The Study On The Learning Strategies Employed By Chinese Learners In Different Social Environments

The study on the learning strategies of CSL and CFL learners is very important, especially in the situation nowadays that"more and more foreigners have a soaring enthusiasm for studying Chinese"all over the world.Through four quantitative and/or qualitative studies on the Chinese learning strategies used by foreign students, the thesis gets many valuable findings, which provide a reasonable basis to improve the methodology of teaching Chinese as a second/foreign language (TCSL/TCFL).On the other hand, the thesis gives a clear explanation of the differences between teaching Chinese as a second language (TCSL) and teaching Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL), between which teachers and researchers, in the academic field of teaching Chinese for foreigners, generally make no distinction at all. The author points out, TCSL and TCFL are quite different on the nature, as well as the approaches and strategies teachers and students adopted.Chapter 1 Introduction: Are We Really Focused on Students?In this chapter, the author discusses first the real meaning of"student-centered based"Chinese Teaching. Based on a survey of the status quo of the study of second language acquisition in China from three different aspects, the author points out that the research on Chinese learning strategies is a quite new and important area. Current research on this area only has a few achievements, but it is one of the most important research fields in SLA nowadays, and also the main research task in this thesis.Chapter 2 The Main Content of This ThesisThis chapter first introduces the definitions of second/foreign language learning strategies and the main topics in this research area, points out the problems and shortcomings existed in the study of Chinese learning strategies, and then the main research content of this thesis is displayed: (1) Research on the general tendency of Chinese learning strategies used by foreign learners.(2) An Analysis of learning strategies used by successful Chinese learners.(3) A Case study on Chinese learning strategies used by Italian learners in different social environments.(4) Comparative research on learning strategies for listening comprehension used by the effective and ineffective learners.Besides these, the discussion on the difference and similarity between TCSL and TCFL from the theoretical perspective is also a very important part of this thesis.Chapter 3 Research on the General Tendency of Chinese Learning Strategies Used by Foreign LearnersThis chapter focuses on a research of a large sample (553 participants). The aim is at probing into and discovering the tendency and characteristics of Chinese learning strategies used by foreign students in the target language setting (CSL). The findings of the research suggest that in the process of learning and acquiring Chinese, the learning strategies employed most frequently by foreign students are compensation strategies, followed by social strategies, metacognitive and cognitive strategies, affective strategies as the third, with memory strategies the least frequently used. The relationship between learning strategies and many factors is examined through the SPSS statistical analysis system. Some factors that affect the strategy choice and use of foreign students are found for the first time.Chapter 4 An Analysis of Learning Strategies Used by Successful Chinese LearnersIn the research, the author chooses several successful competitors in the second"International Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students"to compose a small sample for study. The structured questionnaire of reformed SILL, which originally proposed by L. Oxford is used to study the learning strategies that the successful Chinese learners employed. By comparing the strategies used by successful and average learners, the author finds out that the successful Chinese learners use cognitive, compensation and social strategies most frequently, followed by metacognitive strategies, with memory and affective strategies the least frequently used. The order is not the same as average learners. In the research, the author also refers to the relationships between sex and strategy use, as well as period of learning Chinese and strategy use.Chapter 5 The Influence of"Setting"Factor on the Chinese Learning and TeachingThis chapter discusses the differences between TCSL and TCFL and the influence of learning settings on Chinese learning. The author points out that TCFL and TCSL are quite different on the features and teaching principles, so are learning Chinese as a second language and learning Chinese as a foreign language. Facing to the great cause of International Promotion of Chinese Language Learning and the continuous development of Chinese language teaching worldwide, we should begin to pay more attention to the study on TCFL.Chapter 6 A Case Study on Chinese Learning Strategies Used by Italian Learners in Different Social Environments (â… )This chapter and the following one are an exploratory qualitative case study, which is identified as cultural anthropologic method. We mainly use interview (record and transcribe the interview), self-report, observation, questionnaire, etc. to discover the fact and reasons on how Chinese learning strategies are used by Italian learners, from which the author tries to know deeply and comprehensively the process of their acquiring and learning Chinese and to describe the trace of development of language proficiency. On the basis of raw materials, the author, regardless of very hard working, tries to find, induce and generalize the characteristics and principles of Chinese learning strategies used by Italian learners. The results of describing and analyzing really bring us much enlightenment and deep thoughts. This chapter first introduces the study plan, then pays more attention to the motivation of Italian learners of Chinese while exploring their strategies used in spoken and listening comprehension as well as the mode of thinking in Chinese learning and communication. By comparison, the author finds out that learners use quite different strategies in different settings and social environments, some of them are very characteristic.Chapter 7 A Case Study on Chinese Learning Strategies Used by Italian Learners in Different Social Environments (â…¡)In this chapter, the author continues to analyze the Chinese learning strategies that Italian students employed focusing on reading, writing and metacognitive strategies, and also finds some interesting results. The author finds out that students use different reading practice strategies in different settings when Chinese as a native language and as a foreign language. In the target language setting (Chinese as a second language), students trend to have much more"incidental reading activities". The students use many strategies to practice and memorize Chinese characters. The metacognitive strategies they used not only help them to manage their own learning process effectively, but also control their language performance and correct the errors in their speech promptly.Chapter 8 Listening Comprehension and the Acquisition of Chinese as a Second/Foreign LanguageIn this chapter, the author discusses the relationship between the listening comprehension and the second/foreign language acquisition from the cognitive perspective concerning"active"and"passive","repeating"and"reorganizing","bottom-up"and"top-down"and cognitive schema in listening comprehension. The author makes a suggestion to establish a new mode, which combines"bottom-up"strategy with"top-down"strategy in order to improve the traditional listening practice and training. Chapter 9 Comparative Research on Learning Strategies for Listening Comprehension Used by the Effective and Ineffective LearnersThis is a comparative research designed to investigate the learning strategies used by effective and ineffective CSL listeners. Based on the learning strategy questionnaire, it is found that the two groups have great differences on metacognitive, cognitive, and affective strategies on the process of listening comprehension. The effective listeners pay much more attention on the linguistic form as well as meaning, they use more strategies, and they are more active than the ineffective in listening activities. They get few suffering of difficulty in listening. Based on the results of comparison, we bring forward some suggestions on the improvement for Chinese listening teaching.Chapter 10 Conclusion: The Descriptive and Interventionist Research on the Chinese Learning Strategies of Foreign LearnersThe chapter surveys and elaborates the natures and tasks of descriptive and interventionist studies on strategies of foreign learners of Chinese. The author discusses the problems existed in current descriptive researches, probes into ways to cultivate students'learning strategies (strategy training) and outlines the steps of study of Chinese learners'strategies. The author proposes that a criterion and system be set up for classification of Chinese learning strategies and distinction between generic and specific strategies be made. He points out the importance of study on specific Chinese learning strategies. Finally, the author suggests that the study on Chinese learning strategies will supply a solid basis for establishing the"best mode/model"of TCFL/TCSL. The study on effective Chinese learning strategies will give the wings to the International Promotion of Chinese Language Learning. .Appendix Review on the present researches on Chinese learning strategiesIn the appendix, the author makes comments on the all related researches on Chinese learning strategies in the academic circle of TCSL (1998-2006).