Author(s): Mingxia Liu

Abstract: As we all know, changes in the field of language teaching have never stopped. Among the changes that took place in recent years, the main one has been a shift of focus from teachers onto the language learners. Learner autonomy is the new ‘buzz-word’ in the field of applied linguistics. How to cultivate LA becomes a key concern for educators and researchers. In order to know whether the LA could be cultivated and the cultivation of LA could benefit the students or not, the author carried out an experiment in Grade One in the Mathematics and Information School in Shandong University of Technology. The experiment was carried out in one year in two classes. The instruments used in the experiment were a questionnaire and three examination papers. The questionnaire which was adapted from Nunan (1996) and modified by the writer included 27 items concerning autonomous learning. The results of the questionnaire and the grades of the three examinations were collected and analyzed to find out whether LA could be cultivated and whether the cultivation of autonomous learning would benefit the students’ English learning. Analysis of the quantitative data was performed on the computer using SPSS . Our conclusion is that LA could be cultivated and the cultivation of LA benefited the students’ English learning. The thesis included the methodology used in the experiment, the procedure, data analysis and pedagogical implications we could get from the study.

Keywords: learner autonomy, autonomous learning, ways to foster.

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.3.6.55