In TOEFL Listening, The Relationship Between Investment And Result, As Well As That Between Learning Strategies And Result

Investment in learning generally indicates the material and spiritual resourceslearners invest in a certain learning process, spiritual resources including time, energy andso on, and material resources including money, equipment and so on. In this study, timehas taken on most of the share in the definition. Rubin (1987) defined learning strategiesas “strategies which contribute to the development of the language system which learnersconstruct and affect learning directly”(p.23). TOEFL is one of the most widely appliedEnglish tests in the world and almost all students who wish to pursue their study in anEnglish speaking country, especially North American countries, are required to take thetest. This study linked the three elements: investment, learning strategies and result on thepremises of TOEFL Listening, trying to find out a way that could facilitate students’learning process in TOEFL and make the learning result better. This study answered twoquestions: first, is there a possible relationship between students’ investment and result inlearning English listening, and if there is, what would the relationship be like? Second, isthere a possible relationship between students’ learning strategies and result in learningEnglish listening, and if there is, what would that be like? By answering these twoquestions, this study aimed to provide TOEFL Listening learners with a valid way ofsystematic learning. This study takes place in a certain English training school. It analyzed30from45testees as subjects, who received systematic training in the training schoolmentioned above. After their training, these subjects were chosen to do a questionnairesession, in which testees’ investment and their learning strategies are measured. Byanalyzing the difference between their grades of the testees, and the difference amongtheir investment as well learning strategies, the study established the possible relationshipbetween students’ investment and the results of their study, as well as that betweenstudents’ learning strategies and the results of their study in TOEFL Listening, and thereby,provided a systematic way for students in TOEFL Listening.