On Learning Strategies Of Non-English Majors

The focus of second language acquisition research during the late 20th century has moved away from the quest for"how to teach"to"how to learn", from teachers to students. In order to understand the students how to learn and how to enhance learning efficiency, it is imperative to conduct the study on second language learning strategies (SLLS).This thesis discusses second language learning strategies, including the basic concepts and the literature of SLLS and some studies about the nature of SLLS. Besides, by using Questionnaire on English Learning Strategies, this thesis examines the links between SLLS use and second language (L2) proficiency of a group of non-English majors at Xiamen University, which specially focuses on the three questions: What is the overall tendency of English learning strategies used by non-English majors at Xiamen University? What types of learning strategies do the group of English learners use frequently? Is there any difference in SLLS use between successful learners and non-successful learners?The study has found: first, all of learning strategies, except affective and social strategies, are used by the investigated students at medium level (for their mean scores fall into the area between 2.5 and 3.4). Among the six categories, affective strategies are most frequently used by the students (m=3.83), while social strategies are least frequently employed by the students (m=2.08). Second, there is an obvious difference in SLLS use frequency between A-level students and B-level students. Especially, except social and affective, the mean scores of other four strategies (memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive) used by B-level students are respectively far less than those used by A-level students. Thus, it can be concluded that the frequencyof learning strategies used by B-level students are far less than that used by A-level students. Thus, the results of the study provide some practical implications that we should pay more attention to SLLS instruction and encourage learner's autonomy on the basis of recognizing the individual differences among the language learners.