubjects to give a deep exploration. This study aims to investigate Senior High School students’ autonomous learning situations so as to explore methods and approaches forcultivating autonomous learning ability.The study is designed to make a deep exploration of autonomous Englishlearning situations of Senior High School students. The study is an empirical onewhich aims to explore Senior High School students’ knowing and understanding ofthe concept. The current situation of autonomous learning is to be investigated; thefactors that might hinder the development of autonomous learning are to be discussed.Besides, this study aims to explore how to foster Senior High School students’autonomous learning ability in practical English teaching. It assumes the form ofquestionnaire and interview to develop the study. The designed questionnaire washanded to100students from Jinan No.3Middle School. The items of thequestionnaire are concerned with the understanding of the autonomy, interest andmotivation, the learning process, the teacher’ role, learning strategies and students’mutual help. The following questions are to be addressed in this research.1) What is the current situation of Senior High School Students’ autonomousEnglish learning?2) What are the factors that hinder their autonomous English learning?3) What specific approaches can promote students’ autonomous Englishlearning?The research result clearly shows that the students have little knowledge andvague understanding on autonomous learning. They are accustomed to the traditionalEnglish teaching models and are ready to follow the routines of the teaching models.The current situation of High Middle School students’ autonomous learning is farfrom satisfactory. They hold a passive attitude towards autonomous learning. Themajority of them have no exact aims and schedules in their mind; they seldom employproper learning strategies in their learning. They heavily rely on their teachers andfeel lost without teachers’ guidance. In addition, their English learning environment isunfavorable.Based on the above findings, some suggestions for fostering Senior High Schoolstudents are put forward.They include:1) To enhance the awareness and understanding of autonomous learning. Clear awareness and understanding ofautonomous learning will make them grasp the nature of autonomous learning andemploy autonomous learning strategies consciously.2) To cultivate students’ positiveattitudes and motivation in language learning. The attitudes and motivation learnershold will either help or impede the development of their foreign language learning. Itis necessary for Senior High Middle students to hold positive attitudes and possessstrong motivation to learn languages.3)To train the students to employ properstrategies. It is generally believed that appropriate learning strategies will enhance theeffectiveness of language learning. Students should be trained to master specificstrategies in daily language learning.4) To reconstruct the role of teachers.Autonomous learning does not mean the denial of teachers’ participation in languagelearning, but entail reconstruction of the teachers’ role. The teacher is expected to actas students’ language learning advisor and resource provider rather than learningplanner.5) To make full use of computer-assisted language learning. Students caneasily gain access to various resources with the help of computer-assisted facilities.6) To encourage cooperative learning so as to foster autonomous learning in Englishlearning. During the process of autonomous learning, students can learn from eachother. Students of medium level can realize their weak points and strengthen theirautonomous learning motivation during the process of cooperative learning.