| Since the time when Henry Holec first came up with the term ’Autonomy’ in1980’s, more and more researchers and educators are engaged in autonomous learning both at home and abroad, especially in second language acquisition field, and the focus of research has shifted from the teachers to the learners since then. It is generally agreed that students must play an active role and take more responsibility in second language learning for the purpose of cultivating autonomous learning ability and improving learning efficiency. Once the learners have the ability to learn independently, they will be able to acquire new knowledge, learn technology, face new challenges and tasks. Edgar Faure once said:"In the future, the illiterate are not those who can’t recognize words but those who can’t learn." In the information age, increasingly frequent contacts have been occurring among people all over the world. In this process, English is playing a more and more important role in the economic and trade cooperation, cultural exchanges between people of different languages and from different countries.The Internet, due to its interactivity, sharing of resources and multimedia, provides a good environment for application of autonomy in English learning. The role of Internet has shifted from a source of supplementary educational materials to a teaching platform. It has become one of the important contents of modern education reform. The integration between the Internet and the campus nets creates a more convenient condition for English learning and makes the web-based college English autonomous learning a reality. In addition, it also provides for the education of new theories, and provides learners with new learning modes.In order to keep up with the development of foreign language teaching in China, College English Curriculum Requirements (CECR) was issued in2004. CECR puts forward new goals and requests for College English teaching and learning in our country’s higher institutions. It clearly states that the objective of college English is to develop students’ability to use English in a well-rounded way, especially in listening and speaking, so that in their future studies and careers as well as social interactions they will be able to communicate effectively, and at the same time enhance their ability to study independently and improve their general cultural awareness so as to meet the needs of China’s social development and international exchanges. It also remodels the existing unitary teacher-centered pattern of language teaching by introducing new teaching models with the help of multimedia and network technology. Since2004, more and more colleges and universities in China have set up Web-based college English autonomous learning centers. These centers vary in terms of size, but their main function is to let students learn college English autonomously by computers in web-based language learning environment. As a new model to the English teaching, it embodies the thought of "student-centered" way of teaching. Students are able to have control of every aspect of learning-goals, content, learning methods, process, appraisal and time involved.Constructivism, a branch of cognitive theory, states that individuals’cognitive development is closely related to learning process. Constructivism focuses on the center role of students, which includes students’activities and meaning construction. However, it does not neglect teachers’roles in the learning process. In constructivist view, a teacher is not only the initiator and organizer, but also the helper, the guider and the promoter for students to construct knowledge structure. The development of multimedia and network technology is beneficial to realization of ideal constructivist learning environment. This combination effectively promotes cognitive development of students.This paper is to discuss the empirical effects of Web-based college English autonomous learning from the perspective of constructivism. This study aims to analyze:1) the effects of web-based college English autonomous learning;2) the factors affecting the effectiveness of web-based autonomous learning;3) the way to improve students’web-based college English autonomous learning efficiency.In this study, a questionnaire is used to collect data. The subjects of the study are206non-English majors of registered students in2012. The questionnaire includes34items covering learners’s attitudes, teachers’ role, learners’ self-efficacy, learning strategies and web-based learning time. We will explore if web-based autonomous learning affects English scores so that we can have a better understanding of the effects of web-based college English autonomous learning. The analysis of the results is conducted with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS17.0).Major findings of the research can be summarized as follows:1. After two semesters of autonomous learning, the students show improvement in their English scores by an average of almost of ten points. It indicates that web-based college English autonomous leaning is effective. Web-based college English autonomous leaning can.improve students’ learning ability and learning effects.2. The effects of web-based college English autonomous learning are influenced by many factors, including students’ attitude toward web-based English autonomous learning, self efficacy, meta-cognitive strategies and cognitive strategies. But with respect to the role of the teacher and social/affective strategies, there is no significant impact on the effects of web-based college English autonomous learning.3. Weekly hours spent on web-based autonomous learning have no significant influence on the effects of autonomous learning. However, students who conduct web-based college English autonomous learning no less than seven hours a week will achieve satisfactory effects. The thesis is divided into six chapters.Chapter one is a general introduction of the thesis, including the background, the purposes and the organization of the thesis.Chapter two is the literature review which includes the conception of autonomous learning and its characteristics; the conception of web-based learning, its characteristics and its advantages and disadvantages. It also contains previous studies of web-based autonomous learning at home and abroad.Chapter three is the theoretical framework of the thesis-constructivism. Constructivism argues that learners construct their own knowledge by autonomous learning, that is to say, learning is an active acceptance of knowledge. The theory focuses on the important role of learners themselves. As a systematic learning theory, constructivism has made great contribution to language learning. At first, it presents learning theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. Second, it introduces four essential factors of learning environment. Lastly, it presents constructivist teaching models mainly including anchored instruction, scaffolding instruction and random access instruction.Chapter four mainly states the research methodology used in this study, including the research questions, the subjects, the research instruments, data collection and data analysis.Chapter five reports the results of the study and its discussion. The writer has made comparisons, respectively, of learners’attitudes, learners’beliefs of the teachers’ role, learners’self-efficacy, learning strategies and weekly hours on autonomous learning. The writer also compares the subjects’test scores before and after autonomous learning. Chapter six concludes the study by summarizing the findings, pointing out the limitations of the current research as well as offering some suggestions for further study. The results of the study provide an insight of non-English majors’effects of web-base college English autonomous learning, at the same time, based on the results of the study, the thesis will smooth on-going studies of web-based instruction and provide reference and guide for the further research of web-based autonomous learning. |
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