大学生自主学习能力培养论文.doc

The Study on Developing the Autonomous Learning Ability of College Students in English TeachingChapter One Introduction The concept of “learner autonomy” has become a hot topic in foreign language teaching since it was first introduced in the book Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning written by H. Holee in 1981. Education Ministry of our country has clearly stated in “Teaching requirements for English Curriculum of Vocational College” that one of the main goals in college English teaching is to develop the students autonomous learning ability (Edueation Ministry, Higher Edueation Division, 2007). This demands teachers and researchers to pay more attention to strategy development in enhancing vocational technical college (VTC hereafter) students autonomous learning ability so as to guarantee that the students overall abilities will be improved.1.1 Background information With the development of modern society, the world has become a big united family in which people from different cultures tend to make closer and closer contact with each other, and international cooperation and communication is becoming increasingly popular and necessary. Therefore, it is of great improtance to help students to be armed with skills which could help them cope with various challenges globalization will bring to them. This has been considered a new responsibility of schools, colleges and universities. In China, the deepening of the Chinas reform and opening-up policy and the faster economy development have set an even higher demand on foreign language teaching for college teachers.Competition of the 21st century is competition in knowledge, especially English, which is the golden key to the employment and international transactions. Thus, it is of great importance to push forward reforms to improve students autonomous learning ability, as well as language communication ability, application ability of English and comprehension of culture in English-speaking countries, so that the students capability, quality and competitiveness could be enhanced. VTC students will meet more challenges if they cannot keep on learning English after graduation. Therefore, it is necessary for them to learn how to take responsibility for their own learning at school and develop their autonomous learning ability so as to become more valuable to the society after they complete their education in college.College teachers should realize that their students could only be with them for quite a short period of time, so what they have to do is to equip them with the means and capacity to deal with actual situations after their graduation. McDevitt (1997) once raised the idea that the end product of education is an independent learner and that cultivating a learners independence or autonomy should be regarded as the ultimate goal that teachers or educators try to pursue.1.2 Statement of the problem There exists many problems in English teaching and learning in VTCs, which can be concluded in following aspects. First, the number of students in VTCs is becoming larger and larger, not only bringing new opportunities, but also bringing challenges. The increasing number of the students and the shortage of teachers result in reduced efficiency in teaching. Many teachers still follow the teaching methods of decades before, lacking innovation and reform. Most English teachers in VTCs are trained in a traditional way and have no experiences of studying abroad, finding it a painful step to adjust to new teaching techniques. As a result, the traditional strategies in English teaching may have caused that the students lose their interests in English learning because the learning process is dull and boring.Second, due to the low entry score, most of the students enrolled in VTCs are weak in study and their overall quality is relatively low. Although they have studied all the lessons in senior school, yet their ideological quality, cultural quality and psychological quality have not been fully promoted and developed. They are lacking in effective learning methods and learning motivation and are poor in autonomous learning ability, specially in English study. Most students could not and are not willing to take up learning responsibility and control over their own learning.Last, for a long time, the relationship between teachers and students has been unbalanced, with teachers dominance and control in the classroom and learners passive acceptance of whatever teachers teach them. With the development of educational researches and experiments, such an unbalanced relationship has received more and more questioning and criticism. 1.3 Purpose of the study The present study aims to probe into the strategies in cultivating students autonomous learning ability by analyzing theoretical bases of autonomous learning from the perspective of psychology and pedagogy, making a teaching experiment and analyzing the data collected. Some useful suggestions will be put forward, based on results of the investigation. The purpose of this study can be concluded in the following three aspects.Firstly, current problems in English teaching, students autonomous learning ability and the relationship between teachers and students are analyzed to get a general view of the situation of English teaching and learning in VTC. Secondly, definition and characteristics of autonomous learning, as well as studies on autonomous learning at home and abroad, are discussed to provide a systematic and thorough understanding on empirical research related to autonomous learning experience and the theoretical foundation for this study. Finally, the study will collect the data gained from questionnaires and tests, analyze them using SPSS software and make the comparison between two classes in Qinghai Communications Vocational Technical College so as to provide useful suggestions and strategies in training students autonomous learning ability.To sum up, the findings of the study could help to enhance students self-efficacy in Chinese EFL context and raise students enthusiasm for autonomy in English learning so as to improve their academic records, make them active in and responsible for their own learning and promote their realization of life-long learning and life-long education.1.4 Significance of the study The students in VTCs is a special community, who will meet more challenges if they could not keep on learning English, so the task to cultivate the students autonomous capability in English learning has become urgent and important. One of the main teaching goals in “Teaching requirements for English Curriculum of Vocational College” is to develop the students autonomous learning ability. However, most VTC English teachers have experienced the frustration of investing endless amounts of energy in their students and getting very little response. All teachers have all had groups who never did their homework, who were reluctant to use English in pair or group work, who did not learn from their mistakes, who did not listen to each other, who did not use opportunities to learn outside the classroom, and so on. The main cause of such behavior is students over-reliance on the teachers, i.e., students lack of autonomous learning ability and learning strategies.It is the autonomous learning that will help students change their behavior by encouraging them to take responsibility for their own language learning, to change their attitudes towards the English class, and to deal with their foreign language learning problems. Thus, teachers need to see whether their students are ready for autonomous learning or to what extent they are able to learn autonomously, and in what way teachers can help their learners to incorporate a greater degree of learner autonomy in the learning and teaching process. This study provides some useful strategies, which is crucial in the promotion of autonomous learning in vocational English learning. Thus, the goal of teaching and learning English efficiently and effectively is likely to be achieved.Chapter Two Literature Review 2.1 The definition and characteristics of autonomous learning The concept of autonomous learning first entered the field of language teaching through the Council of Europes Modern Language Project, which was established in 1971. One of the outcome of this project was the set up of centre de recbercbes et dapplications en languages (CRAPEL) at the university of Nancy, France, which rapidly became a focus for research and practice in the field. Yves Chalon, the founder of CRAPEL, is considered to be the father of autonomous learning. After Chalon died, the leadership of CRAPEL was passed to Henri Holec, whose project report submitted to the Council of Europe is an important document on autonomous learning and has played an important role in the research afterward on autonomous learning from 1970s to the present. Autonomous learning has been the topic of many researchers for several decades. However, different researchers have put forward different definitions on autonomous learning. Holecs (1981: 3) sees autonomous learning ability as a capacity and critical ability to reflect on ones experience and to take charge of ones own learning, which involves “determining ones own learning objectives, determining the necessary means for attaining those objectives and the ways of using those means, while determining the means for assessing what has been learnt and acquired” (Holec, 1981:25). Autonomous learning ability is the ability to learn, requiring both psychological and methodological preparation. The autonomous learner is able to direct the course of his own learning by making all the significant decisions concerning its management and organization. In contrast, Little (1991: 4) argues that autonomous learning is “a capacity of detachment, critical reflection, decision-making and independent action”. He maintains that “the learner will develop a particular kind of psychological relation to the process and content of his learning”. Autonomous learning ability will be “displayed both in the way the learner learns and in the way he or she transfers what has been learned to wider contexts”. Definitions given by Holec and Little cover two aspects of the nature of autonomy and both implies that the content of learning should be freely determined by a learner.According to Huttunen (1986: 95), “a learner is fully autonomous when he is working individually or in a group, taking responsibility for the planning, monitoring and evaluation of his studies”. Kenny (1993:433) holds that autonomous learning in the context of foreign language learning implies that the learners must be able to define the overall nature of the language-learning task for themselves. According to Benson (2005), autonomous learning is about people taking more control over their learning in and outside classrooms, as well as taking more control over the purposes for which they learn languages and the ways in which they learn them. Although different researchers define autonomous learning in different ways and from different points of view, the definitions of autonomous learning do have something in common and overlap each other. To sum up, autonomous learning grows out of the individual learners acceptance of responsibility for his or her own learning. This means that autonomous learning requires the learner to develop control over his or her own learning and his or her own role in that process.From the academic literatures of the western researchers, some key characteristics of autonomous learning can be concluded in the following. First, autonomous learning involves learners taking responsibility for their own learning, plan their learning activities, regulate their learning results and adjust their learning activities. Second, autonomous learners can make use of meta-cognitive, motivation and environment to learn systematically. They know when, where and how to use them to get the most efficient results. Third, autonomous learners have the ability to define his own objectives. They set the goal first, and then achieve this goal by using strategies. Last, autonomous learning relies on three factors, i.e., attitude, awareness and capability.2.2 Foreign and domestic study on Autonomous Learning Autonomous learning has become an important concept within the context of language learning. Scholars and researchers at home and abroad have made different researches on autonomous learning.From the 1970s to the present, studies of autonomous learning have been carried out from different perspectives by many researchers in western countries. Researches about learner autonomy in language learning (Holec, 1981; Dickinson 1987; Wenden&Rubin, 1987; Little, 1988; Dam, Benson&Voller, 1997 etc.) have indicated how autonomous learning can be implemented in different contexts. Many academic literatures concerned with the development of learner autonomy, there is an emphasis on training the learner in terms strategy development and learning skills (Dickinson, L. 1992; Ellis, G Sinclair, B. 1989; OMalley, Wenden, A. 1991). Besides, the theoretical foundation of autonomous learning was explored in the fields of political philosophy and psychology as well as language education (Benson&Voller, 1997). In addition, the effectiveness of autonomy development was verified and the relationship between autonomous learning and other related factors (e.g. learning condition, culture, language proficiency) was analyzed and investigated. Moreover, modern technologies were employed to improve autonomous learning in the field of foreign language education.In China, experts and scholars have shown concern and interest in study of autonomous learning since the 1980s. Their studies in the field of language education mainly involves applying foreign theories to study of autonomous learning, discussing the significance and ways of developing autonomous learning and carrying out experimental studies on learner autonomy in schools and colleges. Some researchers (Xie Fang, 2002; Wei Yuyan, 2002 etc.) reported on the necessity and significance of promoting autonomous learning in the field of foreign language education in the university. Some (Hua Weifen, 2001; Tan Hong, 2001 etc.) laid emphasis on the teachers role in autonomous learning based on the existing literature and Chinese situation. Recently, a survey on learner autonomy (Xu Jinfen, Peng Renzhong & Wu Weiping, 2004) has been carried out, indicating that the autonomous learning ability of Chinese college students in English learning is generally poor and autonomy promotion in the English classroom is quite necessary.Some experimental studies on autonomous learning within the classroom have been conducted. Peng Jinding (2002) proved that the teaching methods put forward was beneficial to promote autonomy in English learning. Pang Weiguo (2003) and Wang Duqin (2002) explored the relationship between autonomous learning and language proficiency and got positive results.By briefly reviewing the theoretical and empirical studies of autonomous learning at home and abroad, we can see that few empirical researches have been conducted on how to promote non-English major students English autonomous learning ability in VTCs. The present study is going to provide some useful strategies in the promotion of autonomous learning in vocational English learning by analyzing the data collected from experiment, test, questionnaire and interview.2.3 Theoretical Basis for Independent Study Independent study, central to the promotion of autonomous learning, has its theoretical basis and foundation on psychology and education, which will be elaborated in the following two sections respectively.2.3.1 Psychological Basis Piagets theory of cognitive development and Cognitive Constructivism are the primary psychological bases of independent study. Piagets theory of cognitive development, first developed by Jean Piaget, is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. It is primarily known as a developmental stage theory, but in fact, it deals with the nature of knowledge itself and how humans come gradually to acquire it, construct it, and use it. Jean Piaget holds that what distinguishes human beings from other animals is our ability to do “abstract symbolic reasoning.” He described two processes used by the individual in his attempt to adapt: assimilation and accomodation, both of which used thoughout life as the person increasingly adapts to the environment in a more complex manner. Assimilation describes how humans perceive and adapt to new information. It is the process of taking ones environment and new information and fitting it into pre-existing cognitive schemas. Assimilation occurs when humans are faced with new or unfamiliar information and refer to previously learned information in order to make sense of it. Accommodation, unlike assimilation, is the process of taking ones environment and new information, and altering ones pre-existing schemas in order to fit in the new information. Both processes are used simultaneously and alternately throughout life. One important generalization of Piagetian theory is role of the teacher. In a Piagetian classroom an important teacher role is to provide a rich environment for the spontaneous exploration of the child. A classroom filled with interesting things to explore encourages students to become active constructors of their own knowledge (their own schemas) through experiences that encourage assimilation and accommodation. Constructivism can be described as a theory that deals with the way people create meaning of the world through a series of individual constructs. It claims that knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, not passively received from the environment and