Survey of the Autonomous Learning and Training Model of Students Backed by the Network Environment in the Chengnan Independent College of the CUST长沙理工大学城南学院网络环境下的大学生自主学习培养模式调查报告

Luo Chunxia（罗春霞）

【Abstract】This study adopts the questionnaire method to investigate the autonomous learning and training model of the students in the Chengnan College of Changsha University of Science and Technology（CUST） in the network environment. The purpose is to study students learning motivation， learning strategies， as well as the expectation of teachers role， so as to explore the students autonomous learning and training method： to stimulate students learning motivation， to cultivate students interest； to optimize the students meta？鄄cognitive strategies， to cultivate their cognitive strategies and social emotional strategies； to change the traditional teacher role into guide， evaluator， motivator， monitor and moderator，which will help to cultivate the comprehensive English ability for the students .

【Keywords】autonomous study； strategies

【摘要】本文采用問卷调查方法，对长沙理工大学（CUST）以网络环境为背景的学生自主学习和训练模式进行了调查，研究了学生的学习动机、学习策略，以及对教师角色的期望，探索学生自主学习和训练的方法： 激发学生学习动机，培养学生兴趣；优化学生的元认知策略，培养他们的认知策略和社会情感策略；将传统教师角色转变为指导、评价、激励、监督和调节者的角色，将更有利于学生的英语综合能力的培养。

【关键词】自主学习 策略

【中图分类号】H31 【文献标识码】A 【文章编号】2095-3089（2018）16-0086-04

Introduction

Chinese Educational Ministry has been stressing on formation of autonomous study in English for a long time. Since the end of 2003， the ministry of education has launched a pilot program for college English teaching reform centering on “cultivating students autonomous learning ability”. In January， 2004， the ministry of education issued “college English Curriculum Requirements （Trial）”， in which it was clearly pointed out that a successful important symbol of the teaching model reform is the formation of students individualized method and the development of students autonomous learning ability. In “College English Reform Program in 2017”， there is clear regulation that “To Take students as the center， to focus on students needs， to make full use of information technology， to construct and use micro？鄄class， Mooc， to implement a hybrid teaching model based on traditional class， online class and inverted classroom， in order to make students develop active learning， autonomous learning， and individualized learning. Therefore， from 2013， the Chengnan College of the CUST， began to explore actively the reform of college English teaching， trying to shift the traditional “teacher？鄄center” model to the modern “student？鄄center” model backed by the network environment， aiming to promote students English comprehensive ability， especially listening and speaking skills， and improve students autonomous learning ability of teaching into college English class.

The Chengnan College of the CUST has carried out the reform since 2009. One of the reformation is to cultivate students autonomous study ability in the network environment. In additional to the original 4 lessons per week， the Chengnan College of the CUST adds 2 hours classes of listening and speaking on line （the main materials are New Horizontal English for Speaking and Listening level 1-4 together with other online materials） per week， stressing on speaking skills， and improving their autonomous study ability .

The course mainly relies on students independent learning， and tutors in the classroom mainly conduct individual guidance， responsible for solving problems encountered by students during their independent learning process. So what is the student's autonomous learning state since then？ How to cultivate and improve the independent learning ability of students in Chengnan College of CUST？ Thus， this research， through the questionnaire survey is to investigate the training path to cultivate the students autonomous learning ability.

1.Theoretical Format

In the international field， the concept of “Autonomous Learning” appeared in the mid？鄄1970. Henri Holec （1981） mentions in his Autonomy and Foreign Language Learnin that self？鄄learning is the ability to be responsible for self？鄄management， that is， to determine learning objectives， to choose learning methods， to determine learning content and progress， to monitor learning process， and to evaluate learning outcomes. Zimmerman （1990） identified， if autonomous learners emphasizes metacognition， motivation and behavior， knowing when and how to use a specific learning strategies， to self？鄄monitor and self？鄄adjust their own learning activities， if so， it could be called autonomous learning. Pintrich （2000） argues that autonomous learning is an active and constructing process， in this process， students determine their own learning objectives， and monitor， adjust and control their cognition， motivation and behavior， which are affected by their learning goals and environmental characteristics and restrictions.

In the domestic， Pang Weiguo （2003） summarizing the predecessors research， put forward from two aspects： horizontal and vertical aspects to define autonomous learning. From the perspective of horizontal， he refers to a comprehensive definition of autonomous learning from all dimensions， including motivation， strategy， time？鄄planning， and management， etc. The definition of autonomous learning from the vertical perspective refers to the whole process of learning， from which， essence of autonomous learning is explained， including how to make a learning plan， how to use learning method， and how to monitor learning progress， etc. Pan also pointed out that independent learners are influenced by internal factors and external factors， the internal factors include learning motivation， cognitive strategy， metacognitive developing level， will？鄄control level， gender roles， etc. The external factors include school education， family and cultural factors. This study focuses on learning motivation and learning strategies （the two internal factors）， learning motivation explains why to learn， and learning strategy explains how to learn， both of which are two basic elements of the autonomous learning.

At the same time， this paper is to discuss college education， it will also investigate students expectations for the role of teachers in the process of autonomous learning.

So this study mainly discusses the following three problems in the Chengnan College of the CUST under the environment of network： the current situation of the students English learning motivation； The use of English learning strategies for students； Students expectation for the role of teachers in the process of autonomous learning； From the study， the specific method of training students autonomous learning ability will be discussed.

2.Research and Findings

This study used Likerts subscales classification formulation to make the survey questionnaire of the present situation of autonomous learning in the questionnaire， its options from “strongly agree” （5 points） to “strongly disagree” （1）. The whole questionnaire has 60 questions， including English learning motivation （22 questions）， English learning strategies （20）， teachers role （18）. When the questionnaire design is completed， the reliability is tested in one class， the testing coefficient is 0.972， the results of the project analysis show that the questions of the questionnaire are well differentiated， so the results of this questionnaire are reliable and effective.

Research Group in May 2016 take undergraduate students in the Independent Colleges of CUST for questionnaire investigation， after recycling， 220 are valid questionnaires， the effective rate is 96.3% to quantify the all questionnaire option， SPSS19.0 is used for statistical analysis of the questionnaire data.

2.1Autonomous Learning Motivation

Gardner and Lambert（1972） divided motivation into two categories from the perspective of social psychology： “Integrative Motivation” and “Instrumental Motivation”. “Integrative Motiva？鄄tion” refers to that the learners expect to integrate the target language group into the culture； Instrumental motivation means that learners use language as a tool and achieve a practical goal， such as through a test， to get a well？鄄paid job. Another classic division is intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation （David. C. McClelland，2014）.

The former is a learning desire without external pressure from the heart， such as interest， ideal， and the desire for knowledge， etc. The latter is directly related to the individuals future or economic interests， such as obtaining extrinsic reward， competition， or examinations， etc. It s generally believed that the integrated motivation corresponds to intrinsic motivation， and the instrumental motivation corresponds to extrinsic motivation. Gao Yihong （2003） proposed that there are seven types of motivation for undergraduates English learning motivation in Chinese universities： Internal interests， achievements， situations， going abroad， social responsibility， personal development， media. The questionnaire survey of the motivation part considering Gao Yihongs idea about study motivation and the internet study environment， and also puts forward seven learning motivation factors： learning attitude， achievement motivation， learning freedom， emotional motivation， development information， media， and learning interest. The collected 231 questionnaires were put into the computer and SPSS19.0 was used to carry out the statistics， described as follows.

Table 1

From table 1， the two dimensions of learning attitude and learning freedom are quite high， 4.49 and 4.41， respectively， from which it can be seen that most of the students， the overall impression on the New Horizontal Independent Learning System is good， and the students have realized the importance of independent learning. In addition， the students accepted the advantages of autonomous learning in network， it has a large number of resources on the network which could be used at any time and at any place， and students can adopt different learning method according to their own， etc.

The two dimensions of study development and information media are above 4.3， this shows that students have recognized the benefits of network autonomous learning， and know the network autonomous learning is helpful to improve their English comprehensive ability， and to cultivate their independent thinking ability. At the same time， the content of the “New Horizon” serials can also help students understand foreign cultures. The two dimensions of emotional motivation and interest in learning are about 4.0， showing that students are more interested in network autonomous learning， and could more relax both bodily and mindly in the network autonomous learning environment， avoiding some embarrassment in a traditional class. Achievement motivation is of the lowest average， only 3.73， not because the “New Horizon” book serials are required， or occupy a certain proportion in the final exam， this is unexpected. At the beginning of the network autonomous learning， in order to urge students to study self？鄄consciously， teachers reiterated its proportion in the final exam， but from the survey， it reveals that achievement motivation in students learning motivation is the smallest proportion.

2.2Autonomous Learning Strategies.

For learning strategies， O Malley & Chamot（1990） proposed a three？鄄point strategy， including cognitive strategy， meta？鄄cognitive strategy， and social emotional strategy.

Metacognitive strategies include such strategies as planning， monitoring， evaluation and problem identification， which is making learning plans， monitoring learning processes， evaluating learning effects， and finding problems and making adjustments.

O Malley & Chamot believes that the success of learners depends largely on the metacognitive strategies. The social emotional strategy refers to the strategies that learners can improve their learning efficiency by communicating with others and adjusting their emotional factors， such as enhancing self？鄄confidence and cooperating with others. On this framework， this study also divides the learning motivation into cognitive strategy （e.g. notes and review） metacognitive strategies （such as planning， monitor？鄄ing， evaluation， and regulating）， social emotional strategies （such as adjusting and cooperation）. The questionnaire survey is designed in these three dimensions to find the status quo of autonomous learning strategies.

Table 2

It can be seen from table 2， the mean value of three strategies are above 4.0， but the highest average is meta？鄄cognitive strategy， students tend to use this strategy in the process of autonomous learning， such as making planning， allocation of time， monitoring and record of their own learning， to learn self？鄄 reflection and self evaluation， and adjust study plan and schedule according to the phase of learning situation. The mean value of cognitive strategy is a little lower， students are weak in reviewing， combined with observing and monitoring the situation of students autonomous learning. The mean value of social emotional strategy is the lowest， students is influenced by disgusting， distraction， lack of confidence， and lack of cooperation and communication with others in the process of learning.

2.3.Students Expectations of Teachers.

With the application of autonomous learning concept， teachers role also faces new challenging. There are also much discussion about the role of teachers in the new teaching mode. Boud（1988） believes that the cultivation of autonomous learning ability is not simply to abolish teachers teaching， but to teach better. Little（1991） pointed out that teachers play an irreplaceable role in cultivating students autonomous learning ability. Zimmerman and Risemberg（1997） advocated that teachers should promote students autonomous learning from four aspects. （1）Stimulate students intrinsic learning motivation. （2）Focus on autonomous learning strategies. （3）Instruct students to conduct self？鄄monitoring. （4）Teaching students to use various resources. Gardner & Miller（1999） summed up the multiple roles that teachers play in autonomous learning： consultant， estimator， evaluator， text？鄄book developer， organizer， leader， and so on. He Lianzhen （2011）studied the current situation of teachers under the new model， and divided the teachers roles into： planning guides， monitoring regulator， classroom organizers and resource promoters. But what role do teachers play in the autonomous learning process in the independent college students？ This paper puts forward the framework， combining the suggestion by experts/scholars， and practical teaching situation in the Independent College of CSUST， teachers role will be divided into： Learning resources promoter， study planning guide； the motivator of learning interest， self？鄄learning monitori/regulator/examiner， self？鄄learning evaluators. Through these five dimensions， students are surveyed to reveal the expectations of independent college students in the process of independent learning. Through these five dimensions， the questionnaire is undertaken to learn about independent college students to the teachers role expectation in the process of autonomous learning.

Table 3

As can be seen from table 3， the two dimensions of the study planning guide and resource utilization promoter are the highest， both of which are 4.5. It shows that students hope greatly that teachers can guide them to make study plans， to understand the needs and characteristics of different students， and help them to make learning plans according to each student.

Second， the network autonomous learning， after all， has the very big difference with the traditional classroom， the students also hope teacher can help guide them to use various resources on the network more effectively， and help them to search and find helpful information quickly， and often recommend useful English learning material to students. The mean value of independent study evaluator is a little above 4.4， showing students also attaches great importance to teachers for their autonomous learning to make assessment and evaluation， students can adjust their autonomous learning situation according to the evaluation of teachers timely.

The two mean values of learning interest motivator and learning monitoring moderator is lower than the first three dimensions. In particular， the study monitoring moderator has the lowest mean value 4.1. It reflects the students ambivalence： they wish the teachers guidance to assist and evaluate， but are also unwilling to accept the teachers supervision.

3.Enlightenment to Cultivate Students Independent Learning Ability.

Independent college students have their own characteristics. Although it is admitted through college entrance examination， the admission line is normally lower than that of ordinary colleges， most students have poor English proficiency. Therefore， it is impossible to copy the training mode of ordinary undergraduate college. This questionnaire surveyed in the Chengnan Independent College of CUST is just an example of the independent college students in autonomous learning motivation， learning strategies as well as the expectation of the teachers role， this survey of cultivation of students autonomous learning ability for independent college provides the beneficial enlightenment for all the independent college in autonomous learning model training.

3.1To Stimulate Students Learning Motivation and Cultivate Students Interest in Independent Study.

Learning motivation is the first condition of independent learning. With certain learning motivation， students will have the motivation to study independently. According to the results of the questionnaire survey， the learning attitude， the learning freedom， learning development， and information media have a higher mean value. It shows that students are aware of the advantages and importance of autonomous learning and realize the help of autonomous learning in the network environment.

However， the lower mean value of learning interest indicates that although students are conscious， they are not necessarily motivated to study independently because of their interest. Interest is the best teacher， so in the process of cultivating autonomous learning， teachers should focus on cultivating the students interest in learning， such as teaching students some effective methods， to upload some video or interesting materials， to organize various classroom activities， etc.

3.2To Cultivate and Optimize Students Independent Learning Strategies。

The results of questionnaire survey show that students use metacognitive strategies in the process of autonomous learning the most， and metacognitive strategies play a crucial role in autonomous learning. This requires that teachers should help students to optimize the study plan， self？鄄monitoring， self assessment， and self？鄄control， to help students cultivate autonomous learning effectively.

In addition to the metacognitive strategy， cognitive strategy is also very important to autonomous learning， for independent college students， it is quite necessary for the students to get online learning materials to practice， from the usual practice， most of the students just finish the exercise according to the requirement， but only a handful of students carry on the review， and sums up the key points and difficult points to practice repeatedly into memory. Besides， according to the questionnaire survey results， the mean of social emotional strategy is the lowest， so it is necessary to cultivate students self？鄄confidence and encourage students to cooperate and learn.

3.3Teachers Important Role in the Process of Students Autonomous learning.

In the autonomous learning under the environment of network， teachers should first change roles， the teacher is no longer the traditional leader of the class and the imparter of knowledge； teachers should not be completely excluded， putting students in a complete free situation； teachers should play a very important role in autonomous learning in the network environment； teachers should help students make learning plans and guide students to make more effective use of the network platform to gain more resources； teachers should also evaluate students learning activities and give timely feedback； teachers should stimulate students interest and monitor their learning progress and learning effects， etc. All these changes perhaps require teachers for more responsibility， such as network experts， psychologists， researchers， etc. ， which will be discussed in another paper.

Conclusion

To sum up， to cultivate the autonomous learning ability of independent college students， three things should be done： learning motivation， learning strategy， and teachers role. The concrete methods are： to stimulate students learning motivation， and to cultivate students interest emphatically； to optimize the students metacognitive strategies， cognitive strategies and social affective strategies； to change the traditional teachers role， teachers should become study？鄄planning guide， resources conductor， resource promoters， learning evaluators， interest motivators， and study？鄄monitoring regulators. Only in this way can autonomous learning in the network environment be effectively combined with traditional classroom learning， and can students also improve their independent learning ability and cultivate their independent learning ability.

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注：This paper is funded by Hunan Education Plan Project “Research of Transition of College Teachers Role in the Independent College Backed by the Network Environment”， and the research code is XJK12YYB001.

作者简介：

Luo Chunxia， Associate Professor， Faculty of Foreign Language， Changsha University of Science and Technology.