On Higher Vocational Colleges On The Cultivation Of Students' Autonomous Learning Ability

The new Curriculum Standard for College English Teaching issued by the Chinese Ministry of Education requires that one of the major objectives for foreign language teaching is to cultivate students' comprehensive language competence and to foster their autonomous learning capability. A transfer from the traditional teacher-centered model to the relatively new student -centered model is on the way. More specifically, the students should be encouraged to realize a shift from the passive "receptive learning" to the "exploratory learning" or "discoverylearning"-----autonomous learning, and to be the real masters of the learning process.The application of the new curriculum thus makes it urgent for foreign languages teachers to take action accordingly. With some preliminary studies of the language acquisition theories concerned and some relevant preparation, I set out on my research work, focusing on the aspects of autonomous learning of students in vocational colleges. Based on a host of modern humanity theories and practices, such as humanistic learning theory, constructivism, social interaction theory and information processing theory, a tentative research program was implemented in which students were regrouped into experimental and controlled classes where different teaching methods and approaches were used, and careful observations were carried out. After a careful analysis of the relevant data and findings drawn from the experimental study, which lasted for one year, a range of specifications for autonomous learning process is put forward. The experiment comprises four phases. Firstly, students were trained to establish their awareness of their learning objectives and the requirements for their learning of the foreign language. Secondly, with the teacher' s help, students set up their short-term learning objectives and made their own learning plans. Thirdly, effective learning strategies were taught to the students in order to give them further instructions for higher learning efficiencies. Lastly, the students were instructed to self-monitor their learning process which is an indispensable part of learning autonomy. Some insightful findings were gained from the research, including that the students in the experimental class seem to be more willing to utilize their autonomous learning capability and a higher learning efficiency on the part of the students were also witnessed. Moreover, their consciousness of autonomous learning is on the rise, they are in a process of acquiring and using relevant learning skills which will lay foundation for their lifelong learning.