A Study Of The Relationship Between The Learning Strategies And The Language Proficiency Level Among Chinese University Students

Since the 197G's, researchers and language teachers have shifted their focus of study from "how to teach" to "how to learn". They have found that learners differ considerably in such factors as age, attitude, motivation, personality, language aptitude, cognitive styles, and also in the use of learning strategies and their actual achievements. What interested them above all was the learning strategies in tackling a second language.Although the angles of research on learning strategies vary a lot, yet the ultimate purpose of all is for practical use--researchers and teachers all long for some effective learning strategies that can help students master the language more efficiently (Horwitz, 1987).So far, most researches have indicated that there does exist certain relationship between the learning strategies used by the learners and the language level they finally reach. A group of researchers (Skehan, 1989; Rees-Miller, 1993) have pointed out that the existing correlation between the learning strategies and the language level is not sufficient enough to prove these two have cause and effect relationship. This correlation can be interpreted in two ways: 1) proper use of learning strategies can enhance the language level; 2) the use of learning strategies marks the language level of the learners, that is to say, certain strategies can only be employed by the learner after his language reaches certain level.Responding to the present situation, this study aims at: 1) investigating the status quo of strategy use by Chinese learners of English; 2) discovering the differences in the use of language learning strategies between successful language learners and unsuccessful language learners; 3) finding out the relationship between language learning strategy use and language proficiency level. Hopefully, this study will contribute a bit to the teachers and learners of English with regard to their English teaching and learning.The thesis, first of all, will make a brief introduction about the background of the research, need for the study and arrangement of the thesis. Secondly, it will review the studies of learning strategies both at home and abroad. Thirdly, it will lay emphasis on defining and classifying learning strategies, followed by the study on "good language learners", as well as that on learning strategy training. On the basis of literature review, this thesis is going to focus on some investigations and have a discussion about: 1)The frequency of overall strategy uss among Chinese university students 2) The correlation between learning strategies and the language level. 3) The status quo of how language learning strategies are used by Chinese university students. Data collection in this study will be conducted mainly through questionnaires on the varieties of language learning strategies, as can be seen in the following appendix. Interviews will also be carried out to make the results more convincing. Software Package for Social Science (SPSS) will be used to examine the data and test the hypothesis of the study. The statistical programmes may include 1) Use one-way ANOVA to find out the correlation between learning strategies and language level. 2) Use descriptive statistics (mean value, and standard deviation) to investigate the status quo of college students' use of language learning strategies, and make comparison with previous researches to find out the similarities and differences. Transcriptions were made according to the tape recording after the interviews, so as to make a comparison between the successful learner and the unsuccessful one.Some pedagogical implications are also found in the study: 1) Knowledge on Strategies. First of all, students should come to realize the great importance of learning strategies and the significant role they play during the process of learning. Only after that can students learn and apply them in their studies more actively. Secondly, students should get to know all the possible strategies they may use in their studies through various means. 2) Teaching Guide. Before class, te...