On the Current Situation of the English Autonomous Learning of Middle School Students: A Case Study of the Students of Yinzhou Foreign Language Middle School in Ningbo

Abstract

The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education (2011 edition) is the basis for the preparation of teaching materials, teaching, assessment and examination questions in China’s compulsory education. The standard mentions “developing autonomous learning ability” in the general objective of the curriculum and advocates autonomous learning, which requires in-class teaching to pay attention to the cultivation of students’ autonomous learning ability. How is the English autonomous learning ability of students in compulsory education? What is the situation of students’ autonomous learning? In this paper, an investigation is conducted to study the current situation of first grade students’ English autonomous learning in Yinzhou Foreign Language Middle School in Ningbo City. This paper first reviews the concept and related theories of autonomous learning. Then, the author uses the questionnaire and the interview to investigate the English autonomous learning situation of the first-grade students in Yinzhou Foreign Languages Middle School, and analyzes the data collected from the questionnaires and the interviews. The results show that the students’ English autonomous learning ability is at the medium level. There are differences in the students’ autonomous learning abilities, and this difference is related to their English level. Based on the above results, this paper puts forward corresponding suggestions to stimulate students’ learning motivation, improve students’ learning methods, and help students to learn to evaluate and adjust themselves.