| Learner autonomy or autonomous language learning which is based on theories such as constructivism in cognitive psychology, humanism in psychology, communicative competence in sociolinguistic and motivation, individual learner differences as well as learning strategies in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) studies is displaying great vitality in this information era. This unconventional English teaching , so to speak, provides a favorable condition for autonomous language learning. Theoretically, the traditional teacher's role as the language instructor and authority of the class will change accordingly in the new autonomous language learning situation. The present study is conducted to explore the students' beliefs and executive abilities about autonomous language learning as well as their expectations of the teacher's roles in the different teaching methods. Questionnaire surveys, written exams and listening tests are conducted by making a comparison of the data obtained from the students learning in the two different teaching methods so that we can get an overall picture of this research subject.The data analysis shows the students with the unconventional English teaching approach, compared with the students learning in the traditional classroom, show a more positive attitude toward autonomous language learning, but they have inferior executive abilities to pursue autonomous language learning because they lack learning strategies. They rely more on the teacher and have lower sense of self-efficacy. All these result in their higher expectation of the teacher's roles. Therefore, we still have a long way to go to inculcate in our students' ability to learn autonomously and independently. To achieve this goal, the teacher should serve as 'scaffolding', giving the students training to enhance their autonomy.The present study is only a tentative one in which some proposals are put forward, which, I hope, can trigger more valuable research in this field.
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