| English writing is an important language skill besides listening, speaking and reading. But it lacks due attention from both the students and teachers because of the frustration they confront in practice such as time consuming and slow in progress making. Based on this practical issue, autonomous writing was proposed in this study.Since the introduction of the term autonomy in English teaching and learning by Holec in the 1980s, the word'autonomy'has become a buzz word in the field of language education around the world.The study focused on students'autonomy in English writing through indirect investigation in a senior high school in China. It was conducted through questionnaires, informal interviews and collections of students'writing samples, centering on the following research questions:1. Are students prepared to be autonomous in English learning, writing in particular?2. What do students do to be autonomous?3. What do teachers do to foster students'writing autonomy?From the analysis of the questionnaire results and the materials from informal interviews and students'writings, positive prospects for the fostering of students' autonomy in English learning, especially in English writing, can be concluded. Besides, under the reform of language teaching in China, both the beliefs of the students and English teachers have changed a lot compared to traditional beliefs in English learning and teaching. English teachers have already possessed the awareness of fostering students'autonomy in English learning. Some English teachers have already tried some creative teaching of English writing. The writing process has also become more emphasized than the products of writing. Nevertheless, there should be more experimental experience in autonomous writing by the teachers in the teaching field and the cooperation between teachers and researchers is highly recommended. |
