On Autonomous Learning Of English In Vocational College: Obstacles And Countermeasures

Autonomous learning is still a hot term in the field of language teaching. There is no doubt that it has become an objective in education all over the world and an indispensable part of learners' approaches to learning. However, can autonomous learning be applied effectively in higher vocational colleges (VC)? This is a question to be answered in this paper. As we know, the objective of higher vocational education is to train qualified and high-quality skilled workers who are fit to the change of the market, and to provide them with sustainable abilities for their long-life learning and with chances to employ. But most teachers question the feasibilities of learner autonomy in VC due to the poor quality of students.Research shows that there are some adverse factors in the process of fostering learner autonomy in English classroom teaching in VC, and these factors become obstacles that restrict the development of learner autonomy. By using such instruments as observations, interviews and questionnaires, the author finds extrinsic factors and intrinsic factors of the problem and then puts forward some feasible measures to promote students' autonomous learning in VC. In terms of the extrinsic factors, there are two types of obstacles; one is from teachers, the other from college authority. In terms of the intrinsic factors, there is only one type of obstacles, that is, obstacles from students, who lack of sense of responsibility and the awareness of autonomy. Based on the analysis of obstacles, the author brings forward some countermeasures for teachers of VC to cultivate learner autonomy, including raising students' awareness of learner autonomy, playing a crucial role of teachers in learner autonomy, establishing positive environment in class, conducting feasible teaching strategies and explicit learning strategies in language instruction, and using a six-stage teaching mode of problem-based model in classroom teaching. Learner autonomy can develop students' learning ability and improve their English; effective use of countermeasures above is an approach to learner autonomy.