| Table of contents | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract | 第5-7页 |
| 中文摘要 | 第7-9页 |
| Chapter one Introduction | 第9-15页 |
| ·Research background | 第9-10页 |
| ·Contrasting views of the Asian students | 第10-11页 |
| ·Purpose and significance of the present study | 第11-13页 |
| ·The organization of the thesis | 第13-15页 |
| Chapter two Literature review and theoretical foundations | 第15-30页 |
| ·The origin of autonomous English learning in China | 第15-16页 |
| ·Definitions of autonomous learning and their classification | 第16-19页 |
| ·Relevant research on AL in ESL context | 第19-24页 |
| ·Main researches on AL abroad | 第19-22页 |
| ·Relevant researches and findings in China | 第22-24页 |
| ·Theoretical foundations | 第24-29页 |
| ·Humanism | 第24-26页 |
| ·Self-regulated learning | 第26-29页 |
| ·Research questions of the study | 第29-30页 |
| Chapter three Methodology | 第30-35页 |
| ·Subjects | 第30-31页 |
| ·Instruments | 第31-33页 |
| ·Questionnaire | 第31-33页 |
| ·Semi-structured interview | 第33页 |
| ·Data collection and analysis | 第33-35页 |
| Chapter four Results and discussions | 第35-48页 |
| ·Students’perceptions of their English teachers’responsibilities and their own | 第35-40页 |
| ·Students’perceptions of their decision-making abilities | 第40-43页 |
| ·Students’views of their motivation level | 第43-44页 |
| ·Learning activities outside and inside class | 第44-48页 |
| Chapter five Conclusions and implications | 第48-55页 |
| ·Summary of the findings in the study | 第48-49页 |
| ·Teaching implications | 第49-54页 |
| ·Raising learners’awareness | 第49-50页 |
| ·Setting up learners’self-confidence | 第50-51页 |
| ·Constructing learners’metacognitive knowledge | 第51-52页 |
| ·Changing the teachers’attitude and expanding teachers’roles | 第52-54页 |
| ·Limitations of the present study and suggestions for the future research | 第54-55页 |
| Bibliography | 第55-62页 |
| Apppendix | 第62-66页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第66页 |
