The Differences In Learning Strategy Use Of Senior High School Students

Learning strategy has been a hot research topic since it was initially proposed by Rubin (1975). Despite a large body of research on learning strategy, studies in recent years by scholars such as Gunning and Oxford (2014), Harish (2014), Oxford et al.(2014), have renewed this topic for further research in great detail. Besides, it has been pointed out by some researchers that only a few studies choose high school students as their research subjects. Therefore, this research tries to examine the differences in the learning strategy use of senior high school students through dividing them into different groups according to their language level and gender.SILL is used in this research to measure the learning strategy use of the senior high school students. The results of two examinations are taken as the criterion to measure students' English proficiency. With SPSS, descriptive analysis and correlation analysis are employed to identify students' overall learning strategy, and their differences in learning strategy use. On the whole,it was discovered that students show a medium frequency of learning strategy use. The most frequently used learning strategy is compensation strategy and affective strategy is the least frequently used. Students'overall learning strategy is positively and significantly correlated with their English proficiency. However, among the six subcategories of learning strategy, memory strategy is positively correlated with English proficiency with the biggest correlation coefficient,suggesting that the better students use memory strategy, the more likely they are to achieve in English learning. Although compensation strategy is the most frequently used among students, it is not so significantly correlated with English proficiency. In addition,compensation strategy is most frequently used in all different groups of students. With regard to the differences in learning strategy use according to students' gender, the results show that affective strategy is seldom used by the female students; memory strategy is least favored by the male student. With regard to the differences in learning strategy use according to students, language level, social strategy is less used by the low proficiency students while affective strategy is least used by the high proficiency group students.Based on the above, pedagogical implications are proposed based on the findings of the research: On the whole, English teachers should undertake the tough job of addressing the differences in students' learning strategy use. Due to the fact that students'frequent use of compensation strategy is not so significantly correlated with students'English proficiency, the appropriateness of compensation strategy use among students is worth discussing. Therefore, teachers should examine students' compensation strategy use in great detail, and both the frequency and appropriateness of learning strategy use should be stressed. Considering the differences in students' learning strategy use according to their language level, it is worth noting that students' social strategy use and affective strategy use are not consistent while a large body of research does not distinguish between the two. The high proficiency group uses social strategy more but affective strategy the least, while the low proficiency group uses both social strategy and affective strategy the least. Therefore, teachers should distinguish between social strategy and affective strategy use among students of different language level, thus helping them to use the two strategies effectively and appropriately. Considering the differences in students' learning strategy use according their gender, English teachers should guide and encourage the female students' use of affective strategy in order to help them adjust their mental status, and also stimulate the male students' use of memory strategy in order to help them increase their language input.