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Abstract:Learner autonomy in English learning has been the buzzword in the recent three decades. This paper introduces the definitions of learner autonomy, analyzes the barriers hindering the college students’ autonomy in English learning and then offers suggestions to overcome these barriers. It is hoped that it will be helpful for college students to develop their autonomy in English learning.
Key words: learner autonomy; teaching patterns; examination system; cultural inclinations
ⅠIntroduction
Learner autonomy was introduced into the language teaching in the 1970s, and has drawn considerable attention of educators and teachers since the 1980s. In China, learner autonomy has been enjoying increasing attention in recent years. Many foreign language teachers have done a lot of research and written some articles on it (Hua, 2001; Wang, 2002; Peng, 2002; Wei, 2002; Dai, 2004). In spite of concerted effort made to promote the learner autonomy, it seems that Chinese learner autonomy in English learning is still at a low level. Promoting learner autonomy seems to be a long way and there really remain some barriers to it. This paper tends to point out the barriers hindering the development of college students’ autonomy in English learning.
Ⅱ.Learner autonomy
The concept of “learner autonomy” originated in the 1960s when there were debates about the development of life-long learning skills and independent thinking. And it has been controversial, for educationists have failed to reach a consensus as to what it really is.
In Little’s terms, learner autonomy is “essentially a matter of the learner’s psychological relation to the process and content of learning … a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action” (Little, 1990: 7). Little (1991:4) further illustrates that, “the capacity for autonomy will be displayed both in the way the learner learns and in the way he or she transfers what has been learned to wider contexts”.
To Holec, he describes it as the ability to take charge of one’s learning. He continues to explain that “taking charge actually means to have and to hold the responsibility for determining learning objectives, defining content and progress; selecting methods and techniques to be used, monitoring the procedure of acquisition, and finally, evaluating what has been acquired” (Holec, 1981:4).
From the above reviews, it is found that learner autonomy is involved in the learners’ taking his or her responsibility to learn. It also is a capability to control over one’s own learning, such as decision making, goal setting, method selection, procedure monitoring etc.
Ⅲ.Barriers to developing College Student’ Autonomy in English Learning
In recent years, although many programs have been carried out to help college students’ autonomy in English learning in China, it is said that the learners are still at a low level in autonomy. There are indeed some barriers inhibiting their autonomy, such as teaching patterns, the examination system and cultural inclinations.
3.1 Teacher-centered teaching patterns
Although the new curriculum ideologies have been introduced, most of the English-teaching is still teacher-centered. In such a class, the teacher is charge of the subject matter, makes decisions and does most of talking while students just sit and listen. Gradually, the students tend to rely on the teacher solely and consider that knowledge as something to be transmitted by the teacher rather than discovered by them. Thus, students take it for granted that it is the teacher’s responsibility to tell and explain everything. Even if the teacher occasionally asks questions, they just wait and get the easy answers from the textbook instead of exerting their brains thinking. Let alone, the students have an opportunity to make genuine choice such as objectives and contents, according to their needs and interests. These teaching patterns seriously inhabit the development of the learner autonomy.
3.2 Examination system
The education system in Chinese context is examination-oriented, which is usually a heavily constraining factor to promote the learner autonomy in China. To past the CET4 and CET6, the students still regard learning English are being fundamentally concerned with the mastery of grammar and vocabulary. As a result, their capability to communicate in English is rather poor. In addition, to help the students to get a high score, the teachers thus devote everything in the classroom to equipping learners with necessary skills in the examinations and ignore the real needs of the students. Such an examination system does not provide freedom for learner choices, let alone fostering independent learning and creative thinking.
3.3 Cultural inclination
Learner autonomy was firstly exercised in the western countries and even some educators claimed that it can only be exercised within the contexts of specific cultures, especially the individualistic cultures. That is to say, it may be difficult for Chinese learners to develop learner autonomy, for the Chinese culture is high collectivism and high power distance.
Under the influence of collectivism and high power distance, the students are likely to “accept inequality as the cultural norms” (Samovar & Power, 2007:67). That is to say, they accept the differences in power and authority. Thus, the biggest obstacle in promoting autonomy is their awareness of the status orientation in the classroom. Teachers in the Chinese culture possess a high status since the ancient time. Teachers are regarded as the supreme authority figure whose superior knowledge and control over the classroom learning shouldn’t be questioned. Whatever they say should be respected and obeyed. Therefore, students are inclined to follow all the teachers’ instructions and expect their teacher to take charge of their learning and to transmit the knowledge to them. What they should do in the classroom is to listen and receive what the teacher has said but not to think and interpret. This kind of teacher-student relationship does not support the development of learner autonomy.
Another cultural barrier is the Chinese pre-occupation with face. It is very vital for Chinese people to protect face. One must protect the other’s self-image and feelings as well as his own when communicate with others. Thus, on one hand, to maintain the teachers’ face in the classroom, students hardly express the different voices to their teachers. If they do challenge their teachers, they will feel uneasy. On the other hand, because of being afraid of making mistakes in front of others which is a humiliating thing, students avoid speaking in public or interacting with others. They protect themselves from losing face by keeping silence. This is a fatal barrier to study English well, for to learn a language well one must take every opportunity to speak and communicate. This face-consciousness hinders them to be an autonomous learner.
Ⅳ Implications
From the analysis of the barriers to promoting learner autonomy, it can be found the reasons why the students are at low level in learner autonomy. In order to promote learner autonomy, efforts must be made to improve the current situations. Here are some proposals.
Firstly, new teaching methodology should be adopted, such as learner-centered methodology. The current teacher-centered mode not only makes the students low-motivated but also prevents the students from being autonomous.
Secondly, both teachers and students should change their traditional roles. Teachers should realize their new roles in developing learner autonomy first, which are monitor, counselor, and facilitator. And the students need to become more aware of their new roles as planner, organizer, manager and evaluator of their own learning.
Last, some traditional beliefs should be abandoned, such as the teachers are authority and the sources of knowledge. Unless abandon them can the students promote their autonomy in English learning.
Ⅴ. Conclusion
The purpose of this paper is to point out some barriers that hinder the college students’ autonomy in English learning in China and then provide some suggestions to improve the current situations. It is hoped to be helpful for college students to develop their autonomy in English learning.
References:
[1]Holec, H. Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. [M]. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1981.
[2]Little,D.Autonomy in Language Learning: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations. In I. Gathercole (ed.) Autonomy in Language Learning. [M]. London: CILT, 1990.
[3]Little, D. Learner Autonomy: Definitions, Issues and Problems. [M]. Dublin: Authentik, 1991.
[4]Samovar, A. L. & Poter, R. E. Communication between Cultures. [M]. Beijing: Peking University, 2007.
[5]戴军熔. 普通高中学生英语自主学习能力调查与分析[J].中小学外语教学, 2004(5): 1-5.
[6]华维芬.自主学习中心——一种新型的语言学习环境[J].外语界,2001(5): 43-48.
[7]彭金定.大学英语教学中的“学习者自主”问题研究[J].外语界,2002(3):15-19.
[8]戚宏波.学习者自主的理论溯源.山东外语教学,2002(5):83一86.
[9]王笃勤.大学英语自主学习能力的培养[J].外语界.2002(5):17-23.
[10]魏玉燕.促进学习者自主性:外语教学新概念[J].外语界.2002(3):8-14.
Key words: learner autonomy; teaching patterns; examination system; cultural inclinations
ⅠIntroduction
Learner autonomy was introduced into the language teaching in the 1970s, and has drawn considerable attention of educators and teachers since the 1980s. In China, learner autonomy has been enjoying increasing attention in recent years. Many foreign language teachers have done a lot of research and written some articles on it (Hua, 2001; Wang, 2002; Peng, 2002; Wei, 2002; Dai, 2004). In spite of concerted effort made to promote the learner autonomy, it seems that Chinese learner autonomy in English learning is still at a low level. Promoting learner autonomy seems to be a long way and there really remain some barriers to it. This paper tends to point out the barriers hindering the development of college students’ autonomy in English learning.
Ⅱ.Learner autonomy
The concept of “learner autonomy” originated in the 1960s when there were debates about the development of life-long learning skills and independent thinking. And it has been controversial, for educationists have failed to reach a consensus as to what it really is.
In Little’s terms, learner autonomy is “essentially a matter of the learner’s psychological relation to the process and content of learning … a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action” (Little, 1990: 7). Little (1991:4) further illustrates that, “the capacity for autonomy will be displayed both in the way the learner learns and in the way he or she transfers what has been learned to wider contexts”.
To Holec, he describes it as the ability to take charge of one’s learning. He continues to explain that “taking charge actually means to have and to hold the responsibility for determining learning objectives, defining content and progress; selecting methods and techniques to be used, monitoring the procedure of acquisition, and finally, evaluating what has been acquired” (Holec, 1981:4).
From the above reviews, it is found that learner autonomy is involved in the learners’ taking his or her responsibility to learn. It also is a capability to control over one’s own learning, such as decision making, goal setting, method selection, procedure monitoring etc.
Ⅲ.Barriers to developing College Student’ Autonomy in English Learning
In recent years, although many programs have been carried out to help college students’ autonomy in English learning in China, it is said that the learners are still at a low level in autonomy. There are indeed some barriers inhibiting their autonomy, such as teaching patterns, the examination system and cultural inclinations.
3.1 Teacher-centered teaching patterns
Although the new curriculum ideologies have been introduced, most of the English-teaching is still teacher-centered. In such a class, the teacher is charge of the subject matter, makes decisions and does most of talking while students just sit and listen. Gradually, the students tend to rely on the teacher solely and consider that knowledge as something to be transmitted by the teacher rather than discovered by them. Thus, students take it for granted that it is the teacher’s responsibility to tell and explain everything. Even if the teacher occasionally asks questions, they just wait and get the easy answers from the textbook instead of exerting their brains thinking. Let alone, the students have an opportunity to make genuine choice such as objectives and contents, according to their needs and interests. These teaching patterns seriously inhabit the development of the learner autonomy.
3.2 Examination system
The education system in Chinese context is examination-oriented, which is usually a heavily constraining factor to promote the learner autonomy in China. To past the CET4 and CET6, the students still regard learning English are being fundamentally concerned with the mastery of grammar and vocabulary. As a result, their capability to communicate in English is rather poor. In addition, to help the students to get a high score, the teachers thus devote everything in the classroom to equipping learners with necessary skills in the examinations and ignore the real needs of the students. Such an examination system does not provide freedom for learner choices, let alone fostering independent learning and creative thinking.
3.3 Cultural inclination
Learner autonomy was firstly exercised in the western countries and even some educators claimed that it can only be exercised within the contexts of specific cultures, especially the individualistic cultures. That is to say, it may be difficult for Chinese learners to develop learner autonomy, for the Chinese culture is high collectivism and high power distance.
Under the influence of collectivism and high power distance, the students are likely to “accept inequality as the cultural norms” (Samovar & Power, 2007:67). That is to say, they accept the differences in power and authority. Thus, the biggest obstacle in promoting autonomy is their awareness of the status orientation in the classroom. Teachers in the Chinese culture possess a high status since the ancient time. Teachers are regarded as the supreme authority figure whose superior knowledge and control over the classroom learning shouldn’t be questioned. Whatever they say should be respected and obeyed. Therefore, students are inclined to follow all the teachers’ instructions and expect their teacher to take charge of their learning and to transmit the knowledge to them. What they should do in the classroom is to listen and receive what the teacher has said but not to think and interpret. This kind of teacher-student relationship does not support the development of learner autonomy.
Another cultural barrier is the Chinese pre-occupation with face. It is very vital for Chinese people to protect face. One must protect the other’s self-image and feelings as well as his own when communicate with others. Thus, on one hand, to maintain the teachers’ face in the classroom, students hardly express the different voices to their teachers. If they do challenge their teachers, they will feel uneasy. On the other hand, because of being afraid of making mistakes in front of others which is a humiliating thing, students avoid speaking in public or interacting with others. They protect themselves from losing face by keeping silence. This is a fatal barrier to study English well, for to learn a language well one must take every opportunity to speak and communicate. This face-consciousness hinders them to be an autonomous learner.
Ⅳ Implications
From the analysis of the barriers to promoting learner autonomy, it can be found the reasons why the students are at low level in learner autonomy. In order to promote learner autonomy, efforts must be made to improve the current situations. Here are some proposals.
Firstly, new teaching methodology should be adopted, such as learner-centered methodology. The current teacher-centered mode not only makes the students low-motivated but also prevents the students from being autonomous.
Secondly, both teachers and students should change their traditional roles. Teachers should realize their new roles in developing learner autonomy first, which are monitor, counselor, and facilitator. And the students need to become more aware of their new roles as planner, organizer, manager and evaluator of their own learning.
Last, some traditional beliefs should be abandoned, such as the teachers are authority and the sources of knowledge. Unless abandon them can the students promote their autonomy in English learning.
Ⅴ. Conclusion
The purpose of this paper is to point out some barriers that hinder the college students’ autonomy in English learning in China and then provide some suggestions to improve the current situations. It is hoped to be helpful for college students to develop their autonomy in English learning.
References:
[1]Holec, H. Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. [M]. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1981.
[2]Little,D.Autonomy in Language Learning: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations. In I. Gathercole (ed.) Autonomy in Language Learning. [M]. London: CILT, 1990.
[3]Little, D. Learner Autonomy: Definitions, Issues and Problems. [M]. Dublin: Authentik, 1991.
[4]Samovar, A. L. & Poter, R. E. Communication between Cultures. [M]. Beijing: Peking University, 2007.
[5]戴军熔. 普通高中学生英语自主学习能力调查与分析[J].中小学外语教学, 2004(5): 1-5.
[6]华维芬.自主学习中心——一种新型的语言学习环境[J].外语界,2001(5): 43-48.
[7]彭金定.大学英语教学中的“学习者自主”问题研究[J].外语界,2002(3):15-19.
[8]戚宏波.学习者自主的理论溯源.山东外语教学,2002(5):83一86.
[9]王笃勤.大学英语自主学习能力的培养[J].外语界.2002(5):17-23.
[10]魏玉燕.促进学习者自主性:外语教学新概念[J].外语界.2002(3):8-14.