本科专业学位论文
题 目：网络自主学习状态下英语口语学习效能研究
学 院： 语 言 文 学 学 院
专业班级： 2006级英语063班
姓 名： 杨 跃 琴
学 号： 106092074
指导教师： 楼 青
完成日期： 2010年 6 月
A STUDY ON PERCEIVED ACADEMIC EFFICACY OF ORAL ENGLISH IN WEB-BASED AUTONOMOUS LEARNING
BY
YANG YUEQIN
REGISTERED NO. 106092074
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY OF
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
JUNE, 2010
摘 要
学习效能感作为学生学习能力的一种衡量标准，越来越受到国内外学者的关注。学习效能受到学习策略、学习动机等诸多因素的影响。目前，社会各界对人才的英语口语能力提出了更高的要求，因此如何提高英语口语的学习效能也就成了当务之急。本文将结合调查问卷对浙江科技学院非英语专业学生展开调查，分析其在网络自主学习状态下英语口语的学习效能状况以及产生这种状况的原因，最后为网络自主学习者提高英语口语学习效能提出一些建议。
关键词：网络；自主学习；英语口语；学习效能
ABSTRACT
Perceived academic efficacy, as a standard to measure students’ learning ability, has drawn more and more attentions by scholars both at home and abroad. It is acknowledged that perceived academic efficacy is affected by many factors such as learning strategies, learning motivations, etc. At present, higher requirement is put forward to oral English learners by the society. Therefore, the issue that how to improve the perceived academic efficacy of oral English becomes a top priority. Meanwhile, web-based autonomous learning is popular with the public especially among undergraduates. The paper will survey the undergraduates who are in non-English majors of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology with questionnaires to have a general idea about the level of their perceived academic efficacy of oral English in web-based autonomous learning and then to analyze the reason why they are in that level. At last, the paper tries to give some advice for those autonomous learners who are attempting to improve their perceived academic efficacy of oral English on the Internet.
Key words：Internet; autonomous learning; oral English; perceived academic efficacy
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. A literature review of perceived academic efficacy 3
2.1 Researches on perceived academic efficacy at home 3
2.1.1 Definition of perceived academic efficacy 3
2.1.2 Mesurement of perceived academic efficacy 3
2.2 Researches on perceived academic efficacy abroad 4
2.2.1 Definition of perceived academic efficacy 4
2.2.2 Mesurement of perceived academic efficacy 4
3. Researches on oral English learning 5
3.1 Learning strategies of oral English 5
3.1.1 Learning strategies of oral English at home 5
3.1.2 Learning strategies of oral English abroad 6
3.2 Motivation of oral English learning 7
3.2.1 Learning motivation of oral English at home 7
3.2.2 Learning motivation of oral English abroad 7
3.3 Researches on web-based oral English autonomous learning 8
4. Investigation and research 10
4.1 Questionnaire design 10
4.1.1 Respondent and purpose 10
4.1.2 Instrument 10
4.2 Result and interpretation 11
4.2.1 Collection 11
4.2.2 Analysis 11
5. Conclusion 20
Acknowledgements 22
References 23
Appendix 25
1．Introduction
In 1977，Albert Bandura proposed the concept of self-efficacy 146-161.
However, there is only a small group of researchers who have studied the perceived academic efficacy of oral English, especially for those learners who try to improve their perceived academic efficacy of oral English and consider the Internet as a tool for autonomous learning. The traditional learning mode that many students want to grasp as much as possible oral techniques in class
prevents the students from gaining a comprehensive view of oral English learning, because the time of in-class learning is limited. Therefore, more and more educators advocate the way of autonomous learning which now has been a favorable way of learning in college. At the same time, the Internet provides learners huge information as well as convenience, so autonomous learning of oral English combined with the Internet becomes popular among college students. However, how about the perceived academic efficacy of oral English during their autonomous learning combined with the Internet is still a question for both teachers and students, and is there some better ways to improve the perceived academic efficacy during the autonomous learning combined with the Internet?
This paper will explore the perceived academic efficacy of oral English in web-based autonomous learning and its influential factors, especially for non-English majors’ students in colleges, and try to find some possible ways to improve the perceived academic efficacy for those oral English learners when they are in web-based autonomous learning
2. A literature review of perceived academic efficacy
The concept of perceived academic efficacy is derived from the self-efficacy when it is applied in students’ learning ability, and there are a lot of experts who are specialized in education, psychology or any other related fields trying to figure out the importance and ways of improvement of perceived academic efficacy both at home and abroad.
2.1 Researches on perceived academic efficacy at home
With the educational reform, domestic scholars have paid more and more attention to do researches on perceived academic efficacy, such as Bian Yufang, Ji Yanhong, Wang Kairong, Xin Tao, Li Qiong, Wang Zhenhong, Liu Ping, Gao Shenchun, Guo Zhanji, He Xianyou, Zhou Yong, Dong Qi.
2.1.1 Definition of perceived academic efficacy
Efficacy is the capacity to produce an effect. It is used to mean different specific things in different fields .
2.1.2 Measurement of perceived academic efficacy
On one hand, domestic scholars in many cases take GSES (General Perceived Self-efficacy Scale), questionnaire made from relevant authoritative measuring scales, or self-made measuring scales as the tool of measurement during their researches. On the other hand, home scholars prefer analysis of empirical research on perceived academic efficacy and they are likely to do research on primary students, middle school students and high school students. However, with the prevailing of the Internet which is an important tool in CAI (Computer Aided Instruction) and the proved advantages of autonomous learning, more attention has been paid to college students.
However, the above measurement of perceived academic efficacy is generally lack of the process of confirmatory factor analysis scientifically and fails to get understood the validity and reliability; domestic measurement is scarcely adopted by the intervention in perceived academic efficacy [7]34.
2.2 Researches on perceived academic efficacy abroad
Since Bandura gave further study on self-efficacy which influences people’s behavior in different ways [8]122-147, many foreign experts have concentrated on the related research, like the influence of self-efficacy on the choice-making, effort people make in an activity, the perseverance and resilience people show when they confronted with adversity, the goal setting, the anxiety and stress people feel, etc.
2.2.1 Definition of perceived academic efficacy
Perceived academic efficacy is defined as a student’s belief that he or she can successfully engage in and complete course-specific academic tasks, such as accomplishing course outcomes, demonstrating competency skills used in the course, satisfactorily completing assignments, passing the course, and meeting the requirements to continue on in his or her major[9]1-25.
2.2.2 Measurement of perceived academic efficacy
Since the concept of Self-efficacy was raised by Bandura, the generalization of the concept has become common phenomenon in various fields. Meanwhile, with the availability of science and technology, numerous methods of measurement have been conducted to measure the perceived academic efficacy, like the meta-analysis of self-efficacy study, congruence of measurement specificity, the utility of questioning.
3. Researches on oral English learning
As is acknowledged, there are four skills in English learning: speaking, listening, reading and writing. In the current English learning experience, oral English become
s a critical skill for English learners with the development of international exchanges since speaking is the most direct and efficient way to communicate. Since proficiency is the evidence showing to what degree the speaker is, a lot of scholars give emphasis on the researches on oral English learning. They have been focus on the learning strategies, learning motivations, learning aid tools, etc. However, the researches on different fields of oral English learning share the same purpose: how to learn oral English efficiently and how to improve the learning ability.
3.1 Learning strategies of oral English
Oral English, as the most frequently-used language to communicate with people from both English speaking countries and non-English speaking countries now, has become a must for people who live in modern times. In most significant events, English always acts as the communicative tool. After stepping into a new era, learning English turns into a big issue all around the world. Learning strategies of oral English，as a vital part of oral English researches, has attracted more and more experts’ attention.
Researches suggests that learning strategies are determined by the students themselves, and it interferes with learning process, improves cognitive function, regulates learning method, and directly or indirectly affects learners’ degree of creative learning. Therefore, grasping the learning strategy is a process that unites the self-monitoring, enthusiasm and creativity. As a result, the researches on learning strategies of oral English become popular at home and abroad.
3.1.1 Learning strategies of oral English at home
Domestic researches of oral English learning strategies have been done on the following aspects, such as how to cultivate the learners’ oral communicative competence with the help of CLT(College Language Teaching), how to improve the students’ communicative competence, how to enrich oral English leaning strategies. The findings in these studies suggest that some instructional procedures should be employed to facilitate the successful communication among students as well as foreigners. The survey also indicates that CLT is probably the main trend which dominates oral English learning today. Students either pay more attention to the meanings conveyed or ignore the linguistic forms, or vice versa, which hinder their development of communicative competence [10]22.
On the theoretical level, home scholars who explore the relation between learning strategies and improvement of oral English are likely to do researches to combine the meta-cognition theory. For example, Wen Qiufang110-126 think that self-regulation of the learners is the main factor that influences the learning quality and effects of senior students.
3.1.2 Learning strategies of oral English abroad
Learning strategy which was gradually established in 1956 by Jeromo S. Bruner plays an important role in oral English learning. But the definition of learning strategy by Jeromo S. Bruner only focuses on the teaching of knowledge. Up to now, there is not yet a uniform definition of learning strategy. It is a psychological adjustment of learning methods and activities referring to different situations in effective. It involves all activities that have an influence on perceived efficacy and quality.
According to statistics by the world-famous linguists, W.M. Rivers, M.S. Temperley [14]142, 45% of communication is carried out through listening, 30% through speaking, 16% through reading, 9% through writing. It can be clearly seen that communication through listening and speaking is the basic behavior by human beings. Foreign experts never stop seeking for new effective ways of learning oral English, for example, the Second Language Acquisition, the Self-efficacy theory.
SLA (Second Language Acquisition) is a strategic system consisting of 6 parts; they are meta-cognitive strategy, affective strategy, social strategy, memorial strategy, cognitive strategy and compensation strategy [15]234.
Cohan classified strategies into language learning strategies and language use strategies according to the purpose of
applying strategies [16]89-113. He thinks that language learning strategies include strategies for identifying the material that is needed to be learned, distinguishing it from other material, grouping it for easier study material, having repeated contact with the material, and formally committing the materials to memory when it does not seem to be acquired naturally.
3.2 Motivation of oral English learning
The acquisition of a language involves a lot of factors, one of which is the learner himself. The factor of learner himself is the most direct and important one among those factors in the process of language acquisition. Therefore, more and more scholars have concentrated on the researches of individual factors in oral English learning, especially on the researches of the learners’ motivation of oral English.
3.2.1 Learning motivation of oral English at home
Up to now, home scholars have paid attention to the researches on learning motivation of oral English, but few of them make contributions to the further development of researches of learning motivation. For example, Wen Qiufang does research on the internal structure of college students’ oral English learning; Hao Ruoping, Li Shujing, Gao Yihong, Qian Min, study the relation between learning motivation and other factors. At the same time, people in China have a high level of enthusiasm in learning oral English because of the Beijing Olympic Games, 2008 and Shanghai Exposition, 2010.
3.2.1 Learning motivation of oral English abroad
Foreign scholars construct the different oral English learning motivation modes in theories. The two pioneers Gardner and Lambert are the first to focus on the research on learning motivation. They also categorize the learning motivation into two parts: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation. The former one shows the interest in people and culture of the target language and hopes to become the member of the community of the target language; while the latter one is to fulfill the requirement in the coming days, such as employment, promotion, etc 132-141 give a further research on integrative motivation and instrumental motivation that are proposed by Gardner and Lambert. They give the definition of motivation which refers to a cognitive and emotional power that prompts people to make a conscious decision to act and to maintain considerable efforts to achieve the desired objectives. And Dornyei puts forward the cognitive and social constructivism motive mode on the basis of three dimensions, they are underlying language, learner and learning situation.
3.3 Researches on web-based oral English autonomous learning
With the instruction of the Internet in the 1990s, many researchers focus their study on web-based autonomous learning. In the literature, web-based oral English learning has been often referred to as internet-based study by Onay in 1999, online study by Dringus and Terrell in 1999, online study by Clark in 2001, web study by Chang in 1999, virtual study by Dillenbourg in 2000 and Internet study by Beyth-Marom in 2003, digital study by Smith in 2004, but only a few of them give a clear description of what it is.
In order to support effective web-based learning, a learning environment based on Internet needs to include various resources, support collaboration, provide group study, implement internet-based activities as part of the study framework and support for both novices and experts [19]23. For example, computer set, the Internet, learning software are the basic equipment of web-based autonomous learning.
Web-based learning should have potential to create a wealth of online and distance learning activities to learners which is not readily available in textbooks and faculty lectures .So, in its broad sense, web-based learning can be described as the delivery of and access to a coordinated collection of study materials over an electronic medium using an internet server to deliver the materials, an internet browser to access them, and the TCP/IP and HTTP protocols to mediate the exchange [20]171-183.
Autonomous learning is a concept of Pedagogic Psychology, and it was first brought into foreign language teaching by Holec in 1981. In the following decades, it has drawn extensive attention of the world. Foreign experts like Holec, Dickinson, Dam, Hurd and Lewis carried out the omni-directional research and achieved great success on the subject of autonomous learning of the definition and the ability of autonomous learning foreign language and the theoretical basis for implementing strategies to courses and practical results. In our country, the research of autonomous learning started in 1990s and then some theories was introduced in home educational field.
And after autonomous learning of oral English becomes popular in domestic teaching and learning field, more experts have concentrated on the competence of autonomous learning of oral En
glish [21], the learners’ meta-cognition of autonomous learning of oral English on the Internet [22], and the current situation of oral English learning in college [23]64-66.
According to previous researches, learning oral English online has two kinds of characteristics: 1) learners are confronted with a variety of Internet resources directly with less pressure of being monitored by teachers than that in class and under such environment, learners not only need to possess the capability of self-monitor and autonomy in addition to some basic computer skills and knowledge but also have to be able to choose properly what to learn, and adjust their study speed according to their own knowledge structure; 2) the study material of internet is quite different from the textbooks used in class. Learners need to select and edit the relevant materials by themselves. The study under internet environment requires higher autonomous and initiative abilities of learners [24]5.
4. Investigation and research
Since perceived academic efficacy has profound influence on English learning, it is important to identify how students perform and to what degree students are during oral English learning. The major advantage of the questionnaire is that it can be conducted as a large-scale survey, involving large groups of learners, which is essential for gathering sufficient and reliable samples and statistics and answering research questions.
4.1 Questionnaire design
4.1.1 Respondents and purpose
There are 100 non-English major students aging from 20 to 23 from Zhejiang University of Science and Technology with average of 7 years of English learning experience in the investigation. And each of them is in science or engineering majors including Automatics, Industrial Engineering, Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Machinery Manufacturing, etc.
This investigation is to find out the level of these non-English major students’ perceived academic efficacy of oral English and why they are in such level. The first questionnaire is to know the perceived academic efficacy of oral English in the traditional in-class learning; the second questionnaire tries to explore the perceived academic efficacy of oral English in web-based autonomous learning.
The purposes of this study are: 1)to identify whether perceived academic efficacy of oral English in web-based autonomous learning is higher than that in traditional in-class learning; 2)to find out the influential factors affect the perceived academic efficacy of oral English in web-based autonomous learning; 3)and try to give some helpful suggestions to non-English major students to improve their efficacy of perceived academic efficacy in web-based autonomous learning.
4.1.2 Instrument
In order to have good understanding of students’ perceived academic efficacy, instruments are applied in the study, and they are questionnaires and statistical analysis which are used in the analysis of the questionnaire to have a general idea about the percentage of each item, and to summarise the present situation of perceived academic efficacy of oral English in web-based autonomous learning. Correlation analysis is also adopted to analyze the correlations between two continuous variances, such as perceived academic efficacy and oral English performance in this study.
4.2 Result and interpretation
4.2.1 Collection
There are 100 questionnaires in all and the number of total collection is 95, so the rate of collection is 95%.
4.2.2 Analysis
Data collected from the questionnaire will be showed in this part, which is divided into three parts according to the structure of questionnaire: figures in background information, data showed in perceived academic efficacy of oral English in web-based autonomous learning and data presented in perceived academic efficacy of oral English in traditional learning and teaching surroundings.
Part I: background information
The ages of the students are from 20 to 23. There are 27 students who are in 20, 32 students in 21, 23 students in 22, and 13 students in 23.
There are 56 male students accepting the investigation, and 39 females in all.
The distribution of majors shows in table 1
Major Automatics Industrial Engineering Urban Planning Civil Engineering Machinery Manufacturing
Amount 23 26 20 19 7
Table 1
Part II: Data in perceived academic efficacy of web-based oral English autonomous learning (See Appendix I)
While the most significant figure is demonstrated in the following tables:
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 1 15% 27% 36% 22%
Table 2
For the first question “If I try my best, I could solve the problem in oral English learning”, 58％of them agree and totally agree, while 15％disagree and totally disagree . This indicates that most of the students think they are capable of learning oral English, and if they make efforts to do it, they will certainly succeed. However, there sti
ll 27% students who don’t look on themselves objectively. They think although they make efforts, they are incapable of learning it, which shows low perceived academic efficacy in oral English learning. But as the data shows that most students are confident in themselves when they spend time and energy in oral English learning, because they believe that no pains, no gains.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 2 18% 28% 31% 23%
Table 3
The second question “Although someone is against me, I will find another way to achieve my goal in oral English learning” This question is to testify one’s willpower. 23% of the students totally agree with it while 18% totally not. This gives the evidence that those who have more willpower to resist the pressure from outside. And for those who are not agreeing, they give the implication that when they meets objection from outside, their confidence and willpower will decrease.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 3 31% 27% 31% 11%
Table 4
The third question “Insisting on my belief and achieving a goal in oral English learning is easy for me”, more than half of the participants disagree, this question shows that many students have lower confidence in themselves when learning oral English, which is an important reason that why they have lower perceived academic efficacy.
Question No.1, No2 and No.3 give some evidence that possessing a proper motivation during the process of oral English learning has profound function in the learning process of oral English.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 4 11% 31% 35% 23%
Table 5
The fourth question “I am self-confident in myself that I can deal with something happening in oral English learning within expectation” tests one’s belief in him as being capable and flexible. Those who agree account more than disagree. The result shows that the different attitude to certain circumstance which is an indispensable part in perceived academic efficacy.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 5 23% 25% 32% 20%
Table 6
The fifth question tests one’s ability when he faces up with unexpected problems in oral English learning. According to the data, about 20% of the students think this is totally identical with their condition, and 23% think this is not identical with their condition. And more than half students think they are not absolutely agree with the condition because they have the notion that it depends on what situation they are facing up with. When something happens unexpectedly in learning process of oral English, the ability to meet an emergency can mirror one’s confidence in him, which can also be treated as a mark of perceived academic efficacy.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 6 20% 23% 35% 22%
Table 7
The sixth question is made to testify student’s ability to solve problems when he makes necessary effort in oral English leaning. It can be concluded that most students think they can deal with the problem with necessary effort.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 7 20% 24% 36% 20%
Table 8
The seventh question is to testify one’s psychology when one meets some difficulties in oral English learning. From the data above, it shows that only one fifth students disagree totally, which implies that most of the students hold a relatively high perceived academic efficacy and confidence in their ability to deal with difficulty when they are learning oral English.
The above questions are related to the meta-cognitive learning strategy, and show the students’ attitudes to the oral English learning are generally good.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 8 20% 16% 36% 28%
Table 9
The eighth question is designed to test one’s intelligence when he faces up with problems in oral English learning. The data presents that 20% of the students fail to think new ways to solve the problem in oral English learning, and 16% are partly certain. It means that most of the students are confident in themselves in finding out different ways to solve the problem. The students with high perceived academic efficacy are more than the students who possess low self-efficacy.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 9 21% 20% 35% 24%
Table 10
The ninth question tests students’ ability to deal with frequently emerged trouble in oral English learning. The data shows that there are more students who think that they are able to think out ways to deal with those frequently emerged problems in oral English learning with a high percentage of 59％ including “basically yes” and “absolutely yes”. This implies high perceived academic efficacy in dealing with oral English learning problems.
Question
Choice
Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 10 33% 29% 28% 10%
Table 11
The tenth question is made to test the strong confidence in one’s ability in dealing with problems of oral English learning. By analyzing the data, it can be conclude that more than half of the students don’t think they are capable of dealing with the problems emerging in the process of oral English learning, and only 10% are totally agree. Thus, people with high perceived academic efficacy are less than people with low perceived academic efficacy if they meet the complicated problems when they are learning oral English.
The above questions from question No.4 to No.10 are related to the meta-cognitive learning strategy, and show the students’ attitudes to the oral English learning are generally good.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 11 5% 16% 24% 55%
Table 12
The eleventh question shows that a large number of students which accounts for 79% believe and totally believe that the variety of the learning resources is helpful to improve their perceived academic efficacy when they learning oral English online.
Question
Choice Absolutely no Partly yes Basically yes Absolutely yes
Q 12 6% 12% 32% 50%
Table 13
From the result of question No.12, it can be concluded that the sense of anxiety of students decreases when they try to improve their oral English on the Internet. So learning oral English online makes contribution to improving the perceived academic efficacy for students when they are under the state of autonomous learning.
Part III: Data in perceived academic efficacy of traditional oral English autonomous learning (See Appendix II)
Question
Choice A B C D
Q 1 18% 53% 20% 9%
Q 2 12% 34% 42% 16%
Table 14
Question No.1 and No.2 try to have an idea of the time of the non-English major students spend on oral English autonomous learning. As the data shows most students spend only about 3 hours a week in learning oral English with traditional autonomous learning mode while 9% never spend time on it. When it comes to the learning interest and confidence of oral English learning students who chose B&C most are apt to give the hint that they have the confidence and interests but the desire is in a moderate level. Reasons will be showed in the following analysis.
Question
Choice A B C D
Q 3 19% 33% 44% 4%
Table 15
As table 15 shows only 4% non-English majors students don’t know the autonomous learning room in Building A3, most students have been there. But as data indicates, 33% students go there with the purpose of finishing tasks; this gives the proof that those students are lack of a proper motivation of oral English learning in traditional learning mode, which will definitely decrease the perceived academic efficacy. There 44% students scarcely go autonomous learning room, the reason might be similar to those 33%. Therefore, the lack of appropriate learning motivation has an bad influence on perceived academic efficacy.
Question
Choice A B C D
Q 4 63% 19% 5% 13%
Table 16
The result of question No.4 give a powerful evidence that more than half of those non-English major students are likely to choose Internet as a learning media during autonomous learning. Only 5% students like the in-class learning mode. The explanation to the result may be that students can have a relatively relaxing and flexible environment; their learning motivation may be directed by their interests and individual preference, because students in these ages are curious about new things and they are eagerly to grasp advanced skills even though their primitive learning motivation man not be so strong.
Question
Choice A B C D
Q 5 6% 19% 63% 12%
Q6 3% 13% 47% 37%
Table 17
Question No.5 focus on the emotion and feeling in traditional autonomous learning of oral English compared with this in web-based environment. And question No.6 explains the reason why those students are in such moods. As the result of No.5 shows that 63% students feel some nervous in traditional learning mode, 12% feel very nervous and anxious, and only one fourth students are passionate and active in the traditional autonomous learning process. The result of No.6 gives the evidence to support No.5. The sense of anxiety and being nervous prevents the students’ perceived academic efficacy from stimulating the learning motivation and applying the learning strategies, and the stressful traditional autonomous learning environments also do harm to the function of those students’ perceived academic efficacy. Therefore, it can be concluded that a relatively relaxing environment can promote a proper learning motivation and learning effect and web-based autonomous learning of oral English is a favourable autonomous learning mode compared to traditional learning environment, and the perceived academic efficacy of oral English are higher in web-based autonomous learning compared with traditional mode.
Question
Choice A B C D
Q 7 4% 14% 59% 23%
Q
8 31% 54% 15% 0%
Table 18
Question No.7 shows that 59% students think they have some improvement of oral English in traditional autonomous learning mode to an extent, however, students’ confidence is not high can be seen in the degree of the improvement, and there are still 23% students think they are still in the same level, which indicates the perceived academic efficacy in traditional autonomous learning mode is lower than that in web-based mode.
Question No.8 summarizes the possible reasons why it is so difficult to have a good knowledge of oral English, which may provide reference to students and teachers.
Oral English ability and its research have developed and been improved quickly together with the increasingly pace of modern foreign language learning methods. With the globalization, English is greatly demanded in many occasions, especially oral English. Many international companies and groups put forward new requirement to their employees in English ability.
Compared data from table 12 and table 13 with table 17, it can be seen that the Internet plays as an important role in improving of the perceived academic efficacy of oral English. Because the students believe that the decrease of sense of anxiety and the diversity of information promote their perceived academic efficacy of oral English. They feel easy and relaxed in web-based autonomous learning and their interest of learning oral English is reinforced by the huge information sources provided by the Internet.
Compared data from table 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 with table 18, it gives the evidence that learning motivation functions significantly in improvement of perceived academic efficacy of oral English and in web-based mode students are more eagerly to learn oral English because their confidence, self-belief, and efforts are enhanced, they are more confident and enthusiastic during the process of learning oral English. Compared table 7, 9, 10 and 11 with table 18, it can be concluded that learning strategies are vital parts of learning process and influence the perceived academic efficacy of oral English in various ways, because a proper learning strategy not only helps learner grasp the skill but also improve the efficacy of the learning process. In web-based autonomous leaning mode, learners are more flexible to choose learning strategy and they use it consciously or unconsciously, thus their perceived academic efficacy is improved.
To summarize the information from the above analysis of the first questionnaire and the second one, it can be concluded that most non-English majors’ students hold a relatively higher perceived academic efficacy in oral English learning when they are in web-based autonomous learning of oral English compared with traditional learning, because the confidence and self-belief of the students under such a relatively relaxing environment increases. And the Internet provides students with diversified information resources, so the interest of learning oral English is stimulated, and sense of anxiety and being nervous decrease, therefore, it is proved that perceived academic efficacy of oral English learning for non-English major students can be improved if they have a relaxing environment (online learning) and aids of appropriate learning strategies, motivations, etc.
5．Conclusion
According to the overall study, the result shows that some non-English major students’ perceived academic efficacy in autonomous learning of oral English on the Internet is relatively higher when it is compared with traditional autonomous learning, and most of them have average confidence and interest in autonomous learning on the Internet. Thus, with the cooperation of all sides, the improvement of perceived academic efficacy of oral English can not be a headache for those non-English major students; on the contrary, it may generate a new rush for science-majored students to learn oral English on the Internet.
But everything has two sides, the validity and accuracy of the questionnaires is often affected by the way of conducting and understanding of learners. Therefore, the approach used in this study is to collect the questionnaire data and information from non-English major college students in their oral English learning.
However, there are some problems and limitations existing in the investigation:
1) The perceived academic efficacy of web-based oral English learning can be affected by many complicated factors, but the design of the questionnaire could not be comprehensive. It is just an exploratory study which is intended to have a general idea about the perceived academic efficacy of non-English major students’ oral English when they are learning on the Internet.
2) The coverage of the amount, majors and personal background information of the students is not comprehensive, so the result could not cover all the difference of perceived academic efficacy of oral English learning for those non-E
nglish major students;
3) The analysis of the result depends much on the Excel tool rather than scientific and accurate social statistics tools, so mistakes might be inevitable.
Though limitations exist in the investigation, the significance and value of this investigation is worth of recognition. It might give some positive suggestions for the future oral English learning, and help students to have a proper learning motivation and learning strategy for their coming days.
Therefore, for those non-English major students, they should try to stimulate their confidence and interest in improving their oral English efficacy with the assistance of the Internet, i.e. those students can attempt to enhance their self-control and self-belief; and at the same time, they could learn from those who have high perceived academic efficacy to grasp new learning strategies and try to mediate their own activities by proper motivations. For teachers, they’d better create more opportunities for non-English major students to get well know about foreign culture and try to cultivate students’ interests and sense of achievement in autonomous learning of oral English; for schools, they should provide more resources in autonomous learning of oral English, such as network education, and school also should build up a complete psychological consultation to have a better understanding of non-English major students’ psychological activities during the process of web-based autonomous learning of oral English.
Acknowledgements
My initial thanks go to my supervisor Lou Qin, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.
I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are Zhu Liuzhu, Feng Lingying, and many others.
My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.
The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.
References
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网络英语口语学习效能调查问卷
年级 专业 性别
请仔细阅读下面的一些描述，每个描述后有四个选项，请根据真实情况，在最符合您情况的一项上打“√”。
全 部 基 完
不 分 本 全
是 是 是 是
1. 如果我尽力去做，我总是能够解决英语口语学习中的问题 □ □ □ □
2. 即使有人反对，我仍有办法实现我所要的英语口语学习目标 □ □ □ □
3. 对我来说，坚持英语口语学习信念和达成目标是轻而易举的 □ □ □ □
4. 我自信能有效地应付任何预料中的英语口语学习的事情 □ □ □ □
5. 以我的才智，我能应付意料之外的英语口语学习情况 □ □ □ □
6. 如果付出必要努力，我定能解决大多数的英语口语学习难题 □ □ □ □
7. 我能冷静面对英语口语学习困难，我信赖自己处理问题能力 □ □ □ □
8. 面对一个英语口语学习难题时，我通常能找到多个解决方法 □ □ □ □
9. 有英语口语学习困难时，我通常能想到一些应付的方法 □ □ □ □
10. 无论什么学习问题在我身上发生，我都能够应付自如 □ □ □ □
11. 网络环境下学习资源的多样性有助于口语学习效能的提高 □ □ □ □
12. 网络自主学习环境下口语学习的焦虑感大大降低 □ □ □ □
Appendix I
Appendix II
传统自主学习状态下英语口语学习效能调查
年级 专业 性别
1 在传统自主学习模式下，你每周进行多久的英语口语自主学习？
A. 七个小时以上 B.三个小时左右 C. 大概一个小时 D. 从不
2 为什么你愿意花以上的时间来进行英语口语的自主学习？
A．我很喜欢英语也渴望口语水平的提高 B. 我对英语口语学习有点兴趣
C. 我对英语口语的喜好一般 D. 我不喜欢学习英语口语
3 你是否在浙江科技学院A3的语音教室进行过以提高英语口语为目的的自主学习？
A. 经常去 B.很少去，即使去也是为了完成作业
C. 基本不去 D. 我不知道有这回事
4 以下的学习环境，你更喜欢那种来进行英语口语自主学习？
A. 网络自主学习模式 B. 自主学习教室模式
C．课堂模式 D. 培训班模式
5 和网络自主学习相比较，你在传统的自主学习模式下学习英语口语的情绪？
A. 热情高涨 B. 比较兴奋 C. 有点紧张 D. 十分紧张、焦虑
6 你认为你有以上情绪的原因是什么？
A. 我对英语口语学习非常有兴趣同时对自己非常有信心
B. 我比较喜欢英语口语学习同时对自己有一定的信心
C. 我对英语口语学习有点兴趣但是我感到有压力
D. 我对英语口语学习没什么兴趣而且学习环境让我紧张
7 通过传统自主学习，你认为你的英语口语水平是否提高了？
A. 大大提高了 B. 提高了 C. 有些提高 D. 没有提高，和原来一样
8．你认为阻碍你口语提高的最大的瓶颈是什么？
A. 语速太快，听不懂在讲什么
B. 文化差异，俚语、俗语等太多，不会用
C. 完全依靠个人能动性，出现错误没人纠正，无法实现因材施教
D. 其他 （具体说明）
诚 信 承 诺
我谨在此承诺：本人所写的毕业论文《网络自主学习状态下英语口语学习效能研究》均系本人独立完成，没有抄袭行为，凡涉及其他作者的观点和材料，均作了注释，若有不实，后果由本人承担。
承诺人（签名）：
2010 年 06 月 20 日
