Strategies of Improving the Autonomous English Learning of Non-English Major

1、Since learner autonomy was first raised by Holec in 1981 (Holec, 1981 ), it has gained great popularity among the researchers and educators at home and aboard. Actually, in early China, the idea of autonomy mentioned by Confusion, give a man a fish, and he eats for a day; teach him how to fish and h

2、e eats for a lifetime. It is obvious that autonomy is vital in ones lifetime, not even mention in foreign language learning. The Chinese traditional teaching mode is teacher-centered. The teacher tried to cram his students and students also used to learn passively. However, we should be aware that i

3、t is impossible for a teacher to be with them all the time (Littlewood, 1999). Hence, the teacher should try their best to develop students autonomous leaner ability so that they can learn whatever in anywhere when anytime. After nearly 20 years researching and exploring, The College English Curricu

4、lum Requirements was issued in 2007 (Ministry of Education P. R.C., 2007). It clearly said that the English teaching objectives are to cultivate one who can learn independently and arrange their own learning reasonably. We know it is a big challenge to both English educators and English learner. To

5、develop the learner autonomy, we should take into account not only the teachers role and students role but also the teaching environment, teaching instruments and the testing system. In the recent years, our college English teaching system has undergone a series of reforms, such as the change from t

6、he teacher-centeredness to student-centeredness; from teaching materials and teaching instruments to teaching environment and the testing system etc. And it has gained a great achievement.In China, many researchers take most of time and research in English major but ignore the non-English major. Jin

7、fen Xu had a study about the situation of the autonomous English learning ability of non-English major college students (Jinfen Xu, 2004). She takes the 1340 non-English major students from 14 universities in China as an example made a questionnaire. The study results show that the autonomous Englis

8、h learning of non-English major in China is generally low. Most students have no passion in learning English and they used to depend on their teachers; some learn English only when they have test or exam; others even have no idea about the aim of college English teaching. However, Hongbo Qis study s

9、hows that the non-English major college students in China have a strong awareness of English learning autonomy (Hongbo Qi, 2002). Apparently, many students would like to be a good language learner. And they are no idea about why they study hard but fruitless. Therefore, it is necessary to spend much

10、 more time in exploring how to develop the non-English major autonomous learning ability and helping them to learn efficiently.According to analyze the educators and researchers study, I am going to take 100 non-English majors in XISU as the example to do a questionnaire and interview. This thesis a

11、ims to analyze the results of the study, find out where the problem is and try to give some possible ways so as to promote the non-English majors autonomous learning ability. The results of this study can be used as a reference for English educators and English learners.1. Literature Review2.1 The D

12、efinitions of Autonomous Learning in LiteratureSince it was proposed in the first time, autonomous learning has great popularity in both home and aboard. Up to now, the definition of autonomous learning has not been unified. Henri Holec introduced the concept of autonomous learning into foreign lang

13、uage teaching for the first time in Autonomy and foreign language learning (Henri Holec, 1981). And he defined it as the ability one can take charge of their learning. He believes that there are three key factors to develop the learner autonomy: the reasonable goal of learning, the independent behav

14、ior of learning and the assessment of learning. Huttunen (1986) believes that independent learning means the willingness and ability of learner is responsible for their learning. And Little (1991) argues that autonomy is a capacitychoosing learning objectives, critical reflection, decision-making, a

15、nd independent learning. His idea explains the ability to take responsibility for ones own learning. Dickinson (1995) also proposed autonomous learning is not only the learning attitude but the capacity of independent learning. Little Wood (1996) defines autonomous learning as the capacity of using

16、knowledge without relying on the teacher. The educators in China believe that autonomous learning should be focused at least following five aspects: the responsibility of learning, the clear objectives of learning, setting the schedule of learning, strategies learning and assessment of learning.2.2.

17、 The Characteristic of Autonomous Learning in LiteratureDue to different cognition of learner autonomy, each educator has his own viewpoint to the characteristic of autonomous learning. Holec (1981) think the autonomous learner should be: 1) Setting the right objectives;2) Defining the reasonable le

18、arning contents and the learning process; 3) Choosing the appropriate learning strategies;4) Monitoring the learning progress;5) Evaluating what has been learned.Dickinson (1993) describes the characteristic of autonomous learning as following:1) Understanding what is been taught;2) Adjusting their

19、learning objectives;3) Choosing the appropriate learning strategies consciously;4) Monitoring the learning strategies and adjusting when necessary; 5) Monitoring the learning progress and evaluating it.Dam (1995) believes that autonomous learner should have the following capacity:1) Defining his lea

20、rning objectives;2) Engaging him actively in the learning process;3) Choosing learning materials and activity;From all above, it can be concluded that the characteristic of autonomous learning should include the following five aspects: 1) Understanding what is been taught;2) Choosing the learning ma

21、terials and activity and defining the reasonable learning contents and the learning process;3) Choosing the appropriate learning strategies;4) Monitoring the learning strategies and learning process;5) Evaluating what has been learned and self-evaluation.2.3. The theoretical framework of autonomy2.3

22、.1 Humanism.Humanism was proposed in the middle of 1950s and 1960s. It pays more attention to the inner world of the learner, and it emphasizes the needs, feelings, the willingness of the learner. The two representative figures of humanism are Maslow and Rogers. Maslow raised the hierarchy need whic

23、h was divided into two levels, the needs for basic and the needs for growth. From his theory, we can know that different learners have their own needs. Only when the basic needs met, the higher level can be developed. Maslow puts learning on the top of the level. Therefore, if their fundamental need

24、s were not satisfied, their learning would be affected. The teacher should give full respect and love to students so that they have high motivation in learning. Rogers think that learning is a spontaneous activity and the ultimate goal of teaching is to develop learners adaptability and autonomy. Le

25、arning would be persistent and efficient when they involved in it. As a result, he also suggestions that teachers would better be a promoter help them than be a leader to teach them. Humanism focused that learners learn from the process of founding problems, providing questions and solving problems.

26、 In other words, the learner should be the center of learning.2.3.2 Cognitivism.Same as Humanism, the Cognitivism approach also means to develop learner autonomy. However, it describes that the process of learning is affected by the cognition of learner. This approach emphasizes that learning has hi

27、gher efficiency when the learner is responsible for their learning. The two representative figures of cognitivism are Dewey and Bruner. For Dewey, he raised learning by doing. He thinks learning is a spontaneous activity. For this point, Huttunen also said,the teachers task is to guide the student i

28、n this development of the logical, psychological and ethical aspects of personal progress towards autonomy. His task is to find ways of enriching, balancing and clarifying the students experience, to guide him to seek new experiences to structure and simplify experiences when needed, and to find way

29、s of connecting the students experiences with the diversity of life in his culture, including its heritage (1986, p.19).As for Bruner, his discovery learning emphasize the process of learner should play an active role, find problems and solve it. He suggestions that the objective of teaching is not

30、to teach but to develop the ability of the learner to initiative consider and solve problems. In a word, cognitivism approach has a profound impact on the development of autonomy learning.2.3.3 Constructivism.Constructivism refers to the integration between new and previous knowledge. It describes l

31、earning is a process of learning and improving and reshaping. It also focused on developing learner initiative and creative ability. Based on constructivism, the model of teaching is a top-down model. It means students start with complex problems, and in this process, they acquire skills with the he

32、lp of teacher. Constructivism also pointed out that learners are more likely discovering and understanding a complex concept when they discuss with others. All three theories have mentioned the significance of autonomous learning in the learning process and also given some suggestions in improving l

33、earner autonomy.2. Research Design3.1 The Purpose of the ResearchIn order to know the non-English majors notion and ability in autonomy learning, the research intends to take the XISU non-English majors as an example to explore and analyses the factors may affect the fostering of learner autonomy so

34、 as to find some strategies in improving learner autonomy. According to all the investigation and analyses, some suggestions are provided, which might be beneficial to English educators and English learners. There are several questions are going to be figured out:1) What is the non-English majors no

35、tion about autonomous learning in XISU?2) How about the ability of non-English majors autonomous English learning in XISU?3) What are the factors that may affect learners learning autonomy in XISU?4) How to improve the ability of non-English majors autonomous English learning?3.2 SubjectsStudents: S

36、ubjects of this survey are 100 non-English majors in XISU. These students come from 8 different majors, including both male and female, sophomores and juniors. Their age ranges from 19 to 22. After 1-2 years life, university sophomores and juniors have adapted to the university study and found their

37、 own learning strategies. All the students had different proficiency levels in English. The selection of subjects is completely random.Teachers: there are 10 English teachers for non-English majors in XISU were selected randomly.3.3 InstrumentsQuestionnaire: the data of this research comes from 2 qu

38、estionnaires. The one for students includes 3 parts. Part one is the basic information of the participant (gender, grade, age, and college). Part two is consisting of 20 multiple choices. These questions are referred to their attitude toward learning English, the motivation of learning English, time

39、 spent in learning English, the ways of learning English, the participation in English class, the activities of autonomous English learning after class. Part three contains two open questions: 1. which skills do you like to acquire from English learning in college? For this, what did you try and wit

40、h what results? 2. Can you give some suggestions to your teacher or college?Another questionnaire is for the teacher. Part one is also personal information. The second part is the assessment of their students belief and competence in English study. The third part is two open questions: 1. Do you thi

41、nk what is their attitude toward learning English? 2. Is there something we can do to improve their learning autonomy? Interview: To ensure the quality of this research, the author selected 10 representative students with different competence and different learning background. In order to get the mo

42、re truthful and reliable answer, they were interviewed after class.3. Results and Discussion4.1 Current Situation of Learner Autonomy in XISUAccording to the result of this research, we can know that most of the non-English majors are lack of motivation and enthusiasm in English learning. For the cu

43、rrent situation of learner autonomy in XISU, the author is going to analyze several aspects. The first one is the situation of setting their learning objectives and plans. The author found that students can basically set their learning objectives but not make their English learning schedules. Most o

44、f them have no other plans to learn English except those assigned by the teacher. And some of them learn English on some apps by their mobile phone but few can stick to it. When mentioned the learning material, they were not content with English book. They would like to choose for themselves. Howeve

45、r, they do not know how to choose useful and suitable learning materials. When asked the strategy of English learning, 90% of students think it is very important, but there are 64.3% of students is not familiar with learning strategies. And over half of students have no idea about how to adjust the

46、learning strategy and learning method.The survey also showed that the purpose of most of the non-English majors learn English is not the need for communication and their own interests but to pass the exam or get a better job. Besides, they are accustomed to the traditional teacher-centered mode. In

47、this environment, many of them even not realized they had responsibility for their own study. They were accustomed to the mode of guiding by teachers. In their mind, knowledge is taught by the teacher but not discovered by students themselves.As a conclusion, the learner autonomy competence of non-E

48、nglish majors in XISU is low. Most of them are lack of motivation and desire in language learning. And some of them realized the importance of English learning but have no idea of setting their learning plans and competence in monitoring their learning process.4.2 The Reasons of Low Learner Autonomy

49、 in XISUAfter analyzing the current situation of non-English majors in XISU, the author summarized 5 reasons may lead to the low learner autonomy in XISU. Firstly, students are lack of motivation and desire in English study. The learning motivation can be divided into instrumental motivation and int

50、egrative motivation. Instrumental motivation was also called extrinsic motivation, which was often aroused by outside factors, such as for the examination, a good job and the praise from others etc. And integrative motivation was called intrinsic motivation, which was aroused by some reasons from th

51、eir inside, such as the interests, a strong desire of knowledge. Most of the non-English majors learn English in order to pass the examination or get a good job. For instrumental motivation, they played a passive role in English study. Once the desire of external needs is met, they were likely to gi

52、ve up. So the objectives of teaching should be focused on developing students integrative motivation so that can improve their autonomous learning ability.Secondly, the significance of the students role in English learning was ignored. The traditional teaching mode, teacher-centered, which emphasize

53、s that knowledge was not discovered by students themselves but taught by teacher. In class, the teacher is the role of initiator and learner is a role of receiver. It has a significant impact on Chinese students attitude and habit in foreign language learning. For a long time, they were used to lear

54、n English passively not even mention to the learner by themselves. Then, the training of learning strategies for students was necessary. From the result of this research, many students had aware of the importance of autonomous learning autonomy but they have no idea about the strategy of learning. I

55、n traditional English class, teachers pay more attention to taught students knowledge than trained learning strategy. As an old saying goes, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Consequently, the teacher should take learning strategy acco

56、unt into teaching objectives.Next, the examination system pays more attention to the scores. It is a common phenomenon in modern universities that most of the non-English majors were required to pass CTE 4 and CTE 6. To a certain degree, these examinations only can test their memory, vocabulary, and

57、 grammar but not their capability of language application. Under this examination system, students were likely to take the pass of these exams as their objectives of English learning. Apparently, it is not beneficial to the development of learner autonomy.Finally, students have no ability to create

58、a good environment for autonomous learning. Learning a foreign language, the learner was required not only to know its words, grammar, and pronunciation but also to use it correctly and appropriately. Therefore, a real language environment seems very necessary. Because of the limitation of school, f

59、ew students have the chance to go abroad and use their knowledge from book to communicate with the local people. So to develop learner autonomy, students should learn how to build a good environment.4. Strategies of Improving Students Autonomous Learning Ability5.1 Fostering Students learning MotivationThe results of this study show that st