A Comparative Study Of The Use Of Learning Strategies By Non-English Majors Before And During The College English Pedagogical Reform

LLSs (Language Learning Strategies) is becoming a heated topic in English teaching and learning and people are beginning to see the importance of using LLSs. Studies of successful and unsuccessful learners show that people who succeed in learning have developed a range of strategies from which they are able to select those that are most appropriate for a particular problem, to adapt them flexibly for the needs of the specific situation, and to monitor their level of success.This study was undertaken to investigate the overall use of English learning strategies by non-English majors before and during (one year after) the College English pedagogical reform in Yangzhou University. The research questions to be addressed in the study are the following:1.What is the overall use of English learning strategies by non-English majors before and during (one year after) the College English pedagogical reform?2.What are the similarities and differences in their use of English learning strategies between the two situations?3.For what reasons do they choose English learning strategies in such similar and different ways in the two situations?The study, with cognitive psychology and humanism as its theoretical framework, was conducted both quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative design includes two surveys with the same questionnaire, and the qualitative design is an interview. The quantitative study involved 115 students of four different classes from School of Chinese Literature and School of Chemistry in Yangzhou University, of which 106 questionnaires were valid. And the qualitative study randomly sampled 15 interviewees out of the 106 students.The major findings of the present study are as follows:1.Before the College English reform, the sequence of their choice of LLSs is Metacognitive Strategy, Compensation Strategy, Affective Strategy, Memory strategy, Social Strategy and Cognitive Strategy, among which Social Strategy and Cognitive Strategy are at the low level. During the reform (one year after the reform), the sequence is Compensation Strategy, Metacognitive Strategy, Cognitive Strategy, Affective Strategy, Memory Strategy and Social Strategy, of which Compensation Strategy is at the high level.2.The comparison shows that the overall uses of LLSs by non-English majors before and during the reform (one year after) are both at the medium level. However, differences exist in terms of specific choices of LLSs: during the reform all the strategies change into higher or a little bit higher positions. The most conspicuous is the Compensation Strategy, which changes from No. 2 to No. 1 in ranking, with its mean significantly changed from the medium level to the high level. By contrast, the Memory, Metacognitive and Affective strategies, which are supposed to have changed significantly, remain almost unchanged.3.In spite of the improvement of classroom instruction patterns, not enough guidance has been provided to the students about their choice of English learning strategies. Furthermore, the reform still needs to do more to arouse students'interest in English learning or to improve their intrinsic motivation; the two factors, to a considerable extent, justify students'failure to adapt their learning strategies to the changing learning environments.4.The examination-oriented system still has a strong effect on students'choice of learning strategies in the College English reform; as a result, students show greater preference for the Compensation Strategy, especially guessing. Besides, some students are found to be only satisfied with passing examinations and reluctant to do more about the improvement of the target language. This partly explains the unchanged frequency use of other strategies.The results of the present study also have strong pedagogical implications. First, timely and suitable guidance about the appropriate choice of English learning strategies should be provided to the students through any possible means so as to increase their awareness and really improve their autonomous learning in College English reform.Second, how to arouse students'interest in English learning or to increase their intrinsic motivation is of great importance in the College English reform. Efforts are expected to be made about how to combine the improvement of the English learning motivation with the development of strategy use awareness.Third, the existing evaluation system should be further improved so that the students could reduce their anxiety and reasonably choose their strategies according to the needs of the situations.