| With the popularization of higher education, China has witnessed an increasingnumber of English majors over the last decade. The ultimate quality-oriented goalcalls for learner autonomy. As a learner-centered approach, content-based instruction(CBI) provides an effective framework for the promotion of learner autonomy. In CBIclassrooms, students are required to participate actively in all phases of the learningprocess. However, there has been insufficient empirical research on autonomy amongEnglish majors under CBI context. Therefore, this research is intended to makeinvestigation into the status quo of learner autonomy, teacher autonomy and theirrelationship on lower-division English majors under CBI.This research adopted a mixed method design, employing questionnaires,observation and interviews as research instruments of data collection. Thequestionnaire data was collected from531students in the lower division of Englishdepartment and30teachers with the teaching experience of content-based courses inthe lower division. Classroom observation of five CBI courses were conducted,followed by interviews with11students and five CBI teachers to gain global pictureof the status quo of autonomy under CBI.The study yielded the following findings. Firstly, students perceived a highdegree of learner autonomy. Secondly, teachers perceived a high degree of teacherautonomy. Thirdly, a positive, moderate and significant correlation existed betweenlearner strategy training ability and monitoring learning processes, however, therewere also34non-correlations between learner autonomy and teacher autonomy. Thepossible reasons were probed in the research.These results suggest that CBI teachers need to make every effort to improvethemselves in terms of teacher motivation, beliefs, knowledge and reflection to bridgethe gap between teacher autonomy and learner autonomy. It is hoped that this researchwill contribute to the understanding of autonomy in different institutional contexts. |
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