1、閩江學院本科畢業論文(設計)題 目a study on the correlation between sense of class belonging and autonomous learning ability of english-majored undergraduates 學生姓名 學 號 120090201220 系 別 外語系 年 級 09級 指導教師 職 稱 完成日期 2013年5月31日 閩江學院畢業論文（設計）誠信聲明書本人鄭重聲明：茲提交的畢業論文（設計） “a study on the correlation between sense of class belong

2、ing and autonomous learning ability of english-majored undergraduates”是本人在指導老師 的指導下獨立研究、撰寫的成果；論文（設計）未剽竊、抄襲他人的學術觀點、思想和成果，未篡改研究數據，論文（設計）中所引用的文字、研究成果均已在論文（設計）中以明確的方式標明；在畢業論文（設計）工作過程中，本人恪守學術規范，遵守學校有關規定，依法享有和承擔由此論文（設計）產生的權利和責任。聲明人（簽名）： 2013年 5月 31 日摘 要近20年來,國內外許多學者對影響英語自主學習能力的內部因素做過大量研究， 但鮮有學者運用實證調查的方法探究

3、其外部影響因素。鑒于此，本研究將圍繞以下三個問題探討英語專業本科生所感知的班級歸屬感與英語自主學習能力之間的關系：（1）英語專業本科生的英語自主學習能力及所感受到的班級歸屬感如何？（2）學習者的自主學習能力是否與其班級歸屬感相關？（3）學習者所感知的班級歸屬感在自主學習能力的培養中扮演什么樣的角色？這對二語習得領域的研究將是一個非常有意義的探索和補充。該研究主要以閩江學院外語系大二149位英語專業本科生為調查對象，采用問卷調查的形式考查班級歸屬感與英語自主學習能力之間的相關性。然后，使用spss軟件對所收集到的數據進行定量分析比較。研究結果表明學習者具有良好的班級歸屬感，且具備了一定的英語自主

4、學習能力;學習者的自主學習能力與其班級歸屬感具有一定的相關性;在英語自主學習能力培養中，班級歸屬感扮演著積極向上的角色。關鍵詞：班級歸屬感；自主學習能力；英語專業本科生；問卷調查 abstractin recent twenty years, numerous scholars home and abroad have done a lot of research on the internal factors influencing autonomous learning ability, while few empirical studies have been applied to ex

5、ploring the effects of the external factors. therefore, the study focuses on the following three questions to examine the relationship between the autonomous learning ability and the sense of class belonging: (1) how is english-majored undergraduates english learning autonomy and perceived sense of

6、class belonging? (2) is english learning autonomy correlated with learners perceived sense of class belonging? (3) what is the role of learners perceived sense of class belonging in developing autonomous learning ability? it will be a meaningful exploration and supplement for the research in the sec

7、ond language acquisition. in the current study, 149 english-majored undergraduates in grade two from foreign languages department of minjiang university were selected to be the subjects to investigate the correlation between the autonomous learning ability and the sense of class belonging. then, qua

8、ntitative analyses were employed to interpret the collected statistics through spss software. the findings show as follows: learners have nice sense of class belonging and certain autonomous learning ability; learning autonomy bears some correlation with the sense of class belonging; the sense of cl

9、ass belonging really plays a positive role in enhancing autonomous learning ability.key words：sense of class belonging; autonomous learning ability; english-majored undergraduates; questionnaire surveycontents1. introduction(1)2. literature review(1)2.1 definition of autonomy(1)2.2 definition of sen

10、se of class belonging(2)2.3 relevant studies on learning autonomy(3)2.4 relevant studies on sense of class belonging(3)3. the current study(4)3.1 research questions(4)3.2 questionnaire design(4)3.3 subjects(5)3.4 method(5)4. results and analyses(5)4.1 the current state of english majors sense of cla

11、ss belonging and english learning autonomy(5)4.2 the correlation between students perceived sense of class belonging and english learning autonomy(6)5. implications for english instruction in china(7)6. conclusion(8)6.1 conclusions of the study(8)6.2 limitations and recommendations(9)references(10)a

12、ppendices(12)acknowledgements(15)a study on the correlation between sense of class belonging and autonomous learning ability of english-majored undergraduates1. introduction in recent twenty years, many a researcher has reached a consensus that cultivation and promotion of autonomous learning abilit

13、y should be put in the first place in second language teaching under the influence of the educational concept “learner-centeredness. however, the process in the development of autonomous learning ability is complicated and confined by multiple factors. a number of experts and teaching staffs have co

14、mmitted to exploring the intrinsic effects on learning autonomy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, but few preceding empirical studies have probed into the extrinsic influences on it. moreover, little investigation was conducted on the autonomous learning ability from english majors angle. it is known that col

15、lege students are very different from the secondary school students; generally, they study far away from their hometown. in this case, the class becomes the unique place for their sense of belonging. hence, the class has a great effect on students. once students form a moderate sense of class belong

16、ing, it is not only beneficial to improving the class cohesion, but also can create a better learning atmosphere. up to now, it is almost a blank to make the sense of class belonging as a significant external factor to inquire its influence on the autonomous learning ability. thus, this study focuse

17、s on the impact of sense of class belonging on chinese english-majored undergraduates autonomous learning ability. and it is hoped that the findings of the research will have some practical instructions and implementation in cultivating autonomous learning ability for chinese efl learners in the fut

18、ure. 2. literature review 2.1 definition of autonomy one of the earliest and most cited definitions of “autonomy” is put forward by holec-“the capacity or ability to take charge of ones learning” 9 (p3). later, little made a supplement to holecs study, arguing that “autonomy is not exclusively or ev

19、en primarily a matter of how learning is organized” 10 (p4). in order to make the concept "learner autonomy" more specific, xu et al. have concluded the following five characteristics of autonomous learning in chinas unique cultural and educational surroundings: (1) students understand wha

20、t is being taught; (2) students are able to formulate their own learning objectives; (3) students are able to select and make use of appropriate learning strategies; (4) students are able to monitor their use of these strategies; (5) students are able to self-assess or monitor their own learning 11.

21、 2.2 definition of sense of class belongingin psychology, sense of class belonging refers to the individuals making themselves belong to a certain community, and produce emotional experience of affability and pride. according to maslows hierarchy of need theory, belongingness and love is considered

22、to be one of the human basic needs. and freeman deems that sense of class belonging is a kind of emotion that students feel themselves to be an important member of the class, accepted by others, deemed valuable by others and transforms into community eventually12. on the basis of the domestic schola

23、rs studies, sense of class belonging was defined as the students ideological, emotional and psychological acceptance and engagement of their own class. in this way, they will be willing to take the responsibility and obligation as a member of the class they belong to and be enthusiastic to take part

24、 in the collective activities 13. besides, previous studies showed that college students tolerance for psychological nowadays is rather weak. still, the status of mental health is not optimistic. particularly, it is very common that sense of class belongingness is keeping on the low level. and here

25、are some specific examples: without identity of their own school, poor cohesion of the class, low self-esteem and weak individual cognition.at the same time, as is known to all that the environment of a class plays a significant role in the development of a students intelligence, personality and abi

26、lity. it is beneficial for students healthier growth by putting them in the class with warmness, high-level belongingness and supports. therefore, this research will define sense of class belonging as mental, emotional and psychological identity of their own class, including three dimensions-identit

27、y of class consciousness, enthusiasm in participating in group activities and the feeling of responsibility towards class, so as to reflect the individual acceptance and trust of their own class. 2.3 relevant studies on learning autonomy a lot of foreign experts and scholars have made a wide range o

28、f theoretical studies and empirical research on the concept of autonomous learning ability, theoretical basis, influencing factors, implementation strategies, curriculum, practical consequences and the creation of autonomous learning center from different views 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. since then, th

29、e study on autonomy has been receiving increasing concern. in the late 80s, the theoretical research of autonomous learning ability has been made great achievements. from early 90s, a lot of research has been conducted on promoting language learning and emphasized the importance on enhancing learner

30、s cooperative and social learning ability because they have recognized that learner autonomy has both individual and social characteristics 17. autonomous learning ability not only has a motivation on western language teaching exploration, but also arouses english teaching scholars deliberations and

31、 discussions domestically 19. although relevant studies started a little late in china, the related research on learner autonomy is booming in recent 10 years from diversified perspectives. some scholars have summarized and integrated the status of autonomous learning research home and abroad 18; so

32、me have done the investigation into autonomous learning ability of foreign language based on chinese students 10, 21; some have explored the related factors influencing learner autonomy6, 7; and others carried out experimental study on cultivating students autonomous learning ability 22, 23.2.4 rele

33、vant studies on sense of class belonginggoodenows study found that students' sense of class belonging has a remarkable effect on their own learning motivation, learning input. especially, it is good for students to make sustaining efforts in face of difficult learning tasks 24. in the west, not

34、a few researchers have regarded learners' sense of school or class belonging as a straightforward impact on their academic achievements 25. however, in recent years, more and more scholars believe that the relationship between the two is rather indirect although they also acknowledge the correla

35、tion between sense of school or class belonging and learners academic achievements. and by virtue of the students engagement as the intermediary, the influence would be exerted 26, 27.3. the current study 3.1 research questions this research is to examine, by data collecting and statistics analyzing

36、, whether the sense of class belonging has a significant influence on english majors autonomous learning ability. the study is set out to find out the answers to the following three questions:(1) how is english-majored undergraduates perceived sense of class belonging and english learning autonomy?

37、(2) is english learning autonomy correlated with learners perceived sense of class belonging? (3) what is the role of learners perceived sense of class belonging in developing autonomous learning ability? 3.2 questionnaire design the questionnaire design aims to explore the three research questions

38、put forward above much more better. the design of the english major undergraduates english learner autonomy scale is based on the investigation and evaluation about the learner autonomy done by xu et al. 11. the design of the sense of class belonging investigation questionnaire is adapted from the d

39、us research on university belonging of undergraduates and its impact factors 28.the questionnaire consists of three parts as follows: the first section is concerned with subjects basic information including grade and gender of the students. the second part focuses on the learners perceived sense of

40、class belonging, and it comprises 10 items. all the items are about the students emotions of their own class. the third part copes with the evaluation of autonomous learning ability, and it is divided into 5 subparts : part a (5 items) (“evaluation of ones own understanding on teachers teaching purp

41、oses and requirements”); part b (5 items) (“evaluation of ones own formulation of learning plans”); part c (5 items) (“evaluation of ones own learning strategies”); part d (5 items) (“evaluation of monitoring ones use of learning strategies”); part e (5 items) (“evaluation of monitoring ones own eng

42、lish learning process”). the following 39 items under the 5 parts is based on the evaluation of these 5 main subparts. among the total 49 items in part ii, iii of the questionnaire, students are also to rate answers on a five-point scale of “likert-type” questions with “completely-false (1)”, “false

43、 much of the time (2)”, “sometimes true and sometimes false (3)”, “true much of the time (4)”, and “completely true (5)” ticked according to different statements. for more details, please refer to appendix i and appendix ii. 3.3 subjects in the study, the subjects are 198 undergraduate english-major

44、ed sophomores from foreign languages department of minjiang university. after nearly two years of college english learning and the collective life, the sophomores have mastered certain english autonomous learning ability. whats more, they have a fairy profound understanding of their own classes. the

45、refore, the validity of the research can be greatly guaranteed via establishing sophomores as the subjects. 3.4 methodin order to save time for distributing questionnaires, the number of the questionnaires required for each class was counted ahead of schedule. and the specific instructions about fil

46、ling questionnaires were made while sending them. under the circumstances, it is effective to collect much more valid questionnaires. when conducting the questionnaire, we show our great desire for receiving the serious answers; in addition, for the sake of the subjects to answer honestly and conven

47、iently, the questionnaires are anonymous and written in chinese with concise multiple-choice questions. in this case, the students can concentrate on the questions more actively. finally, after eliminating the invalid questionnaires, 188 ones were collected with 149 valid. 4. results and analyses 4.

48、1 the current state of english majors sense of class belonging and english learning autonomyfrom table 4.1, it is clearly known that the average among the 149 subjects sense of class belonging reaches 3.6591, which means that students' sense of class belonging is on a relatively high level on th

49、e whole. moreover, the mean of students autonomous learning ability is 3.3657 and such number also displays certain level of learner autonomy. as table 4.1 shows, among the five subcategories (part a, part b, part c, part d and part e.) of learner autonomy, the mean of the 149 investigated subjects

50、is 3.5544, 3.3342, 3.3300, 3.3758, and 3.3228 respectively. in particular, the participants are likely to get the highest score in answering the questions in part a (“evaluation of ones own understanding on teachers' teaching purpose and requirements”) with the average of 3.5544, which is much h

51、igher than other parts. on the other hand, the means of other four parts of the learning autonomy are almost similar. so, the students learning autonomy arises most from their evaluation of their own understanding on teachers teaching purpose and requirements. table 4.1 descriptive statistics of sen

52、se of class belonging and english learning autonomy (n=149)variablesmeanstd. deviationsense of class belonging3.6591.65099part a3.5544.63549part b3.3342.74849part c3.3300.58050part d3.3758.60412part e3.3228.63151overall ability3.3657.51058note: part a= students understanding of teaching purposes and

53、 requirements part b= students formulation of learning plans part c= students use of learning strategies part d= students monitoring the use of learning strategies part e= students monitoring of learning process4.2 the correlation between students perceived sense of class belonging and english learn

54、ing autonomy in order to present the correlation between students perceived sense of class belonging and english learning autonomy concisely and distinctly, the collected data were further treated with pearson coefficient (see table 4.2). regarding the relevant analysis data from table 4.2, it is cl

55、ear that the correlations between assessing their own understanding of teachers requirements, formulating their own learning objectives, making use of appropriate learning strategies, monitoring their use of these strategies, self-assessing or monitoring their own learning and sense of class belongi

56、ng are positively significant at the .01 level. whats more, the correlation between sense of class belonging and the overall ability of learning autonomy reaches up to .470. moreover, the data reveals the sense of class belonging exerts the greatest influence on students understanding of teaching pu

57、rposes and requirements (r= 0.434, p=.000<0.01) and their use of learning strategies (r= 0.414, p=.000<0.01). then the data indicate a moderate positive relationship between sense of class belonging and the investigated subjects monitoring the use of learning strategies (r=0.389, p=.000<0.01). lastly, there is also some significant correlation between sense of class belonging and the students formulation