非英语专业本科新生英语学习自主性的调查与研究

广西师范大学
硕士学位论文
非英语专业本科新生英语学习自主性的调查与研究
姓名：李丹
申请学位级别：硕士
专业：课程与教学论·英语
指导教师：周晓玲
20080401
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非英语专业本科新生英语学习自主性的调查与研究Supervisor: Associate Prof. Zhou Xiaoling Orientation: English Teaching Methodology
Abstract in English
People must have their own self-development abilities, if they want to survive and develop
themselves in the future society. Students’ competence of autonomous learning is the key point
to gain more knowledge and achieve self-development. Therefore, school education should focus
on the cultivation of students’ learner autonomy. In order to provide scientific feedback and
recommendations for cultivation and development of English learner autonomy of non-English
major freshmen, the present study investigates the current situation of freshmen’s English learner
autonomy.
In this study, a questionnaire survey is the primary means. Meanwhile, both interviews and
classroom observation are adopted. The participants are 207 non-English major freshmen in the
first semester in grade 2007 from Guangxi Normal University. The questionnaire takes reference
to Xu Jinfen’s (2004) Non-English Major Undergraduates’ Autonomous English Learning
Investigation Questionnaire and adds Zimmerman B.J.’s (1994) ideas on the major research
framework of learner autonomy and Littlewood’s (1996) opinions on components of autonomy.
The whole questionnaire includes nine dimensions: learners’ attitudes towards LA; learners’
motivation; identifying what has been taught; formulating appropriate learning objectives and
plans; arranging learning time reasonably; selecting and implementing learning strategies;
monitoring the use of learning strategies; monitoring and evaluating learning process; choices of
learning environment.
The four research questions of the present study are addressed as follows:
(1) How about the whole picture of freshmen’s autonomous English learning?
(2) How about the students’ performance in the dimensions of learner autonomy included in
the questionnaire?
(3) Is there any correlation between learner autonomy and students’ English learning
achievement?
(4) Are there any statistically significant differences between male and female students on
learner autonomy?
The findings of this study can be summarized as follows:
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(1) The overall degree of the freshmen’s autonomous English learning stays on a relatively
low level. Students are mentally autonomous but behaviorally not.
(2) The majority of the freshmen have been fully aware of their responsibility to take charge
of their own English learning; these freshmen have strong instrumental and integrative
motivation but their intrinsic motivation is weak; freshmen lack knowledge of learning strategies
and they are inactive in cooperative learning.
(3) Achievement of English and LA has positive correlation with each other.
(4) Female students perform better in the section of learners’ attitudes and learners’
motivation than male ones and they do better in planning learning time than male students, too.
But the differences in the whole questionnaire between male and female students are not of
statistically significance.
Based on these findings in the survey, this thesis brings up some suggestions for fostering
learner autonomy in the future. Firstly, teachers should get reasonably and efficiently involved in
students’ learner autonomy. They should abandon their traditional roles and accept new ones
such as facilitators and counselors. Secondly, teachers should stimulate freshmen’s intrinsic
motivation for learner autonomy; they also take responsibility for systematic strategy training to
raise freshmen’s strategy awareness and their competence of using all kinds of strategies.
Meanwhile, they ought to encourage freshmen to take an active part in monitoring and assessing
their own learning process, improving study methods and increasing the efficiency of learning.
Thirdly, teachers should take gender differences into consideration. They should create teaching
environments which are suitable to both male and female students and stimulate their interests in
English learning, so that the classroom teaching can be learner-centered.
Key words: Non-English major freshmen; English learner autonomy; Gender
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Abbreviations
AEL Autonomous English Learning
CECR College English Curriculum Requirements
CL Cooperative Learning
EFL English as a Foreign Language
ELT English Language Teaching
GXNU Guangxi Normal University
LA Learner Autonomy
NMF Non-English Major Freshmen
SLA Second Language Acquisition
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List of Tables
Table 1-1 A List of Questionnaire Surveys of LA in Foreign Language Study .............................. 3
Table 1-2 A List of the Number of Research Subjects among the 17 Theses ................................. 4
Table 2-1 Gardner and Miller’s Classification of the Definitions................................................... 9
Table 2-2 Various Definitions of Learner Autonomy.................................................................... 10
Table 2-3 Characteristics of an Autonomous Learner ................................................................... 11
Table 3-1 Reliability Coefficients of the Revised Questionnaire.................................................. 20
Table 4-1 Overall Results of Students’ LA in English Learning................................................... 23
Table 4-2 Results on Students’ Attitudes towards LA................................................................... 24
Table 4-3 Results on Students’ Motivation and LA...................................................................... 27
Table 4-4 Results on Identifying What Has Been Taught ............................................................. 28
Table 4-5 Results on Formulating Appropriate Learning Objectives and Plans ........................... 30
Table 4-6 Results on Arranging Learning Time Reasonably ........................................................ 31
Table 4-7 Results on Selecting and Implementing Appropriate Learning Strategies.................... 32
Table 4-8 Results on Monitoring the Use of Learning Strategies ................................................. 34
Table 4-9 Results on Monitoring and Evaluating Learning Process............................................. 36
Table 4-10 Results on Choices of Learning Environment ............................................................ 37
Table 4-11 Pearson Correlations between English Achievement of College Entrance Examination
and LA......................................................................................................................................... 39
Table 4-12 T -Test Result of Every Aspect of LA (Grouping Variable: Gender).......................... 40
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