A Survey Of Learner Autonomy And Self-efficacy In Senior High School-A Case Study In Ganxian Middle School

Learner autonomy has been widely concerned in the field of English teaching in recent years with the advocate of life-long learning.Researchers at home and abroad have made much effort to study learner autonomy,including its definitions,theoretical foundations,factors causing influences,ways to foster learner autonomy,learning strategies,teachers' roles and so on.Self-efficacy stands for a learner's belief in his or her capacity to manage to perform a particular task.It acts as an important individual factor which affect the learner autonomy.However,few empirical studies focus on the correlation between learner autonomy and self-efficacy in senior English learning.This research aims to investigate the present situation of senior high students' autonomous behavior and English learning self-efficacy and their relationship by employing quantitative and qualitative method.Altogether 150 students from Ganxian Middle School participate in the questionnaire and 6 of them were selected for follow-up interview.The students' English learning self-efficacy is measured by the Senior High Students' English Learning Self-efficacy Questionnaire,and their autonomous behavior is explored by Senior High Students' Autonomous Behavior Investigation Questionnaire.Data collected from two questionnaires was analyzed by SPSS16.0 and data received in the interview was transcribed.The research has got following results:(1)On the whole,senior high students' autonomous behavior is not in high frequency.They have the highest frequency of making English learning goals and plans based on their own conditions.Males and females' autonomous behaviors exist no significant differences.Statistically remarkable differences are found between Grade One and Grade Three students on overall autonomous behaviors,making goals and plans,utilizing learning strategies.(2)Senior high students' English learning self-efficacy is at a medium level.Students have the highest general self-efficacy.When it comes to the specific English self-efficacy,their listening and reading self-efficacy are much higher than speaking and writing self-efficacy.There are remarkable differences between males and females' English self-efficacy.Females seem to be more efficacious than males.Significant differences are also found between Grade One and Grade Three students with the mean of Grade One being higher than Grade Three on English self-efficacy.(3)According to Pearson correlation analysis,the overall autonomous behavior and self-efficacy are highly related to each other.Those who have higher English learning self-efficacy tend to conduct more autonomous behaviors.Meanwhile,those who perform more autonomous behaviors are more likely to have higher English learning self-efficacy.The findings suggest that senior English teachers should try to let every student experience success to raise their sense of achievement.English teachers should create a good learning atmosphere which promotes autonomous learning as well.Strategy training should be conducted in the meantime to help students cultivate their capacity to control their learning process.