| Learner autonomy has attracted more and more attention since the publishing of Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning written by Holec in1981. However similar research has rarely been found as regards the differences existing in the students’ English autonomous learning ability among the students of different levels in grade one of senior high school.Faced with such a research background, this study was designed to survey the students’ English autonomous learning ability by grade one of senior high school, with a special purpose to discover the differences existing in the students’English autonomous learning ability among the students of different levels. The ultimate goal of the study was to improve students’ English autonomous learning ability and improve the effectiveness of teaching. For this purpose, this thesis tries to answer three research questions:(1) What is the current situation of students’ English autonomous learning ability in senior grade one?(2) What are the significant differences existing in the English autonomous learning ability among the students of different levels in senior grade one?(3) What are the underlying factors responsible for these differences?The theoretical framework adopted in this study was based on the humanism and constructivism. This study employed the mixed design of quantitative and qualitative approaches. For the part of quantitative design, a survey was carried out with a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of four aspects:learning motivation and sense of self-efficacy, goal setting and plan making, self-monitoring and self-evaluation.200students were selected as the subjects randomly from senior one in the Xiancheng Middle School. After that, the higher group and lower group were categorized according to the scores of students’entrance examination.(50students whose scores were higher were categorized as the higher group, and50students whose scores were lower were categorized as the lower group.) For the part of qualitative design, interviews were conducted. Six students were selected for the interviews and stratified into higher group and lower group.The data analysis generated the following results: Firstly, as the study indicates, the senior students’English autonomous learning ability are a little weak on the whole (M=2.36). The learners can do the best in terms of self-monitoring (M=2.468), followed by goal setting and plan making (M=2.467), and self-evaluation (M=2.261), and the worst in terms of motivation and sense of self-efficacy (M=2.244).Secondly, the results yielded from the questionnaires reveal that the students in higher group and lower group are significantly different in the motivation and sense of self-efficacy, goal setting and plan making and self-monitoring. What’s more, the most significant difference exists in the motivation and sense of self-efficacy (P=0.014), followed by self-monitoring (P=0.033), and goal setting and plan making (P=0.041). No significant difference is revealed in terms of self-evaluation (P=0.175).Thirdly, results from interviews reveal the reasons of the differences:(1) From the perspective of inner factors, for the lower group, students have ordinary or worse academic achievements all the time. They are even not familiar with the fundamental English knowledge such as the vocabulary and grammar. However, for the higher group, students always achieve high scores before they enter senior high school. From the perspective of external factors, teachers always ignore the students in lower group in the middle school. However, teachers often pay more attention to the learning state of higher group. The teachers often communicate with students. The excellent teaching ideas of teachers can influence the students unconsciously all the time. These reasons can result in the differences in motivation and sense of self-efficacy between higher group and lower group.(2) From the perspective of inner factors, for the lower group, students can’t set goals according to their own ability so that they can’t achieve their goals successfully. However, for the higher group, students often set goals according to their own situation so that they can achieve the goals finally. From the perspective of external factors, for the lower group, teachers seldom give positive evaluations on their completion of the plan. However, for the higher group, teachers can assess what they do in time. These reasons can result in the differences in goal setting and plan making between higher group and lower group.(3) From the perspective of inner factors, for the lower group, students would like to attribute their results of learning to the external cause. They always believe that their failure is the result of the environment surrounding them. However, for the higher group, students would like to attribute their results of learning to the internal cause. They believe that the reason why they can succeed is that they are working hard and can monitor and evaluate the learning process consciously. From the perspective of external factors, for the lower group, some parents may send them to take training courses or look for tutors to teach their children specially. Thus, the students would be more dependent on their teachers and parents, and they become reluctant to learn actively. However, for the higher group, their parents encourage students to use extra time and efforts to make and adjust learning plans for themselves flexibly. These reasons can result in the differences in self-monitoring between higher group and lower group.The major findings generated from this study may have some pedagogical implications. From the teachers’ perspective, teachers should take the education background of lower group into consideration in the process of teaching, since the lower group may have not had sufficient basic knowledge. What’s more, teachers should give timely positive feedback to the lower group according to their completion of the plan. From the learners’perspective, students are supposed to set clear goals according to their own ability. What’s more, students should attribute the results of learning to internal cause rather than external cause. From the parents’perspective, they should encourage students to use extra time to regulate themselves instead of looking for tutors to teach their children. |
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