On Cultivating Learning Autonomy of English Major Students in China

Learning autonomy is a hot research topic in the field of foreign language education in recent years. It emphasizes that learners should learn to manage their own learning process in order to improve their autonomous learning ability. Even though scholars have different understandings about learner autonomy, they all agree that promoting learner autonomy is an important goal of foreign language education. For English major students in China, there is a great necessity to cultivate their learning autonomy due to the rapid development of information society, the goal of modern foreign language education, the particularity of language learning, and even the individual differences between language learners. However, the status quo of Chinese English major students’ learning autonomy is worrying. They not only lack the awareness of learning autonomy, but also lack the abilities of interaction and cooperation. Furthermore, they have a poor use of language learning strategies and poor abstract thinking ability and self-control. Based on the necessity and status quo of English major students’ learning autonomy in China, this paper puts forward many measures for cultivating English majors’ autonomous learning abilities. From the perspective of school education system and environment, measures like giving English teachers greater autonomy in teaching, the reform of graded teaching for English majors, and establishing autonomous learning centers for English major students are recommended. From the perspective of teachers and classroom teaching, the measures include improvement of English teachers’ awareness of learning autonomy, the change of English classroom teaching model, and guidance and training of systematic learning strategies. From the perspective of students and extracurricular learning, the following measures can be taken, which are strengthening of students’ awareness of being independent, effective use of various learning resources and cooperative learning, and being a reflective learner.