Research On The College English Autonomous Writing Model

Since the 1980s, learner autonomy has been a topic of widespread discussion in the field of applied linguists; it is starting to be an integral part of language learning methodologies throughout the world; it has become one of the important goals of education. With the increasing concern on the autonomous learning, teachers and researchers are looking for ways of fostering learner autonomy. However, among the researches on learner autonomy, much attention has been paid to the second or foreign language learning as a whole and few talks about autonomy with specific reference to the EFL writing. Therefore, the research is an attempt to foster learner autonomy in the teaching of college English writing (CEW).As we all known, writing is the weak point of college students in China among the four basic skills of English learning. It has long been downplayed so that many learners'writing levels do not correspond with years of language learning. To some degree, the present unsatisfactory situation of college English writing may be ascribed to the dominance of standardized testing and the shackles of the teaching conditions (e.g., large-sized classes, limited teaching time and the lack of instructions in class). Therefore, the author deems that, under the present teaching conditions and with the existing learning resources, fostering students'learner autonomy and helping them be responsible for their own learning of writing is an effective way to improve their writing ability. By approaching writing processes, the thesis has proposed an autonomous writing model as an alternative to CEW instruction. That is, with the guidance of the three instruments designed by the author for training students'autonomy, students manage, monitor, evaluate and regulate their writing processes and writing outcome outside class.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one is introduction which analyzes the background and the significance of the research. Chapter two is literature review including the theoretical background of learner autonomy, its definitions, reasons for fostering learner autonomy and conditions for learner autonomy. Chapter three is about the autonomous writing model where the framework of the model is firstly built, then the training instruments are described and next, the implementation of the model in teaching practice is presented, and finally, the characteristics of the model is summarized. In Chapter four, an experimental research is conducted, which confirms the effect of training students'autonomy in writing on their writing performance. Chapter five is the conclusion of the thesis, which includes implications for teaching, and limitations of the present research.