English Learning Strategies

All successful teaching is based on the understanding of students' characteristics and the essence of learning. Therefore, study on learners and their learning strategies is one of the most important research areas in applied linguistics and language teaching. Particularly, how successful learners go about their learning and what experiences they have attracted more attention of researchers.Based on a wide-range review of literature, a case study was made on four excellent students in a key high school, exploring their English-learning journey, particularly their strategies in language learning. Qualitative method was used, which is becoming more and more popular in social science yet not commonly used in research of English language teaching and learning. Data-collection was carried out over six months through interview, journals and questionnaire, on the base of which narratives of each of the four students were developed and their characteristics in English learning strategies were described.This research states the whole process in the form of constructing four cases. There are accounts of Shen's unusual learning experience, ideas and strategies in learning vocabulary, grammar and improving listening and reading in Case 1 while it is described in Case 2 that Wang is a lucky and special English learner and how he has adopted the strategies in vocabulary, reading, listening and emotion. By providing a description of Xu's learning attitude and choosing English as her major in college, the researcher concludes her strategies in four aspects which are the same as Shen's. To start with Ji's successful English learning experience, Case 4 emphasizes how he has done a lot of collecting in learning English and how he has learned vocabulary by using a dictionary.Despite the differences of the four students' English learning experiences as well as their learning ideas, they have been adopting various and effective strategies in their English learning, especially in vocabulary and grammar and in developing of listening and reading abilities, which play a leading part in basic English learning. As a consequence, they have made great progress in English learning in high school.