A Study On Similarities And Differences Between Online Learning Strategies And General Learning Strategies Of Chinese EFL Learners

This dissertation is written in an attempt to investigate what learning strategies Chinese EFL college students use in the context of the Internet. The use of general learning strategies is also studied to serve as a comparison. The present study tries to reveal the relationship between strategy use and language achievement both in online language study and in conventional study, and the difference in the use of strategies between EFL learning in the classroom setting and online study. A quantitative study is conducted on a sample of 88 students from Chongqing University and with the instrument of two questionnaires modified from Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning.The statistical results of the study reveal that Chinese college students are interested in the new technology of the Internet and use it as a resource and a tool. The application of the new technology in EFL learning has received a booming emphasis.All the six categories of strategies listed in SILL are employed by Chinese students, but the average frequency is only at a moderate level. In online study, students use fewer strategies than in conventional study, which is to some extent due to the lack of awareness of using strategies in the new context.The difference of strategy use by gender, major, personality and self-rated language proficiency is investigated through t-test and One-way ANOVA. Female students reported a higher frequency. The difference between students majoring in arts and those of science is not statistical significant. Students of varied personality differ from each other especially in the use of social strategies in conventional study. The mean score of students with a higher self-rated proficiency is larger than that of students with lower self-evaluation.Further analyses are carried out to display the relationship between strategy use and language achievement. Higher proficiency students use more strategies appropriately with a higher frequency. Strategy use is revealed correlated with language achievement through correlation analysis.Since strategies have been proven as one of the factors for successful language learning, it is necessary to implement strategy training. In order to produce more authentic interaction and obtain more resources, network-based language learning is suggested as a supplement to the conventional EFL learning. Teachers play an important role both in training students to use strategies and in integrating networking with classroom teaching.Implications and recommendations for future research are presented to sponsor more studies focusing on the relationship between strategy use and language achievement in the new context of the Internet.