A Study Of The Application Of Autonomous Learning To English Reading Instruction In Senior High Schools

Reading occupies a very significant position in English learning and correspondinglyreading instruction plays a key role in English teaching. Optimizing ways of learning anddeveloping students’ ability of autonomous learning is one of the basic concepts of TheNew English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School and it clearly states that thebasic task in English reading instruction in senior high school is to cultivate students’ability of autonomous reading. Moreover, as the concept of life-long learning has receivedextensive attention, teaching students how to learn has become the fundamental aspect ofeducation. Therefore, the implementation of autonomous learning in the English readinginstruction in senior high school, especially training students to develop the ability ofautonomous reading, can help them get self-education and self-development and lay thefoundation for life-long learning. Students with the ability of autonomous readingwill understand the reading purpose, establish reading objectives, choose suitable readingmaterials, use reading strategies properly, monitor reading process and evaluate readingeffects.This thesis firstly outlines the research background, and the necessity and significanceof developing students’ English reading autonomy in senior high schools. Secondly, itexpounds the research of autonomous learning both at home and abroad, the relatedconcepts of autonomous learning and autonomous reading and their theoretical basis. Atthe first stage of the research, a questionnaire concerning students’ English readingautonomy is conducted among the students the author teaches and the scores from theunified English examination conducted at the beginning of the term is used as the pre-testof the experiment, with the purpose of understanding the current situation of students’English reading autonomy and English proficiency. Then, the results of the questionnaireare analyzed to find out the factors affecting students’ reading autonomy so as to carry outeffective reading training in the experimental class. The training combines the classroom instruction and extracurricular reading, using a variety of ways to stimulate students’reading motivation and interest, guiding students to set their own reasonable readingobjectives and plans and master effective reading strategies, and helping students chooseappropriate reading materials, self-monitor reading process and evaluate reading effects ina diversified way. At the later stage of the research, students at different levels areinterviewed to understand their feelings and opinions regarding the training of readingautonomy and their scores from the term unified English examination are used as thepost-test of the experiment. Through the interview and contrastive analysis of the pre-testand post-test, it can be concluded that the students who have the training of readingautonomy make more progress than those having the traditional reading instruction.Through one-semester training, students in the experimental class promote their interest inreading and improve their capability of reading autonomy and English achievements. Theexperimental results verify the effectiveness of the training methods of developingstudents’ English reading autonomy.