非英语专业大学生自主学习个案研究_11_15

1、HIT Graduation Thesis for the MA Degree language teaching and as an economical solution to the problem of insufficient English teachers in China and as a remedy for lack of concern for individual needs. Leslie Dickinson claims that “there is evidence that learners active and independent involvement

2、in their own learning (autonomy increases motivation and consequently increases learning effectiveness” (Dickinson, 1995. The students adopting an active approach to learning and his engaging in a learning task on his own without the need of being pushed and supervised is undoubtedly one of the goal

3、s in education. Littlewood (1996 states that “the goal of language teaching is to develop independent capacities in all domains”. Knowles illustrates that people who take the initiative in learning learn more things and learn better than those who sit at the foot of the teacher, passively waiting to

4、 be taught (Knowles, 1975. Researchers such as H.Douglas Brown and David Nunan regard students ability to find opportunities to activate their own way of learning, taking charge of their learning as one characteristic of good language learners (Brown, 2001; Nunan, 1989. Autonomy in learning is an at

5、tribute prized by employers, who indicate that they need employees who have a willingness to learn, motivation to work, positive attitudes, and an ability to solve problems (Andrews, 1995. Heron (1993 argues that learning by its very nature is autonomous, that is, nobody can make you learn and indee

6、d no one can memorize facts, understand ideas or practice skills for you. Heron also maintains that interest and commitment are self-generated and any attempt to impose or negate them interferes with learning. Todays expansive and explosive gamut of knowledge and information requires learners to kee

7、p learning for life. Mary Spratt points out that in a learning context that necessitates life-long learning and increasingly calls for distance learning, autonomy must surely remain -2 HIT Graduation Thesis for the MA Degree an important aim. Students can benefit much more in the autonomous learning

8、 pattern, because they are allowed to plan and negotiate the content of their lessons, which will surely promote their motivation and develop their skills and knowledge necessary for them to manage their own language learning efficiently. Littlewood (1996 said being autonomous in learning is importa

9、nt because the most efficient learners tend to be those who have developed a degree of autonomy. These learners are more motivated towards learning and tend to find learning more enjoyable. They are more ready to take responsibility for their own learning and are usually more successful learners. Se

10、eing the significance of learner autonomy, the author probes into literature and finds out that development of learner autonomy in English learning can be affected by a clust er of interrelated factors rather than by one or two isolated ones. The author comes to the understanding that for the sake o

11、f promoting learner autonomy among language learners, teachers should start by considering the integrated and interrelated range of factors that may influence it and by implementing the relevant strategies according to the relevant factors to make our learners more independent and successful in thei

12、r language learning, rather than limit their attention to one or two isolated factors only. The thesis aims to find out more efficient methods and strategies that can be used by the students to enhance their learner autonomy. It first clarifies some interrelated factors that affect autonomous learni

13、ng including learners attitudes towards autonomous English learning, learners motivation, learners metacognitive knowledge, learners individual differences in the affective aspect, learning strategies and self-assessment. Two groups of students are involved in the -3 HIT Graduation Thesis for the MA

14、 Degree investigation. With the help of a questionnaire, the author tries to identify the significant differences between the two groups of students in the factors mentioned above. The thesis then proceeds with the data analysis, which reveals that the students attitudes, as well as motivation play

15、an important role in language learning. Consequently, students should develop a positive and active attitude towards language learning. The investigation also indicates that students with more metacognitive knowledge and those who use learning strategies with higher frequency are more likely to lear

16、n English efficiently. Then on the basis of the investigation, workable and practical methods and strategies are provided for students to enhance their learner autonomy. In addition, this thesis also hopes to give insight into further college English learning and teaching. -4 HIT Graduation Thesis f

17、or the MA Degree Chapter 2 Literature Review The concept of autonomy is grounded in a natural tendency for learners to take control over their learning. However, it is not a method of learning, but an attribute of learners approach to the learning process. Recent thinking on language teaching method

18、ology has indicated two notions in regard to learner autonomy. The first notion is that greater autonomy is a legitimate and desirable goal of language education. Although it is displayed in different ways and to different degrees according to the unique characteristics of each learner and each lear

19、ning situation, autonomy is proved to be available to all. The second is that autonomous learning is more effective than non-autonomous learning. In other words, the development of autonomy implies better language learning. There is little discussion of meaning of autonomy within the field of langua

20、ge learning theory, even though it has been defined in more than one way. Notions of learner autonomy derive from a wide range of disciplines. The implementation of such notions depends on the complex interplay of relationships between these disciplines. This section provides a detailed discussion o

21、f the theoretical foundation of learner autonomy. First, the definition of learner autonomy is presented. Second, the three main versions of autonomy and three approaches to language learning are discussed. 2.1 Learner Autonomy Autonomy is a difficult concept to define, for it has been approached fr

22、om different angels by different scholars since the notion came into being. In addition, more complexity is added due to appearance of various definitions of autonomy and other synonyms for it, such as independence (Sheerin, 1997, language -5 HIT Graduation Thesis for the MA Degree awareness (James

23、& Garrett, 1991 and self-direction (Candy, 1991 adopted by different researchers. It can be further confirmed by Hedge (2000: 77 who states “since the late 1980s we have seen a proliferation of terms relating to the concept of self-directed learning: autonomous learning, self-monitoring, self-assess

24、ment, learner strategies, self-help learning strategies, strategic investment, learner training, self-study and self-access learning. The key concepts, around which others pivot, are those of learner autonomy as a goal for learners or the teachers encouragement of their efforts towards that goal.” T

25、hus, the heated debate about definition of autonomy has taken place in many literature works, for example, whether learner autonomy should be thought of as a kind of capacity or a kind of behavior; whether it is characterized by learner responsibility or learner control; whether it is a psychological phenomenon with political implications or a political right with psychological implications