A Study On Oral English Proficiency And Learning Strategies Of Non-English Major Postgraduates

In recent years, learning strategies have been the great concern of second language researchers and teachers. However, in the research literature on strategy studies, empirical studies on the relationship between learning strategies and oral proficiency in China are quite few. This study makes a survey on the strategy use of non-English major postgraduates and explores the relationship of learning strategies to their oral proficiency. The emphasis was on speaking and the focus on non-English major postgraduates because this area and this population have received limited attention. So the author attempts to answer the following research questions:(1)What are the most frequently used learning strategies of non-English major postgraduates to improve speaking?(2)Is there any correlation between learning strategies and their oral proficiency? Is there any correlation between particular learning strategies and particular oral performance? If yes, then how?(3)Is there any difference in the use of learning strategies among students of different levels in oral proficiency? If yes, then is the difference significant?These research questions were explored by means of an English learning strategy questionnaire and an oral English proficiency test. For convenience sampling, the subjects were 31 non-English postgraduates majoring in management in one class and 27 postgraduates majoring in resources and environmental engineering in another class from Chongqing University.The result yielded from this study showed that: (1) The highest frequency of strategy use by non-English major postgraduates was for management strategies and the lowest was for language learning strategies; and within language learning strategies, formal practice and mother-tongue reliance strategy were most frequently used while functional practice was the least frequently used. (2) The correlation between overall learning strategies and oral proficiency was not statistically significant, while language learning strategies and communication strategies were strongly correlated with oral proficiency; there were close associations between particular strategies and particular oral performance. (3) Students of different oral proficiency levels displayed differences in the use of learning strategies, though the significant difference was only found in the use of communication strategies. The thesis analyzes these findings respectively and comes up with some practical as well as theoretical implications. The author hopes to provide insight into the relationship between learning strategies and oral proficiency and to help non-English major postgraduates improve oral proficiency in a more efficient and effective way.Since the sample size is rather small, the results obtained from this study are not generalizable enough. Therefore, further researches are needed for a more complete picture and a better understanding in this field.