A Study On The Realtionship Between Language Learning Strategies And English Proficiency In A Chinese Middle School

Language learning strategies are specific actions or techniques that students use, often intentionally, to improve their progress in developing L2 skills. Strategies encompass a wide range of behaviors that can help the development of language competence in many ways. In spite of the increasing popularity of research on language learning strategies, little research has been conducted in EFL education in China, especially, with regards to middle school students. What is the relationship of the overall strategy use to language proficiency? What is the frequency of strategy use for this group of students? Which of the strategies show significant associations with proficiency? To answer these questions, I had made an extensive review of the literature in this area and conducted an empirical study.The subjects were 80 students studying at the middle school attached to Nanchang Power Plant. Three instruments were used in this study: an Individual Background Questionnaire (IBQ), the English Simulated Test (EST) set by the Committee of Education in Nanchang and the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (ESL/EFL Student Version) proposed by Rebecca L. Oxford. The analysis of the data was carried out using the SPSS statistical program. The results of the study show:1. These students used overall language learning strategies at a medium level. The relationship between overall language learning strategies and language proficiency was linear. In other words, the higher their EST scores, the more language learning strategies students used.2. Among the six categories of language learning strategies, the memory category had the highest mean, followed by compensation, metacognitive, and cognitive categories, with social and affective strategies least used.3. There was significant positive variation in proficiency in relation to thirteen strategies, two of which fall into the memory category (2,8), four into the cognitive category (13,16,20,23), six into the metacognitive category (31,32,33,34,35,36), and one into the compensation category (28).After a detailed discussion on the causes of the results obtained, the paper provides the following suggestions for English teaching and learning in China:Students should be made aware of the considerable importance of learning strategies. In order for them to become autonomous learners who take charge of their learning, students must learn to use appropriate language learning strategies. The strategies involving active use and metacognitive strategies showing significant associations with proficiency deserve special attention. It is equally important for students to employ strategies flexibly by selecting those strategies that are appropriate for performing a particular learning task. For teachers, they need to have the power to identify more effective learning strategies for the students and focus on teaching them so that students can learn English efficiently both in classroom and outside classroom.