Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Research
Every year a great number of students are admitted to universities and colleges andmany of them choose English as their major. It has been found that English majors in theirfirst term often counter with problems and difficulties in their learning.Students are deeply affected by the English teaching in high schools, which is oftenteacher-centered. It is difficult for high school students to get rid of the exam-orientededucation due to the influence of the national college entrance examinations. Meanwhile,learning at colleges which focuses on fostering students' autonomous learning abilities isdifferent from what they used to do in high schools. No convergence between the twodifferent teaching system give rise to the learning situations in which the freshmen ofEnglish major may face psychological and learning confusion at the beginning of theirlearning in colleges. So the traditional teaching and the students' learning experiences inhigh schools have a deep effect on them so that they found it hard to make timely andappropriate changes in their learning concepts and to adapt to university teachingmethodology. Besides, English is just one of the subjects or courses in high schools while for theEnglish majors at colleges, it is divided into various courses such as Fundamental English，English Listening, English Reading, Oral English, and English Phonetics etc. Differentfrom the English course in high schools, these courses at colleges focus on different aspectsof training. The freshmen majoring in English feel puzzled and confused because theydon't have a clear understanding of the courses and of how to leam these courses asEnglish majors.
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1.2 Significance and Purpose of the Study
In recent years, the education system in China is shifting from exam-orientededucation to holistic education; the teaching methodology is shifting fromteacher-centeredness to leamer-centeredness. Teachers and educators come to realize thekey role that learners play in the learning process. Students have their own learning style,learning strategies，which are different in a wide variety of ways. What the teachers need todo is to help them deepen their understanding of the nature of language learning, and toacquire the knowledge and skills they need in order to pursue their learning goals in aself-directive manner. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the currentsituation of freshmen's learning in their first term in colleges and to establish a systematicway based on learner training to help students take more responsibilities for their ownleaning and be effective learners.The value of the present study is as follows:
1) To establish a systematic way that consists of learning guidance in class, a trainingcourse and office hour.
2) To help the freshmen leam how to learn so that they can be self-directive learners
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Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 The Relevant Studies on Learning Guidance
Different systems are set up in different countries for guidance of college students. Inthe United States of America, the term of “academic advising" is used for the guidance ofcollege students.Academic advising began during the colonial period in America when the facultyacted in place of parents. It was not until the late 1820s that Kenyon College in Ohiointroduced the first formal system of advising. While some form of advising had been usedfor many years, 1970 became a pivotal year for this practice, since findings of the CarnegieCommission on Higher Education recommended placing enhanced emphasis on advising asan important aspect of higher education.As a member of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), DavidCrockett is a national authority on enrollment management, student retention, and academicadvising, offering nearly 40 years of experience in higher education. He has conductednumerous national studies on effective recruitment, retention, and advising practices. DavidCrockett (1998) said that advising is a developmental process that assists students in theclarification of their life /career goals and in the development of educational plans for therealization of these goals. It is a decision-making process which assists students in realizingtheir maximum educational potential through communication and information exchangeswith an advisor; it is ongoing, multi-faceted, and the responsibility of both student andadvisor. The advisor serves as a facilitator of communication, a coordinator of learningexperiences through course and career planning and program progress review, and an agentof referral to other campus services as necessary (Crockett, 1998).
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2.2 The Studies on Learner Training
In order to help students with their language learning, scholars home and abroad doresearch on learning strategies and learning styles. Some other scholars suggest that atraining course should be opened for language learners who are expected to experimentwith strategies and decide for themselves which ones suit them best. In this course, learnersare taught how to learn and to be responsible for their own learning. Some scholars suggest that the word "training" is inappropriate and propose"education", "instruction" or "development" in its place. However，"learner training" is aterm that has been used widely.No matter what terms are used, the purpose of these studies is to help languagelearners leam in a more effective way. And now the learner-centered approach has givenway to the traditional teacher-centered approach in language teaching.A learner-centered approach differs from traditional approaches to teaching in that it isbased on an active involvement of learners in the development of their study program interms of goal-setting and choice of methodology. Participation in program developmentcalls for a great deal of reflection and personal investment for which not all languagelearners will be prepared.
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Chapter 3 Research Design......... 19
3.1 Research Questions........ 19
3.2 Subjects ........19
3.3 Instruments........ 19
3.4 Procedure........ 20
3.5 Data Analysis........ 28
Chapter 4 Results and Discussion........ 30
4.1 The Current Situation of English Learning ........30
4.2 The Effectiveness of the Learning Guidance........ 35
Chapter 5 Conclusion........42
5.1 Major Findings ........ 42
5.2 Pedagogical Implications........ 43
5.3 Limitations ........44
5.4 Suggestions for Further Research........ 45
Chapter 4 Results and Discussion
4.1 The Current Situation of English Learning of the Freshmen ofEnglish Major
The purpose of finding out the learning current situation of freshmen of English majoris to know exactly what difficulties the students are faced with and what the teachers cando with these difficulties in their guidance of the students. From the table, it can be seen that more than half of the students (20%-l-40%) leamEnglish because they are interested in the language. 36% (25%+11%) students showinterest in the English culture. A small number of students (7%) choose English as theirmajor just because their parents want them to. 64% (50%+14%) students learn Englishsimply because they want to find a good job after graduation. The proportion of studentswho believe English is a useful tool of communication in this world is up to 85%(39%+46%). 14% (7%+7%) students plan to go abroad for further study.Form the analysis, it can be seen that students have combination of integrativemotivation and instrumental motivation. More than half of the students show interest inEnglish while most of students are practical because they think that English is a useful tooland it can help them find a good job after graduation.
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Conclusion
This study is an exploration in an attenpt to discover the current leaning situation offreshmen of English major and to see whether the learning guidance based on learnertraining is effective in their adaptation to English learning. The analysis of the datacollected by means of two questionnaires and two interviews have brought the followingfindings. ?Firstly, according to the pre-questionnaire, we can see that freshmen of English majorare faced with some problems which prevent them from adapting to college life, especiallyto their English learning as a major. They are interested in English and have a strongmotivation, but they depend on teachers to tell them what to learn and how to learn. Someof the learning beliefs formed at high schools are not appropriate, which affect theirlearning as English majors. As for the learning strategies, they need to leam when to usethe most suitable strategies in a certain context. Many learning resources are available oncampus but freshmen ignore some of them such as listening to English on radio，learningfrom classmates and speaking English outside class. These problems make freshmenconfused and may stop them from becoming effective learners.
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Reference (omitted)