A Developmental Study Of Oral English Learning Strategy By Chinese Science University Students

This study examines (1) the overall changes of the oral English learning strategies employed by different non-English majors in their first three academic term college education. (2) the individual changes of the oral English learning strategies used by both successful and unsuccessful speakers of different major backgrounds during the first three academic terms of their college education (3) To what extent does the factors of major backgrounds attribute to the possible different changes both at overall and individual level? The Placement Test and a 45-item Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) were conducted among 60 first-year students with 30 first-year students from College of Software Engineering, and 30 from College of Materials. In addition, six samples from each major with three successful speakers and unsuccessful speakers respectively were chosen as case study of new characteristics. Finally, twelve-week oral English learning strategy training was conducted to raise students' awareness of oral English learning strategy. This macro-research aims to reveal the changes during different phases of oral English studies.Results indicate the following things:First, overall, either for Software Engineering majors or Materials Science Majors the frequency levels of all the six categories of learning strategy of oral English kept moving upward slowly during the first academic year and greater changes took place after learning strategy training instead of during this training. Second, the intermediate-level students undergo the most obvious changes in strategy use. Third, oral English learning strategy training played more important roles in memory and affective strategies for both successful and unsuccessful speakers, in social strategies for successful speakers and in metacognitive for unsuccessful speakers. Fourth, such three strategies as cognitive, metacognitive and social are significantly correlated with major background.Therefore theoretical foundation can be laid for three-level placement oral English teaching and also differences in terms of oral English learning strategies can be seen either between different majors or among the same major during different learning periods. The frequency of oral English learning strategies by different majors is always on the move.