A Study On The Correlation Between Non-English Majors’ Tolerance Of Ambiguity And Their Use Of Language Learning Strategies

The researches on tolerance of ambiguity originate from psychological field. It has been paid great attention since the concept was introduced into language learning field in which tolerance of ambiguity is considered as a cognitive style that is one of learners’ individual differences. It is recognized that individual differences not only influence learners’use of language learning strategies, but also affect their language learning achievement. Researches on learning strategies indicate that proper use of learning strategies is of great importance for language learning. For language learners, the target language and native language have great differences in pronunciation, morphology, grammar, cultural background and other aspects. It’s unavoidable to come across the uncertain or ambiguous phenomena caused by the differences. How language learners choose effective learning strategies to cope with the ambiguous phenomena will influence learners’ language learning. The thesis takes non-English majors as the research objects, trying to explore their level of tolerance of ambiguity, learning strategies use and the correlation between the two aspects.The thesis adopts Ely’s SLATS and Oxford’s SILL to examine150non-English sophomores’ level of tolerance of ambiguity and their use of language learning strategies. The subjects are from four different majors in Shaan Xi Normal University. During the process of the study,134effective questionnaires are collected because16questionnaires are not completed according to the requirement. SPSS19.0is employed to analyze the collected data and produce the descriptive and correlation analysis. In addition, some of the subjects are randomly chosen to take part in an interview which can provide some supportive information for the analysis results. The following findings were obtained from the study:1. In general, most of the subjects in the investigation have relatively lower level of tolerance of ambiguity.2. The subjects’ language learning strategies use is in the medium level. The frequency of using these strategies ranks from the highest to the lowest in the following sequence:compensation strategies, cognitive strategies, memory strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies and social strategies.3. There is no obvious difference in the preference of learning strategies use between the subjects with high TOA and low TOA. Compensation strategies are most frequently used by the students with high TOA, following cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, memory strategies, affective strategies and social strategies. Compensation strategies are also most frequently used by the students with low TOA, followed by cognitive strategies, memory strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies and social strategies. However, the statistics indicates that in language learning process, students with high TOA are more frequent in using learning strategies than students with low TOA.4. The level of tolerance of ambiguity can influence language learners’ strategies use and choice. The research results show that students with high TOA can selectively employ different learning strategies to deal with different learning materials and tasks. However, for subjects with low TOA, there is a positive correlation between every two strategies, which indicate that when facing with different learning task, they have difficulty in tolerating language ambiguous phenomena and tend to choose learning strategies blindly and randomly. Their random choice of learning strategies may impede their language learning instead of facilitating learning process.Based on the research results, some suggestions for language teachers and learners are put forward, with the hope of providing some enlightenment for both teachers’ teaching and learners’learning.