An Investigation Into Students' English Learning Autonomy In A Chinese University

The concept of learning autonomy was first proposed and introduced into the field of language education in the 1980 s.Since then,language learning autonomy has become a limelight in the field of foreign language education and students' autonomous learning ability is regarded as one of the significant goals in language teaching.Up to now,many studies on language learning autonomy have been conducted,but most of the participants in these studies are primary and middle school students and only a few have focused on autonomous English learning of students in universities.Therefore,this study intended to investigate the general situation in learning autonomy of this group of students and attempted to provide effective feedback and recommendations for improving students' English learning autonomy.The participants in the present study were 151 sophomores from Jiangxi Normal University.All the participants were required to fill out a questionnaire and 16 of them were invited to participate in an interview.The study attempted to investigate the current situation of students' English learning autonomy and looked at the differences in English learning autonomy between male and female students.Besides,it also explored the differences in English learning autonomy between high proficiency students and low proficiency students.By using SPSS.20.0,the researcher used the descriptive statistics,independent sample T-test for data analysis.On the basis of the data analysis,this thesis has revealed the following findings:1.The overall degree of the students' learning autonomy is at moderate level.In general,the participants are not good at monitoring and evaluating learning process and they are unable to decide learning objectives and make learning plans.In addition,they seldom practice oral English with classmates,talk with teachers and take part in extracurricular activities.On the whole,the overall competence of learning autonomyfor the students in this study needs to be improved.2.There are significant differences in English learning autonomy between male and female learners.On most occasions,the female students are better at keeping up with the teacher' pace,setting learning plans,setting practical learning goals and knowing how to select the learning strategies.In addition,the female students show a more positive attitude towards learning autonomy than the male students.3.There are distinctive differences in learning autonomy between the high proficiency and low proficiency students.The two groups differ especially in implementing learning strategies.The high proficiency students are better at choosing suitable learning strategies than the low proficiency students.Besides,the high proficiency students are also better at using body language for effective dialogue than the low proficiency students.On the basis of the major findings of the present study,several implications for the cultivation and promotion of autonomous English learning ability can be offered for teachers and students in Chinese universities.In the first place,teachers and students should change their beliefs about English learning.Teachers should not only be instructors,but also counselors,facilitators and learning resource in classroom teaching.Meanwhile,students should take responsibility for their own learning and try to be autonomous learners.In addition,teachers should train students' learning strategies so that students' competence in implementing and monitoring learning strategy can be improved.Last but not least,teachers should promote students' cooperative learning so as to enhance their English learning autonomy.