Autonomous learning plays a more and more important role in vocational colleges, especially in terms of English study. Only when the students master autonomous learning ability can they really learn actively in their whole life. Nevertheless, most students in vocational colleges lack this ability, which is caused not only by students’ lack of motivation, lack of proper learning strategies but also by teachers’ inappropriate teaching approaches as well as by the imperfect educational system. In order to cultivate the students’ autonomous learning ability, the writer carried out a research in Leshan Vocational and Technical College, analyzing the causes of the current situation and putting forward some suggestions to the students, the teachers and the educational departments.