A Survey And Research On English Learning Strategies Used By Six-grade Students In Primary School In Rural Areas

One important aspect of the new curriculum reform is the shift from the teacher-centered model to the student-centered model, from teachers’crammed teaching to students’ active learning. Along with this shift is the recognition of the importance of learning strategies by more and more teachers and education experts. The NCS of English in the clearest terms requires the teaching of learning strategies and lists eleven specific learning strategies for six-grade students in primary school to master. Although the ultimate goal of learning strategies is to help students improve their learning efficiency and learning effect which can be checked by summative assessment. In the author’s opinion, however, the value of learning strategies lies not solely in the final learning results. Learning strategies themselves, as a kind of methodology and learning ability, are of great significance.Language knowledge, language skills and even cultural awareness prescribed by the NCS are not difficult to check. Emotions, attitudes and values, as the products of moral education, can also be observed through students’ daily performance. However, learning strategies, as both trifle behaviors and hidden mentality, are difficult to evaluate. Although the NCS has listed eleven basic learning strategies for six-graders to master, it is difficult for teachers to check them. Therefore, four questions are raised by the author here. Do six-graders in primary school in rural areas reach these requirements? What are the most frequently used and the least frequently used learning strategies? What is the difference between boys and girls in terms of their use of English learning strategies? What is the relationship between the learning strategies used by English learners and their achievements in English learning? These questions will be answered in this research.This research mainly adopts two research instruments, namely, questionnaire and written interview. After careful analysis of the research results, the following findings can be drawn:Generally speaking, research subjects make mediocre use of English learning strategies. They make the most use of" attention focusing when learning English" and make the least use of "reviewing and summarizing","trying to read extra-curriculum reading materials" and "using simple dictionaries to learn English".Generally speaking, in terms of the use of English learning strategies, girls do better than boys. To be specific, girls do better in terms of almost all English learning strategies.Generally speaking, as regards the correlation between the use of English learning strategies and English learning effects, there exists a relatively obvious correlation. To be exact,"cooperation learning" and " attention focusing when learning English" are two kinds of English learning strategies which are most closely related with English learning effects.Furthermore, at the end of this research, the researcher put forward some enlightenment this research may bring to English teaching in primary school in rural areas.