A Study On The Relationship Between Tolerance Of Ambiguity,Language Learning Strategies And L2 Achievement Among Non-english Major College Students

In second language acquisition,abundant researches demonstrate that many variables have certain influence on individual differences.Among them,tolerance of ambiguity(TOA),as well as language learning strategies(LLS),has been paid much attention to and regarded as important factors affecting second language achievement.It is found from literature review that the number of studies on TOA and LLS has been on the rise in China.However,it is still smaller than those abroad.Moreover,studies on the relationship between these two are much fewer.Therefore,this study aims at revealing the general state of TOA and LLS and further investigating the correlation between TOA,LLS and L2 achievement,which can enrich related domain and shed certain light on non-English major college students' language learning.113 non-English major college students from a university in Shanghai were randomly selected as subjects.This study employed quantitative and qualitative methods.Questionnaires were adopted as the quantitative method.One was Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale from Ely(1995)and the other was Strategy Inventory for Language Learning from Oxford(1990),which were aimed at measuring subjects' degree of TOA and use of LLS.Total scores from CET4 were to assess L2 achievement.The data were all put into SPSS 23.0 for analysis.The qualitative method,interviews,served as a supplementary method to collect additional information.The major findings are as follows: Non-English majors' TOA and LLS are at the medium level.And TOA is negatively and significantly correlated with L2 achievement while the relationship between LLS and L2 achievement proves to be significantly positive.In addition,their TOA has significantly negative impacts on their use of LLS.These findings offer English learners and teachers some implications.Teachers should nurture learners' optimal level of TOA and integrate training of LLS together with the awareness-raising of TOA into daily teaching to facilitate language learning process.