A Survey Of English Learning Autonomy Of Non-English Majors In A Vocational College

Cultivating learner autonomy has been a buzzword and also a new trend in theforeign language teaching in recent years. This concept drew a lot of attention in thefield of applied linguistics both at home and abroad since its birth. A great number ofresearches about “learner autonomy” have been carried out at an international levelfrom different aspects and the results are surprisingly fruitful.This study was based on Humanistic learning theories, Vygotsky’s theory, thezone of proximal development (ZPD) and Bruner’s discovery learning model onautonomous English learning. It was intended to address the following fourresearch questions:1. What is the overall picture of autonomous learning abilities of non-Englishmajor students in Vocational College?2. Are there any statistically significant differences in English autonomouslearning between male and female students? If so, to what extent?3. Are there any statistically significant differences in English autonomouslearning between science and liberal arts students? If so, to what extent?4. Is there any relationship between learner autonomy and students’ Englishlearning proficiency?One hundred and sixty second-year non-English majors in a VocationalCommercial College in Jiangxi province filled in the questionnaire adopted fromXu Jinfen’s Autonomous English Learning (2004). This study made a quantitativeanalysis of the differences in autonomous learning between male and female students,between students of liberal arts science. Moreover, in order to get morecomprehensive information about students’ autonomous learning abilities and theexisting problems, the author conducted an interview among eight students.The results revealed that:(1) On the whole, the non-English majorsdisplayed a relatively low proficiency in English autonomous learning and theactual situation was worse.(2) The female students showed a little strongerability in English autonomous learning.(3) And liberal arts students’ autonomylearning is relatively higher than science students.(4) Students’ learner autonomy has a positive relationship with students’ English learning proficiency.On this basis, some tentative suggestions have been put forward onautonomous English learning. First of all, teachers can improve learners’awareness of learning autonomy and the importance of active participationEnglish learning. In addition, teachers should change their teaching concept andtry to be facilitators and counselors in students’ learning. Students should also becultivated how to properly use learning strategies to improve their study andactively monitor and evaluate their learning process.