An Experimental Study of Language Learning Strategies and Learning Outcomes in Autonomy Learning Environment

Autonomous learning is important to cultivate learners' ability of self-directed inquiry. The majority of the studies on the autonomous learning environment (ALE) have been done in the western context. Few studies focused on the use of the ALE for listening comprehension. Yan Canxun (2005) reported a research on listening in the self-access learning center, but none has taken learning strategies in autonomous learning environment into consideration. This study, based on the theories of learner autonomy, language learning strategies and listening comprehension, is intended to investigate into the feasibility of the listening approach in the ALE and to explore the strategies that affect the autonomous learning. The subjects of this study are non-English majors enrolled in 2008. The subjects were divided into the experimental group and the control group. Care had been taken that the class means and standard deviations of the subjects' English performance in National Entrance Examination in both groups were pretty close. The experimental group fulfilled their listening tasks in the autonomous learning center while the control group followed the traditional model of listening instruction. Both groups used the same textbooks and were tested on the English Achievement Tests in January, 2009 and July, 2009. Three instruments, two listening tests, a questionnaire and an interview, were used in this research. The major findings are presented as follows: (1) The experimental group has demonstrated superiority over the control group in the listening test which shows that the teaching approach in the ALE has proved to be successful; (2) There are associations between learning strategies and listening outcomes in the autonomous learning environment.