A Relationship Study Of English Learning Strategies, Proficiency And Gender--An Investigation Into Non-English Majors In Four Chinese Universities In Accordance With Oxford's Classification System

The current study investigated the relationship of English learning strategies, proficiency and gander among 280 non-English major university students in China. The author reviewed related research literature, explored the definition and taxonomy of language learning strategies, and designed a survey study mainly in accordance with Oxford's (1990) classification system: memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social.Results from the survey indicated that cognitive, metacognitive, compensation and social strategies were significantly correlated with English proficiency; Metacognitive strategies were most predicative of English proficiency. Statistical analysis also showed that high-level students used strategies much more frequently than the low level students. There was no significant difference in strategy use between female and male students, while English proficiency of female students was much higher than that of male students. Tentative conclusions were drawn on the basis of the results and discussions, and implications derived from the findings were presented for discussion.In order to represent the full spectrum of Chinese university students the current study carried out a questionnaire survey in four universities in different parts of China and overcame, to a certain extent, the shortage of concrete data of many previous studies in this field in our country. Some suggestions were given for the teaching and training of language learning strategies, and some proposals were posed for further study in this field.