A_Case_Study_of_Promoting_Autonomy

A Case Study of Promoting Autonomy Among Non-English Majors Abstract: To solve the problem of teaching English to a large class, the author of this paper has tried to promote learner autonomy among non-English majors. After one year’s experiment, the author proves that autonomous learning can enhance the students’ interest and performance in English, including their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. However, the extent of autonomy should be strictly graded and the teacher should assume more responsibility at the initial stage. Key Words: English, learner autonomy, non-English majors 1.1 Introduction Over the last two decades, the concept of learner autonomy has become a "buzz word" within the context of language learning. Because autonomy is often associated with independence, self-fulfillment, freedom from external constraints and living one's own world without being subject to the will of others, it causes many writers to suggest that autonomous learning has little relevance outside the "individualistic" Western context in which it originated (Farmer & Sweeney, 1994; Naoko, 1995; Benson, 1995; Esch, 1996; Tang, 1996). In the mean time, other linguists strongly argue for the existence of human universals and think the demands of a changing world will impose on learners of all cultures the need to learn without the help of teachers (Cornwell and Cronk, 1979). The autonomous learning experiments of Gardner & Miller (1997), Icy Lee (1998) and Marshall and Torpey (1997) also seem to prove the belief that autonomous learning is an effective method for East Asian learners. In Mainland China, although many writers who have touched upon learner autonomy in foreign language learning, but most of them focus on theory introduction and very few case study of the effect of autonomous learning has been reported yet, especially among non-English majors. On the other hand, in recent years, with the ever¬¬¬-increasing number of college and university students, a large English class becomes very common in China. Owing to the very different levels of the students, it is not only difficult for the teacher to prepare lectures, but also leads to many complaints among the students. On account of the above, the author made an attempt to promote learner autonomy among on-English majors. Before introducing this case study, a definition of leaner autonomy is crucial to the understanding of the issues involved. 1.2 Definition and Rationale for Learner Autonomy There are various definitions of learner autonomy. Based on the foundation document for the Council of Europe, the classic definition of "learner autonomy" is provided by Holec (1979:3), as the capacity or ability to take charge of one's learning, which involves defining one's own learning objectives, determining the necessary means for attaining those objectives and the ways of using those means, while determining the means for assessing what has been learnt and acquired (Holec, 1997:25). Cognitive views of autonomous learning and philosophical views of autonomous learning can be connected together to form a theoretical basis of learner autonomy. Benson (1997:25) loosely links different approaches to language learning to various versions of learner autonomy and his views are generally received. First, he links Positivism approaches to language learning to technical versions of learner autonomy. He also links Constructivist approaches to language learning with psychological version of autonomy. Finally, he links political version of learner autonomy with Critical philosophies of learning. 2. 1 Aim of the Experiment The experiment tries to find out: whether autonomous learning can enhance Chinese non-English majors’ English performance; in which aspects the non-English majors’ English skills may be improved and what kind of role a teacher should play. 2.2 Subjects and Controls The subject group and the control group were two different classes of the author. Students in these two classes were considered to be comparable in both background and ability. They had only experienced teacher-centered English instruction in prior years and they showed similar achievement performance on former achievement tests. The ratio of males to females in the two classes was also almost the same. The present teaching method in the control group was more of the traditional Grammar-Translation Approach. 2.3 Experiment Design "Voluntariness is a prerequisite for independent language learning. Students who are coerced into joining a self-directed learning program may not benefit as much as those who volunteer (Lee and Ng, 1994, cited in Lee, 1998:283). Out of the teacher's expectation, 78 percent of the subjects were quite willing to take part. Because the students in the same class were obliged to follow the instruction of the same teacher, the author had an individual talk with each of those who disagreed after class and at last they reluctantly agreed to participate. The experiment was designed to last two academic terms (32 weeks). Learners attended a two-hour class twice a week. More specifically, the devising of the experiment was composed of the following several elements: offering learning training, checking learning style, having personal interviews, signing learner contracts, forming learner pairs and groups, designing classroom materials and tasks, assigning homework, keeping learner journal and making use of the Foreign Language Training Center. At the beginning of the semester, the author trained the students for the experiment through explicit introduction of Oxford’s learning strategies. She also offered the students Learning Channel Preference Checklist (LCPC) to help them test their learning style so that they could match their learning strategies and activities to their learning styles. The form of the learner contract was similar to Nunan’s (200) and the content was discussed by the teacher and the students together. Supplementary learning materials were suggested by the students. Classroom activities focused on content rather than form. The tasks were mostly based on the textbook and principally aimed at replicating those situations which students confronted in "real world", and encouraged collaboration and interaction. At the beginning, in the middle and at the end of each term the teacher had a personal interview with every student. The first dialogue was principally aimed at establishing a personal relationship between the teacher and the learner. The purpose of the second dialogue was to encourage the students and prevent them from dropping out and during the final interview, the teacher guided the student to conclude his work and put forward proposals for his future study of English. Moreover, the amount and forms of homework were outcome of a poll. About a half of the homework was corrected by the teacher at the students' request. Much weight was also given to peer-correction and self-correction. Learner journal was regarded as a good means to help reflect upon one’s learning process. With the teacher’s help, the students formed peer-groups to help each other and different interest groups. Measures were taken to encourage the students to make use of the electronic reading room and Foreign Language-Training Center. 3.Case Study 3.1 Instrument The experimenter included a variety of instruments, both quantitative and qualitative. Specifically, it was composed of a questionnaire, three language achievement tests, interviews, and journal studies. 3.2 Data Analysis and Discussion Achievement Test Analysis The first exam was taken before the autonomous learning experiment, and the other two were to test the effect of the experiment. Table 1 Group Statistics D N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Test 1 Control 60 71.1333 9.1605 1.1826 Subject 70 73.2143 7.8480 .9380 Test 2 Control 60 61.6833 13.6822 1.7664 Subject 70 66.8286 14.8821 1.7788 Test 3 Control 60 63.3167 9.4555 1.2207 Subject 70 69.6286 14.5215 1.7357 In the last two tests, we can see that Standard Deviation of the subject group is above that of the control group, which indicates that the scores of the subject class are unstable. The top students are becoming better and the underachievers are becoming worse. Holec (1980:33) believes no matter what the proficiency level of a learner is, he will benefit from autonomous learning in the long run. Then it should be admitted that for some not-so-good learners, in a short term, autonomous learning is not as beneficial as traditional teacher-centered teaching. SPSS (Statistic Package for Social Science)was used to analyze the results of the three exams of the two classes. Table 1 Independent Sample Test Levene's Test for Equalityof Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2 -tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Inter -val of the Difference Lower Upper 第一次成绩 Equal variances assumed 1.078 .301 -1.395 128 .165 -2.0810 1.4916 -5.0323 .8704 Equal variances not assumed -1.379 116.994 .171 -2.0810 1.5095 -5.0703 .9084 第二次成绩 Equal variances assumed 1.720 .192 -2.039 128 .043 -5.1452 2.5231 -10.1377 -.1528 Equal variances not assumed -2.053 127.352 .042 -5.1452 2.5068 -10.1056 -.1849 第三次成绩 Equal variances assumed 16.436 .000 -2.883 128 .005 -6.3119 2.1895 -10.6443 -1.9795 Equal variances not assumed -2.975 119.849 .004 -6.3119 2.1219 -10.5132 -2.1106 In the first Independent Sample Test, T=1.395. It is within the Nonrejection Region [-5.0323, 0.87047], so we can draw the conclusion that the two classes have no significant differences. Moreover, the scores of both the two groups are in normal distribution. Therefore, the two samples are comparable. After the second test, the mean score of the subject class is five points higher, which shows that the subject class did better in the exam. However, T= -2.039 and it is still within Nonrejection Region [-10.1377, -0.1528], so the difference is not very obvious. That means that the effect of the new method hasn’t been fully demonstrated. In the Independent Sample Test of the third exam, because the assumed variances are not equal, and T= -2.975, which is beyond Nonrejection Region [-10.5132, -2.1106], the differences are quite obvious. Hence it is not hard to conclude that the subject class outperformed the control class in the third exam. Analysis of Language Skills The average scores of each item of the test are computed by summing the results of all the students within the group and then average by the number of students in each group. This is shown in Figure1, 2 and 3. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 As can be seen from the above Figure 2 and Figure 3, there is a statistically significant difference in the five language skills between the mean scores of the two groups. The subject group outperformed the control group in listening, reading and writing. All these items were not based on the textbook, which somewhat could truly test the learners' competence. The subject group's higher scores in reading demonstrated an improvement in discourse understanding ability when concentration was gradually shifted to content. Both groups had never received any formal instruction in listening and the subject had a mean score of 2 points higher twice. This may first prove that adopting a strategy matching one's learning style can enhance language acquisition and it also reveals subject group had a better self-discipline now. As to their better performance in writing, the subjects' answers were very identical:" I read a lot out of class. I can feel I have a larger vocabulary now." This is a support of Krashen's Input hypothesis. Reading widely outside the classroom also is a sign that subjects began to assume responsibility for their own learning. However, the control group was better in vocabulary & structure and translating which were taken directly from the textbook. That means the teacher's explicit instruction may result in students' better memory of language knowledge and the subject class didn't grasp knowledge in textbook as well as the control class. 3.2.2 Questionnaires Students’ Self-evaluation The students’ self -evaluation result corresponds with the test result. 97.14% of the students think they have improved their reading comprehension level, and the percentage of students who believe they have made progress in listening, speaking and listening is respectively 68.57%, 54.28% and 52.85%. Students' Attitude The majority of the subjects (82.85%) indeed agree that autonomous learning help motivate them. This is in accordance with the investigation result of Song Lili in Qinghua University(2002: 88). Classroom Materials All but four of the comments made by the respondents (70) show that they heartily believe that learners stand to gain when having a say in the selection of supplementary materials. They thought that they became more enthusiastic, interested and motivated when involved in such decisions. Nevertheless 82.85% of them still insisted textbook should be negotiated with the teacher, which could ensure that they would not go astray. The students have made some progress regarding resource-selection, but the lack of self-confidence is still quite obvious. Classroom Activities A large number of students from the subject group showed increased interest in the activities involved. 68.57% of the subjects consider the activities very good. "It's fantastic," some students wrote: "I enjoyed it very much. When the teacher said she would have a spelling contest, we spent several days memorizing the new words. We thought it was the old type of translating from Chinese into English again. Who could fancy the teacher did it through a game! I feel like a college student now." Of course there were opposite voices, such as "the teacher should take every student's need into consideration. Some people need to master this language in order to pass CET-4, CET-6 and postgraduate exam and in this case they need to know more than communicate." Approximately 30% hold this view. The following is students' feedback about the effectiveness of some activities. 1.What do I enjoy best in the four aspects: A. Reading: read Extensive Reading textbook (70%). B. Writing: write letters (application letters, business letters) and resume (87.14%). C. Speaking: real situations: e.g. job interview, in the restaurant, at the post office etc. (81.42%). Reason: it will help in future job hunting. D. Listening: original dialogues or songs with gap fills (77.14%); Listen to what we can discuss (70%). 2. What I would like to do least and why: Too much writing (68.57%) Group discussion (57.14%) Reason: 1) Individual students takes too much of the class' time; 2) If you have a poor partner, it will waste you a lot of time. The above questionnaire reveals that most students have an instrumental motivation. The present CET-4 and CET-6 have become the major barriers for fostering autonomy and collaboration. The common belief is that Chinese students prefer writing to speaking. However, more than 60% of the students didn't like writing a composition. What they truly like to do was multiple-choice questions, not to write in English. Strategy Training $ Learning Style Testing All the subjects appreciated the idea of adopting a strategy appropriate to one's learning style and they were enthusiastic about the learning strategies of good learners. But many (68.57%) admitted they still clang to their old strategies. Learner Pairs and Interest Groups 87.14% of the subject group hailed the learner pairs and interest groups as a success and thought the class now had more sense of teamwork. Members in subject group were more willing to help each other — an added dimension that had not been expected. Foreign Language Training Center As to the Foreign Language Training Center, despite the fact that not many new resources and facilities were introduced into it, there seemed to be a more positive feeling among the students. 88.57% of the subject group appreciated the tutor's help and many of them volunteered to help there. There were even about 15.71% students thought they could learn well online even without a teacher’s help. Teacher's Work 94.28% were satisfied with the teachers’ work and the rest thought the teacher could play an more important role. What’s worth mentioning is that in the mid-term evaluation of the college, all the interviewees in the subject group showed a great appreciation of the teacher's work. The teacher got a high score of "96”, which was ranked the eighth among all the 500 teaching staff of the college. Teacher’s Observation There were more students begin to be absent from class in the subject group More boys were supportive of autonomous learning while girls were more active in classroom activities. Boy-boy pairs benefited the least. The subject group was more confident and fluent in speaking English and more students volunteered to answer questions. 3.3 Implications of the Study According to the above analysis, such implications can be drawn: Teachers' Objective In making the transition from control figure to control facilitator, teachers then should also have a realistic goal on how to share responsibility for learning. Autonomy is evidently as desirable as complex, teachers' attitude is crucial to its successful implement. If the goal the teacher set is too high and unattainable, the teacher may become discouraged, which of course will affect the students' mood and performance (Camilleri, 1997:38). Therefore, the extent of autonomy should be strictly graded and the teacher’s help is essential at the primary stage. Learning Materials The experiment also shows that autonomous learning does not require especially designed resources. This is not to deny that more and better resources can considerably enhance the quality of the students' learning. But teachers will be mistaken if they believe that no progress can be made towards autonomous learning without large quantities of special resources. Task Design Motivation has a great influence on students' activity preference. Most students prefer tasks helpful for their future job competition. In preparing activities for autonomous learning it is important to make English meaningful by relating it to a life-like "event" or "episode" and not merely to pile up loose grammar rules, loose words, or loose "functions". How to make collaborative activities more efficient still needs a lot of consideration. Further measures must be taken to help those underachievers, and activity design must attempt to make more boys voluntarily participate. Test Design Worries about tests have become a major obstacle in fostering collaboration in autonomous learning, including final exams and CET-4. College administrators should grow out of the concept that students' self-assessment at the end of each term is a pure joke. What's more, future final exam design should consider how to make tests truly reflect learners' language competence instead of checking the ability of rote memorizing. CET-4 and CET-6 designers may have forgot that for the non-English majors, studying English is to use it rather than for language research. CET-4 and CET-6 should become a real measure tool of companies in selecting employees. Summary In conclusion, the experiment proves that promoting learner autonomy in Chinese non-English majors can enhance their English performance in listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, the design of autonomous learning program must be in conformity to its users' cultural and educational background. The responsibility shifting should be strictly gradual and measures must be taken to help those underachievers. While fostering learner autonomy, the teacher should not only work as a counselor, but also a guide, organizer and supervisor when necessary. Autonomous learning is already an urgent need of the students. Government and college authorities should be aware of it and create a more suitable environment for autonomous learning. 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