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A contrastive study of Chinese & Western learner autonomy

2021-04-08 来源:年旅网
Dec.2009,Volume 7,No.12(Serial No.75) us—China Foreign Language,ISSN 1539・8080,USA A contrastive study of Chinese&Western learner autonomy WANG Zhe (Graduate School ofEducation,Peking University,Beoing 100871,China) Abstract:This paper is a contrastive study of Chinese&Western learner autonomyIt focuses on English .teachers’&students’attitudes,responsibilities and capacities of learner autonomy.The findings indicate that Western teachers have strong awareness of learner autonomy,most of them treat their students as equal agents., and the autonomous teaching model has gone deeply into every classroomWhile in China,the concept of learner autonomy does not seem to be rooted in teachers’mind actually.Most English teachers think oriental environment is not appropriate for learner autonomy.The assessment system.the size of classes and the need for teachers’ professional development are the major problems,which leads to the implication of promoting learner autonomy in China is to shoulder heavy responsibilities. Key words:learner autonomy;language learning;teachers’attitudes and practice 1.Intr0ductiOn Recently learner autonomy has become a key concept within the framework of theories as communicative language teaching,cooperative learning,and learning by doingcultivating students’capacities of blazing new ,trails and thinking independently.It has also been brought to people’s attention in a wider educational context thanks to the development of theories in cognitive scienceeducational psychology and critical thinking ,(Littlewood,1 996). The paper is initiated for a better understanding of the situations of learner autonomy in Europe and China. How do teachers who work at the forefront of teaching react to these changes?How ready are they to take the role of facilitator for learner autonomy?What kind of pro—autonomy approaches are they actually taking in their classrooms?Answers to those questions and teachers’attitudes towards learner autonomy are essential to the Successful implementation of the new curriculum. 2.Methodology l he study is conducted by an anonymous survey using a questionnairewhich aims at collecting European ,and Chinese English teachers’perspectives in the above mentioned areasThe questionnaire is made uP of 5 Darts.. The first part of the questionnaire elicits teache ̄’biographical information including their agesgende ̄seniority, ,grades they teach,record of educationand the schools they teach jn.In the second part.teachers are expected to ,select their responses to each statement based on a Likert Scale Scheme】一5They may choose from category 1 to .5,symbolizing strongly disagree to strongly agree to each statementThe third part prepares 3 situations that .teachers are to select their responses on nominal scaleYeachers are expected to choose the one that best describes .their everyday practice.The fourth part is for teachers to think about the existing diiculfties of carrying out autonomous learning/teaching.The fifth part invites teachers who have actually experimented with the new WANG Zhe,female,Ph.D.candidate of Graduate School of EducationPeking University;research field:education management, .9 A contrastive study of Chinese&Western Iearner autonom curriculum to reflect upon their experiences. 1n Europe,80 questionnaires were distributed to the English teachers who work in universitiesAs the .questionnaire contains 52 items,the teachers who took part in the questionnaire were expected to complete them in their spare time and then collected the questionnaires later.As a result 5 8 questionnaires were returned. In China,1 39 questionnaires were distributed to the English teachers who were invited to take part in‘‘2009 National English Teaching Seminar”held in Beijing.Finally,108 questionnaires were returned. The initial statistical analysis of the data was carried out using SPSS 11.0 f0r Windows.The analysis of data involves calculating the percentages of responses to different statements and looking for the general trend in the teachers’attitudes towards each variable.Participants’“strongly agree’’and“agree’’responses are presented together with their“disagree’’and“strongly disagree”responses.This has been done in order to allow generalization to survey was also complemented by information from informal conversations with both teachers and students. 3.Results and discussion In Europe,when teachers are invited to describe their attitudes towards some important notions concerning the concept of autonomy,their responses are positive.The Table 1 is the classifications of numbers of items for each subset and sample,from it you can know what items and subsets include in the questionnaire.From Table 2, you can see that most teachers(82.6%1 express disagreement with the statement that the transmission of some basic nowlkedge is more important than the development of autonomous learning abilities at schools. Most teachers(83.3%)in Europe express disagreement with item 4 that says learner autonomy means learners should be able to learn alone without help provided by others(see Table 1).As reviewed,historically the concept of learner autonomy was closely associated with the concept of independence and individualization.But the understanding of autonomy has shitfed its emphasis from learners’independence to interdependence,though independent learning is still seen as a crucial stage in the development of autonomous learning abilities(Boud, 1998). Table 1 Numbers of items for each subset and sample Subsets Itern numbers Samples Teachers’awareness&attitudes Reflections Perceptions diiculfties 4,5,6,8,40,45,47 46,47,48,49,50,5 l,52 44 5.Learner autonomy is inconsistent with Chinese& Western culture and tradition. 48.I have to spend more time preparing for my lesson In class it is hard for teachers to manage learner autonomy. Perceptions of the assessment system 3.33.52 3.Learner autonomy is inappropriate under the excessive pressure of university entrance examinations. Perceptions of materials Moral relationship Pedagogical relationship Class activities Autonomous teaching 9,12,35,36 36.The oficifal teaching material I use presently is not good for learner autonomy. 10 22.32 4I.42 32.I often praise and encourage my students in my class. 1,7,14,19,28,37 13.15.16 17.18.20 2123,24,25,26 .1.Most of my students prefer to be directed by their teachers. 1 7.1 encourage my students to experiment with learning strategies and discover which work well for them. 38.I have the habit of keeping teaching dairies to reflect my own teaching. 1 1.I've received teacher training courses with regard to Iearner autonomy. 2,29,38,39 Professional development l1.40.44.46 10 A contrastive study of Chinese&Western learner autonomy Table 2 Teachers’awareness and attitudes towards learner autonomy in Europe and China Frequency Items l 2 3 4 5 Countries 4.Learner autonomy means that learners should be able to lealTl in isolation without help provided by others 6.The most important thing in education is to pass on to the learners some basic knowledge they are in need for life,which is more important than the development of autonomous learning ability. l3 23% 35 324% .35 60_3% 57 52_8% 36 62% 58 53.7% 24 41-3% 35 31.4% 8 13-3% 4 3.7% 9 l5.5% l2 11 1% 13 22.4% 35 3l-4% 2 3.4% 8 7.4% 7 12.0 l2 11.1% l 1.7% 32 29.6% O 0% 4 3.7% 4 3.7% 4 3.7% 0 O% 7 6.5% Europe China Europe 12 20.6% 20 l8.5% China 8.Autonomous learning is not suitable for young learners since students have not yet acquired the self-directed skills that needed. 20 34.4% I3 l20% .Europe China Children in Europe start to do autonomous learning or independent learning from very young age.They have got used to open—ended questions and classroom activities for years.In addition,individualism,human freedom and the desire to challenge the existing belief system have been deeply rooted in people’s hearts. According to Benson(200 1),the concept of learner autonomy was originated in adult education,but its recent development has confirmed that it could also be used with young learners with guided and gradual introduction.This position has been quite accepted by Europe language teachers. Another phenomenon that is worth noting here is that statistically it has been proved that all teachers have learned about the concept of learner autonomy,and majority of them express positive attitudes towards it,the concept are rooted in teachers’mind actually. The findings demonstrate that there has been an awareness of learner autonomy among European English language teachers,which show European teachers have confidence to help their students to become autonomous learners.While in China,the concept does not seem to be as rooted in teachers’mind actually. 4.Conclusion The results of the present study indicate that there is an awareness of learner autonomy in secondary school teachers.Teachers’attitudes towards learner autonomy are positive and popular. In China,the majority of teachers see that there exist many diiculfties in its implementation,and many external conditions are found to be very prohibiting to the promotion of learner autonomyAccording to the .teachers,the most important barrier is the present assessment system. As having been presented in this study,professional development programs for English teachers need to be further improved,so that teachers may have accessed to autonomous learning through experiential learning before they can make it happen in their own classrooms. References: Benson,E 200 1.Teaching and research autonomy in language learningEssex:Pearson. ,Boud,D.(Ed.).1 998.Developing student autonomy in learning.New York:Kogan Press Littlewood, 1996 Autonomy:An anatomy and a frameworkSystem.24(4).427—435. .(Edited by Cathy and Sunny) l1 

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