英語專業(yè)畢業(yè)論文A Study of Fostering Learner Autonomy in High School English Teaching

1、a study of fostering learner autonomy in high school english teachingwangjununder the supervision of guoyuncontentsabstract (english)iabstract (chinese)ii1. introduction12. literature review22.1 humanistic approaches22.2 vygotskys social development theory of learning32.3 constructivism42.4 individu

2、al differences of students42.5 teachers role in fostering learner autonomy53. definition and related considerations about learner autonomy63.1 definition of learner autonomy63.2 characteristics of autonomous learner74. feasible approaches to foster learner autonomy84.1 in-curriculum approaches84.2 o

3、ut-of-curriculum approaches135. conclusion14references15acknowledgements16abstractwith the reform of education in china, the so-called quality-oriented education is always a buzzword. the new english curriculum standard for high school states that to foster students learner autonomy is an essential

4、part of the quality-oriented education. in real teaching practice, what should be done to foster students learner autonomy and realize the quality-oriented education? meanwhile, because of the examination selecting system, the teaching of english in most high schools in china remains to be examinati

5、on-oriented. what interests the author of this thesis includes: whether it is feasible to foster learner autonomy among high school english learners; if so, how the enhanced autonomous ability affects their performance in english exams and the exact means to foster learner autonomy in high school en

6、glish teaching.to my part, it is feasible to foster learner autonomy through in-curriculum approaches and out-of-curriculum approaches in high school with a large number of study. moreover, the fostering of learner autonomy doesnt conflict with the current examination talent selection system in chin

7、a, as the enhancement of learner autonomy may benefit the students on their performance in standard exams.key words: learner autonomy; quality-oriented education; high school english teaching摘 要隨著中國的教育改革，素質(zhì)教育始終是一個熱門的話題。基礎(chǔ)教育階段新英語課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)明確指出，培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的自主學(xué)習(xí)能力是素質(zhì)教育的一個重要的方面。那么，在實際的教學(xué)實踐過程中，究竟該如何培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的自主學(xué)習(xí)能力以達(dá)到素質(zhì)教育

8、的目的？同時，由于考試選拔制度的存在，大多的中學(xué)英語教學(xué)仍然以應(yīng)考為導(dǎo)向。本文主要探討了：在中學(xué)英語教育階段，培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的自主學(xué)習(xí)能力是否可行；學(xué)生自主學(xué)習(xí)能力的提高對其在考試中的表現(xiàn)的影響；以及中學(xué)階段，培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的自主學(xué)習(xí)能力有哪些具體有效的措施。通過大量研究，本文作者認(rèn)為在中學(xué)階段通過課內(nèi)和課外兩個方面的綜合手段來培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的自主學(xué)習(xí)能力是可行的；此外，學(xué)生的自主學(xué)習(xí)能力的培養(yǎng)和現(xiàn)行的考試選拔制度并不矛盾，因為學(xué)生自主學(xué)習(xí)能力的提高對英語標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試成績具有一定的促進(jìn)作用。關(guān)鍵詞：自主學(xué)習(xí); 素質(zhì)教育; 中學(xué)英語教學(xué)1. introductionas is said by ye shengtao

9、, a well-known chinese educationalist, “the purpose of teaching is not to teach.” however, chinese traditional education system is teacher centered, which keeps students from developing their own learning ability. with rapid development of science and technology, the accessibility of information and

10、 explosion of knowledge, the goals of education are much broader than simply the achievement of knowledge and skills in certain areas. therefore, it is necessary for students to develop learner autonomy, which involves decision-making, taking responsibility in their own learning, and gaining experie

11、nce that enables them to pursue their lifelong education.in the field of education in western countries, researchers turned to focus on “how to learn” instead of “how to teach” long before. henri holec, known as the father of learner autonomy, was the first to introduce the term into the field of se

12、cond language pedagogy. humanism, cognitive theory and constructivism are the main learning theories that learner autonomy is based on. various approaches have been suggested by western researchers to develop learner autonomy. while, little evidence shows that they are applicable in chinese school e

13、ducation.domestically, chinese researchers began to show interest in the concept of learner autonomy in the 90s. however, most of the studies focus on college students and many of the researchers failed to explain detailed and exercisable approaches to help develop leaner autonomy among language lea

14、rners.with the reform of school education in china, learner autonomy has become a buzzword in recent years. “developing studentslearner autonomy” is considered one of the main aims of high school english teaching, according to the new english curriculum standard for high school, issued by chinese mi

15、nistry of education in 2001. it shows the transition from teacher-centered to learner-centered in english teaching and emphasizes the sustaining development of students.however, in most high schools, because of the examination selecting system in china, which means students are selected by means of

16、examinations, most of the school education is still exam-oriented instead of learner development oriented. many language teachers are at a loss when talking about the newly advocated learner development programs. thus, most teachers dont want to make such attempts to develop students learner autonom

17、y.the thesis consists of five chapters. in chapter one, the author gives a brief introduction of the necessity of fostering learner autonomy in high school english teaching in china. chapter two is the literature review. it elaborates the theoretical basis of learner autonomy, including humanism, vy

18、gotskys social development theory of learning, constructivism and some considerations about individual differences of students. teachers role in fostering learner autonomy is discussed in this chapter as well. chapter three discusses various definitions of leaner autonomy and some related considerat

19、ions about learner autonomy, such as the characteristics and description of learner autonomy. in chapter four, the author illustrates if it is feasible to foster learner autonomy and suggests some approaches to foster learner autonomy.with all the work done, the thesis comes to a conclusion in chapt

20、er five. the study suggests that the integrated developing program of fostering learner autonomy would be effective in improving studentsperformance in high school english learning and the enhancement of studentslearner autonomy is beneficial to studentsperformance in standard examinations.2. litera

21、ture reviewin this chapter, the author probes into the theoretical foundation of learner autonomy, which includes humanistic approaches, vygotskys social development theory of learning, constructivism, and the considerations about individual differences of students. 2.1 humanistic approacheshumanist

22、ic approaches emphasize the importance of the inner world of the learner and place the individuals thoughts, feelings and emotions at the forefront of all human development. it concentrates upon the development of the childs self-concept. according to humanistic view, good teaching is the process of

23、 inviting students to see themselves as able, valuable, and self-directing and of encouraging them to act in accordance with the self-perception. according to humanistic view, good teaching is the process of inviting students to see themselves as able, valuable, and self-directing and of encouraging

24、 them to act in accordance with the self-perception. according to erikson (1968), every individual proceeds through eight stages from birth to old age, each of which poses a particular kind of challenge or crisis. he describes the early school years as one in which the child will establish a sense o

25、f industry as basic educational skills and learning competence are developed. competitive situations in which children are constantly being compared with each other are more likely to generate feelings of inferiority than are situations where the emphasis is upon individualized of co-operative learn

26、ing. it is therefore important that those who teach a language to younger learners are aware of the need to foster a spirit of co-operation rather than competition, and of the development of this sense of industry. thus, cooperation in autonomous learning is called for and verified.to conclude, erik

27、son explained several points in his theory that includes:1) learning and development is viewed as lifelong rather than restricted to the phase of school;2) there are different learning stages in a persons life. it enables us to see that real-life learning involves challenges which often require a pa

28、rticular kind of help from others especially the teacher;3) learning is regarded as a cumulative process whereby our resolution of one set of life tasks will have a profound influence on how we deal with subsequent tasks;4) leaning involves the whole person, the emotions and feelings. it does not in

29、volve only knowledge transmitting.as the theoretical ground for learner autonomy, humanistic approaches imply the fact that learning should be personalized as far as possible. that is to say, learners should develop a sense of personal identity through their experience and relate it to their future

30、goals.2.2 vygotskys social development theory of learningvygotsky believes that childrens mental ability, language and social development are enhanced by learning that occurs through social interactions. he puts forward his theory of the zone of proximal development to refer to the layer of skill or

31、 knowledge that is just beyond that with which the learner is currently capable of coping. and vygotsky describes it as “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under a

32、dult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”(vygotsky,1978).vygotskys theory requires the teacher and students to collaborate with each other in teaching and learning process. that is to say, instead of a teacher dictating her meaning to students for future recitation, a teacher should

33、 collaborate with her students in order to create meaning in ways that students can make their own (hausfather,1996).2.3 constructivismconstructivism is a branch of cognitive psychology, which brings the learners personal meaning into the cognitive world of his or her own. the basic premise is that

34、an individual learner must actively build knowledge and skills (bruner,1990). constructivism holds that learning is a process that learners construct their knowledge initiatively instead of accepting knowledge passively and advocates learner-centeredness. as to the teachers role, constructivists con

35、sider that the teaching-learning process is not a process that the teacher transmits knowledge and skills to learners but a process that learner construct their knowledge initiatively driven by their internal motivation.2.4 individual differences of students2.4.1 motivationmotivation is a major fact

36、or in second language acquisition. it means “some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something” (harmer, 2001:51). researchers divide studentsmotivation in various ways. here are some major classifications of the concept.gardner and lambert (1972) has descri

37、bed two types of learning motivation, that is, instrumental motivation and integrative motivation. instrumental means leaning the language as an instrument to achieve practical goals, and integrative motivation refers to leaning the language out of interest in or desire to identify with the target c

38、ulture. holec (1981) divides motivation into two parts, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. the former one refers to the situation that students undertake an activity for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the feelings of accomplishment it evokes. extrinsic motivation refers to

39、the situation that students perform in order to obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself, like grades, stickers, teacher approval, parent reprimand or praise. 2.4.2 self-esteemclosely related to motivation, self-esteem refers to the evaluation the learner makes of

40、himself with regard to the target language or learning in general. hausfather defines self-esteem as: “a personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes that the individual holds towards himself,and indicates the extent to which the individual believes in himself to be capable, si

41、gnificant and worthy”(hausfather, 1996).2.4.3 learning strategieslearning strategies are tools to improve ones language competence. omalley and chamot (1990) referred to learning strategies as the special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new inform

42、ation. cognitive strategies are thought processes used directly in learning which enable learners to deal with the information presented in tasks and materials by working on it in different ways (hedge,2002). metacognitive strategies involve planning for learning, thinking about learning and how to

43、make it effective, self-monitoring during learning, and evaluation of how successful learning has been after working on language in some way. socio-affective strategies refers to those which provide learners with opportunities for practice. they concern how learners engage in social interactions mor

44、e effectively, work with peers to solve problems, seek encouragement and deal with affective problems such as anxiety, inhibition, self-esteem, motivation and learning styles. 2.4.4 learning stylelearning style denotes the typical ways in which a person takes in and processes information, makes deci

45、sions, and forms values. learning style affects how a person learns, acts in a group, participates in activities, relates to others, solves problems, teaches and works. considering the learning style of different students, teachers should design the instruction methods to connect with all learning s

46、tyles and introduce a wide variety of experiential elements into the english teaching, such as sound, music, visuals, movement, experience, and even talking.2.5 teachers role in fostering learner autonomya variety of terms are used to describe teachers role in developing learner autonomy, including

47、facilitator, helper, counselor, adviser, knower and resource. voller (1997) reduces all these related term into three: facilitator, in which the teacher is seen as providing support for learning; counselor, where the emphasis is placed on one-to-one interaction; and resource, in which the teacher is

48、 seen as a source of knowledge and expertise. voller (1997) also identifies the functions and qualities associated with these roles under the heading of technical and psycho-social support. 3. definition and related considerations about learner autonomy3.1 definition of learner autonomynowadays, jus

49、t as wenden (1991:11) said, “few teachers will disagree with the importance of helping language learners become more autonomous as learners”. while as to the definition of learner autonomy, linguists and educationalists havent reached a consensus and there are ongoing debates about it.the concept of

50、 learner autonomy stemmed from debates about the development of life-long learning skills and the development of independent thinkers both of which originated in the 1960s. it wasnt until the 1980s that, holec (1981:3), known as the father of learner autonomy, introduced the term into the field of s

51、econd language pedagogy, and he gave the definition of learner autonomy as “the capacity or ability to take charge of ones learning”, which involves: determining ones own learning objectives, determining the necessary means for attaining those objectives, while determining the means for assessing wh

52、at has been learnt and acquired (holec,1981:25).dickinson (1987:11), one of the successors of holec, believed autonomy is the situation in which the learner is totally responsible for all of the decisions concerned with his or her learning and the implementation of those decisions. according to litt

53、le, learner autonomy is “essentially a matter of the learners psychological relation to the process and content of learning. little believes that learner autonomy presupposes a positive attitude to the purpose, content and process of learning and thus developing positive attitudes towards this is cr

54、ucial to the success of the development of learner autonomy and is an essential, long term aim of any learner training program. in other words, little emphasizes the importance of the psychological or internal capacities of the learner.since 1990s, educationalists came to shift their focus to the so

55、cial aspects of developing autonomy. some educationalists showed a renewed interest in vygotskys works. vygotskys socio-cultural theory suggests that development depends on interaction with people and the tools that the culture provides to help form their own view of the world. 3.2 characteristics o

56、f autonomous learnerafter the discussion about the concept of learner autonomy, it is necessary to identify the characteristics of an autonomous learner since the learner is the focus of the thesis.according to leslie dickinson, autonomy is seen as an attitude toward language learning, which may not

57、 necessarily have many external, observable features. but in terms of that attitude, he thinks of autonomous learners as people who are characterized in a number of ways. he has listed four points (dickinson, 1993).firstly, they are able to identify whats been taught. more importantly, they see the

58、importance of doing that, of being concerned about what they are trying to do. so, they are aware of the teachers objectives. secondly, they are able to formulate their own learning objectives, not necessarily in competition with the teacher. but more often in collaboration with the teacher, or as s

59、omething which is in addition to what the teacher is doing. thirdly, they can and do select and implement appropriate learning strategies, often consciously. fourthly, they are able to identify strategies that are not working for them that are not appropriate, and use others. there is another instructive conclusion made by wenden (1991), w