learned, they willcheck it, they will, maybe it will haveinfluence on them, but they,
um, they willmake sure whether it is right or not. (78 words)
Observation
Thefifth characteristic regards how active and passive learners ask questions. Both
of the participants got the point that passive learners accept everything as truth
without questioning. But when it comes to active learners, the meaning construction
varies: Gao’s interpretation is active learners will“jump to thedifferent conclusion”
if the new information fails tofit in with what they already know while Wang’s
protocol shows she met some problem in understanding this clause. Finally, Wang
elaborated on the last clause in her own way as“it will haveinfluence on them, but
they, um, they willmake sure whether it is right or not”. Though Wang’s inter-
pretation is somewhat related, her paraphrase is not that close in meaning to the
original as Gao’s.
7.4.7 The Sixth Characteristic of Being an Active Learner
High Achiever
Gao:Active learners willaccept the responsibility of studyfrom the within and
negative,passive learners are alwaysblame on others like, like the poor motiva-
tion...Active learners accept the responsibilities. When active learnersdidn’tdo
well, they willseek the reason why theyfail this time and willevaluate their
behavior next time.Passive learners always approachthe same manner todifferent
course. And when they performpoor, they willblame the professors. Only those
who count on themselves will be an active learner. (84 words)
Low Achiever
Wang: The last characteristic is the mostfundamental one.Active learners will,
they know that learning should be...yes, the last one is responsibility and the active
learners know that this learning is,the responsibility of learningshould from within,
butpassive learners willblame others, they need other motivation, they will blame
others for, fortime management or what? When active learnersdidn’t perform well.
They willevaluate what they have done and they willchange next time. But the
passive learners will do all thingsin one way. And...If they don’t perform well in a
course, they willblame their professors or what? I don’t remember the last sentence.
(109 words)
Observation
The last characteristic of active learning is that active learners accept the respon-
sibility for learning from within while passive learners always blame on others if
their performance is not good enough. Both of the participants retold most of the
key propositions in this episode. The two retelling protocols for this specific part
remain similar in terms of quantity and quality.
7.4 Comparison Between a High-Achiever... 125