自主学习在语言学习中的应用.doc

on learner autonomy in language learning自主学习在语言学习中的应用on learner autonomy in language learningcontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction.1ii. the concepts learner autonomy22.1 what is learner autonomy? 32.2 autonomy in developmental and experiential learning.32.3 comparison between learner autonomy and other related terms.4iii. the application of learner autonomy.63.1 autonomous learner in a language-learning environment.73.2 the autonomous language classroom.83.3 learning strategies. 83.4 the application of learner autonomy10iv. conclusion.12references.13摘 要: “自主学习”就是让学生真正成为教学的主体，也就是让学生积极能动地参与教学活动，积极主动地进行学习认识和学习实践活动，激发学生主动参与教学，给予学生自主发展的空间，促使学生想学，愿学，最终达到通过语言教学提高学生综合能力的目的。但是，过度的自主会导致学生自由散漫，影响学生学习成绩，背离最初的出发点。本文论述了自主学习的概念，发展历史与其他的相互关系以及自主学习在学习中的作用，尤其是在语言学习中。因此，研究自主学习对语言学习有很重要的作用。关键词：自主学习，语言学习，英语abstract: learner autonomy can make student turn into main body of teaching. that is, make students take part in teaching activities. learn to study and practice actively, stimulate students to participate in education and offer students some space develop freely. with learner autonomy students are willing to learn in order to improve their comprehensive abilities. however, over-autonomy, apart from the intention of learner autonomy initially can make students slack, influence students achievement. the article discusses the concept of learner autonomy, development of the history of learner autonomy, the relationship with others and the role of learner autonomy in learning, especially in language learning. therefore, the study of learner autonomy plays very important part in language study. key words: learning autonomy; language learning; englishi. introductionthe topics of autonomy and independence play an increasingly important role in language education. they raise issues such as learners responsibility for their own learning, and their right to determine the direction of their own learning, the skills which can be learned and applied in self-directed learning and capacity for independent learning and the extents to which this can be suppressed by institutional education.the paper offers new insights into the principles of autonomy and independence and the practices associated with them focusing on the area of efl teaching. the editors introduction provides the context and outlines the main issues involved in autonomy and independence. later chapters discuss the social and political implications of autonomy and independence and their effects on educational structures. the consequences for the design of learner-centered materials and methods are discussed, together with an exploration of the practical ways of implementing autonomy and independence in language teaching and learning.this is probably the single most difficult question to answer about autonomy in language learning and any answer to it is likely to be subjective. to me autonomy is about people taking more control over their livesindividually and collectively. autonomy in learning is about people taking more control over their learning in classrooms and outside them and autonomy in language learning about people taking more control over the purposes for which they learn languages and the ways in which they learn them.autonomy can also be described as a capacity to take charge of, or take responsibility for, or control over your own learning. from this point of view, autonomy involves abilities and attitudes that people possess, and can develop to various degrees. there are different points of view, though, on what these abilities. there are also different points of view on whether or not autonomy also involves a “situational” element (i.e., the freedom to exercise control over your own learning). these differences explain why it is so difficult to explain exactly what autonomy is. autonomy, or the ability of language learners to control their own learning, has become a key concept in language education. the paper shows what is autonomy in language learning, how it is implemented and how research and independence/autonomy can inform each other. in keeping with the aims of the series, it identifies key issues in research and practice, establishes clear and conceptual themes and draws links with other areas in applied linguistics. autonomy, or the ability of learners to control their own learning, has become a key concept in language education, influencing activities as diverse as self-access, distance learning, computer-assisted language learning, learner training, classroom practice and curriculum design.teaching and researching autonomy in language learning is the account of autonomy in language learning, and the educational practices associated with the concept.ii. the concepts learner autonomyover the last two decades, the concepts of learner autonomy and independence have gained momentum, the former becoming a “buzz-word” within the context of language learning (little 1991: 2). it is a truism that one of the most important spin-offs of more communicatively oriented language learning and teaching has been the premium placed on the role of the learner in the language learning process (wenden 1998: 46). it goes without saying, of course, that this shift of responsibility from teachers to learners does not exist in a vacuum, but is the result of a concatenation of changes to the curriculum itself towards a more learner-centered kind of learning. what is more, this reshaping, so to speak, of teacher and learner roles has been conducive to a radical change in the age-old distribution of power and authority that used to plague the traditional classroom. cast in a new perspective and regarded as having the “capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action” (little 1991: 4), learners, autonomous learners, that is, are expected to assume greater responsibility for, and take charge of, their own learning. however, learner autonomy does not mean that the teacher becomes redundant, abdicating his/her control over what is transpiring in the language learning process. in the present study, it will be shown that learner autonomy is a perennial dynamic process amenable to “educational interventions” (candy 1991), rather than a static product, a state, which is reached once and for all. besides, what permeates this study is the belief that in order to help learners to assume greater control over their own learning it is important to help them to become aware of and identify the strategies that they already use or could potentially use (holmes & ramos 1991:198). at any rate, individual learners differ in their learning habits, interests, needs, and motivation, and develop varying degrees of independence throughout their lives (tipsy 1982).2.1 what is learner autonomy? there is broad agreement in the theoretical literature that learner autonomy grows out of the individual learners acceptance of responsibility for his or her own learning (holec 1981; little 1991). this means that learner autonomy is a matter of explicit or conscious intention: we cannot accept responsibility for our own learning unless we have some idea of what, why, and how we are trying to learn. the learner must take at least some of the initiatives that give shape and direction to the learning process, and must share in monitoring progress and evaluating the extent to which learning targets are achieved. the pedagogical justification for wanting to foster the development of learner autonomy rests on the claim that in formal educational contexts, reflectivity and self-awareness produce better learning.2.2 autonomy in developmental and experiential learningit is a mistake to suppose that learner autonomy rests on capacities that come into play only in contexts of formal learning. after all, autonomy in a general behavioral sense is one of the obligatory outcomes of developmental and experiential learning. for example, first language acquisition succeeds only to the extent that the child becomes an autonomous user of her mother tongue. similarly, the learning through experience that helps to define what it is to be human serves the purpose of enlarging the capacity for autonomous behavior. in this sense, even the most teacher-dependent learners practice a wide range of autonomous behavior outside the classroom, which implies that in principle all learners should be capable of autonomous behavior in the classroom. the continuity between autonomy in developmental and experiential learning on the one hand and learner autonomy in formal educational contexts on the other is by no means straightforward. whereas developmental and experiential learning proceed for the most part without an explicit agenda, formal learning is by definition a matter of conscious intention. in the world outside the classroom we may achieve a high degree of general behavioral autonomy without being explicitly aware of the fact. but when the development of learner autonomy is central to our pedagogical agenda, we cannot help but make it a matter of conscious intention, as we noted in our introductory definition. of course, individual learners will always differ in the degree to which they develop the capacity for reflective thinking that is central to the concept of learner autonomy. but this is only to acknowledge that some learners are more successful than others.2.3 comparison between learner autonomy and other related termsid like to quote another chinese saying: “give a man a fish, and you will feed him for a day; teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a life time.” learner autonomy, as a life long mode of leaning, can play an important role in ensuring that academic development continues well beyond the classroom. so we should push the idea forward for as far as we can go now. autonomy learning should be cultivated and developed among efl learners in china. learners, teachers, and administrators need to be more aware of the benefits that sall brings forth english education and be ready to take on their new roles. teachers should design and organize various activities to prepare students for more independence and responsibility. all needs to be integrated into the course curriculum and be assessed on a regular basis. all learning is ultimately autonomous in the sense that learning depends on the efforts of the learners themselves. it is time for teachers to sow the seeds of autonomy and cultivate a life-long habit of independent learning within our students. there are a number of terms related to autonomy that can be distinguished from it in various ways. most people now agree that autonomy and autonomous learning are not synonymy of, “self-instruction”, “self-access”, “self-study”, “self-education”, “out-of-class learning” or “distance learning”. these terms basically describe various ways and degrees of learning by you, whereas autonomy refers to abilities and attitudes (or whatever we think the a capacity to control your own learning consists of). the point is, then, that learning by you is not the same thing as having the capacity to learn by yourself. also, autonomous learners may well be better than others at learning by themselves (hence the connection), but they do not necessarily have to learn by themselves. over the last few years, for example, more and more research is coming out on autonomy in the classroom and “teacher autonomy”.the terms “independent learning” and “self-directed learning” also refer to ways of learning by you. but these terms are very often used as synonyms for autonomy. when you come across any of these terms, it is a good idea to check what the writer means by them exactly.the importance of learner autonomy understood as the capability, not an inborn ability, to govern and regulate ones own thoughts, feelings, and actions freely and responsibly, while at the same time overcoming feelings of shame and doubt is increasingly recognized by educators. it is emphasized that the underlying components of learner autonomy, that is, readiness to learn, willingness to take responsibility for the process of learning and confidence in ones ability as a learner, ought to be strengthened by the environment in which learners find themselves. it is also believed that promoting learner autonomy should be very profitable for learners as they get consciously involved in language processing and begin to develop their individual strategies. moreover, learners may find their individual learning styles, start to believe in their own abilities and, finally, gain independence (gwiazda-rzepecka 2000).the term, “autonomy” is semantically complex. among other things it carries a strong implication of freedom. the question is, of course, freedom from what? learner autonomy has been interpreted as freedom from the control of the teacher, freedom from the constraints of the curriculum, even freedom to choose not to learn. each of these freedoms must be confronted and discussed in any serious consideration of learner autonomy, but for us the most important freedom that autonomy implies is the learners freedom from self, by which we mean his or her capacity to transcend the limitations of personal heritage (berofsky 1997). in our view this is the most important sense, educationally and linguistically, in which the development of autonomy empowers the individual learner.because the term autonomy focuses attention on individuality and independence, it is sometimes assumed that learners make the best and fastest progress when they work on their own. according to this view, classrooms are a matter of administrative convenience, a necessary evil. this, however, is a mistake. we are social creatures, and as such we depend on one another in infinity of ways. without the stimulus and comfort of social interaction, for example, child development is disastrously impaired: it is our condition that we learn from one another. thus, the independence that we exercise through our developed capacity for autonomous behavior is always conditioned and constrained by our inescapable interdependence. in contexts of formal learning as elsewhere, we necessarily depend on others even as we exercise our independence.this implies a positive view of classrooms as places where teachers and learners can collaborate to construct knowledge (cf. mercer 1995). more precisely, classrooms are physical environments where teachers and learners have the opportunity to become a learning community. when the focus of learning is a second or foreign language, the target language itself is one of the principal tools with which that collaborative process is shaped (dam, 1995).iii. the application of learner autonomyhow should we develop positive attitude toward learner autonomy, and change the traditional authoritarian role of teachers? an overview of the literature reveals that in recent years learner autonomy has the attention of many researchers and even the governments such as ministry of education p.r.c., who has rendered much account of its importance. the latest 2004 version college english curriculum pedagogical requirement issued by the higher education department of the ministry of education, p.r.c. demands in black and white that the college students acquiring of autonomous individualized learning approaches and the advancement of the students learner autonomy as one vital evidence for the success of the reform of college english pedagogical patterns. autonomy in learning is an attribute prized by employers, who indicate that they need graduates who have a willingness to learn, motivation to work, positive attitudes, and an ability to solve problems (andrews 1995). todays expansive and explosive gamut of knowledge and information requires learners to keep learning for life. mary sprat points out that “in a learning context that necessitates life-long learning and increasingly for distance learning, autonomy must surely remain an important aim”(sprat 2002). the concept of learner autonomy learning has become increasingly popular foreign language education, which has inspired much insightfully research (gremmie & riley 1995). on the other hand, the article aiming at autonomy development has been published both abroad and in china. in the actual language classroom in our country, autonomous learning still remains quite a new ideology. it is necessary for our teacher to comprehend the essence of learner autonomy and the autonomy-favoring features of teaching materials before they are able to implement that ideology in teaching practice. this article first discusses the general features of tasks that can encourage learner autonomy. then it focuses on identifying the aspects of cask design that contribute of these features by means of evaluation of the casks in widely used set of college english course books. in addition, possible ways of important and adaptation are suggested.3.1 autonomous learner in a language-learning environment the concern of the present study has so far been with outlining the general characteristics of autonomy. at this juncture, it should be reiterated that autonomy is not an article of faith, a product ready made for use or merely a personal quality or trait. rather, it should be clarified that autonomous learning is achieved when certain conditions obtain: cognitive and met cognitive strategies on the part of the learner, motivation, attitudes, and knowledge about language learning, i.e., a kind of met language. to acknowledge, however, that learners have to follow certain paths to