A Survey On Language Learning Strategy Instruction By Junior High School English Teachers

Since the seventies of the 20^th century,research into learning strategies has been a focus in the applied linguistic field,and learning strategy instruction has become a major trend in second language teaching methodology.English Curriculum Standards (2001) in China also advocates learning strategy instruction in elementary education stage.However,much research at home and abroad has largely focused on the learners or on the effect of strategy instruction.The importance of language teachers in strategy instruction is often overlooked.Given that junior high school is a period when teenagers begin to form their own learning strategies and that the teacher plays a critical role in successful learning strategy instruction,this study was aimed at investigating teachers to understand their learning strategy knowledge levels and their strategy instruction.In the study,four schools were drawn randomly as a sample from 32 junior high schools in Huozhou,Shanxi Province.The participants involved in the questionnaire survey were all the 62 in-service junior English teachers,of whom 12 were randomly selected to be interviewed.Besides,12 randomly chosen English classes were also observed to collect data.The data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods in the light of the following questions:1) At which level is junior high school English teachers' knowledge of language learning strategies? 2) Do junior high school English teachers conduct language learning strategy instruction in class, whether explicitly or implicitly? If so,what is the frequency? 3) Are teachers' genders, education backgrounds,years of teaching experience and knowledge levels related to their strategy instruction? If so,to what extent?The study yielded three major findings:Firstly,the teachers had a moderate level of learning strategy knowledge and the frequency of their strategy instruction was just above the high level.Secondly,teachers who were more aware of learning strategies conducted strategy instruction more frequently.Besides,teachers with 7-26 years of teaching experience showed the most frequent use of strategy instruction while teachers over 27 years the least.No statistically significant difference emerged in the use of strategy instruction between different gender groups and groups with different education backgrounds.The implications of these findings are that adequate strategy training and professional development programs are essential in order to provide teachers with sufficient knowledge of language learning strategies and thus to encourage their wider use in classroom teaching.However,due to the lack of sample representation,further studies are required to strengthen the validity of research findings.