Abstract:
The learning of English as a foreign language (EFL) in China is gaining popularity and importance as China opens its doors economically and culturally to the world at large. This has resulted in a flood of Chinese students enrolling in EFL courses at colleges and universities across the country. This paper argues that traditional Chinese teaching methods requiring passive learning are not sufficient to meet this demand, and that encouraging greater learner autonomy greatly assists students to learn efficiently and effectively. The paper begins by providing an overview of the current trends in Chinese Tertiary Education and then exploring current understandings of learner autonomy and the implications of teaching for learning autonomy. The paper will then suggest strategies for fostering learner autonomy in the Chinese context.
The paper looks at an investigation into the benefit of developing learner autonomy and implementing autonomous learning strategies conducted by the Shanxi University of Finance and Economics. This investigation compared the results obtained using either traditional or autonomous teaching approaches with four groups of non-English major undergraduate tertiary students studying EFL at the University. The results of this investigation show autonomous learning strategies result in improved EFL outcomes for this group of students in Chinese tertiary education.
The paper looks at an investigation into the benefit of developing learner autonomy and implementing autonomous learning strategies conducted by the Shanxi University of Finance and Economics. This investigation compared the results obtained using either traditional or autonomous teaching approaches with four groups of non-English major undergraduate tertiary students studying EFL at the University. The results of this investigation show autonomous learning strategies result in improved EFL outcomes for this group of students in Chinese tertiary education.