A Research On English Learning Strategies Of Students With English Learning Difficulties In Rural Senior High School

Students with English learning difficulties have been paid much attention to in school education,especially in some rural areas.In order to help those students overcome the difficulties in learning English and improve their English achievements,many scholars have done many researches on it.These researches indicate that using effective English learning strategies is one of effective ways to improve the learning efficiency of students with English learning difficulties.On the basis of previous studies,this research adopts the questionnaire of Cheng Xiaotang and Zheng Min(2002)and carries out an investigation into students with English learning difficulties of grade one in Chengdu Shude Huaiyuan Middle School,aiming at analyzing the current situation of their use of English learning strategies and the reasons influencing their strategies use.The following questions are discussed in this research:1)What is the actual situation of English learning strategies applied by the students with English learning difficulties in rural senior high school?2)What are the differences between top students and the students with English learning difficulties in their use of English learning strategies?3)What are the factors that affect those students' application of English learning strategies?4)What pedagogical implications can we get from the research?This research adopts the classification of Cheng Xiaotang and Zheng Min(2002),which divides English learning strategies into cognitive strategies,metacognitive strategies,affective strategies and communicative strategies.Through analyzing the data,this research finds that most of the learning strategies are generally not used by students with English learning difficulties.Among the four types of learning strategies,metacognitive strategies and communicative strategies are the least used ones.In addition,there exist significant differences between students with learning difficulties and top students in their use of English learning strategies,especially in affective strategies.Because the top students have stronger interest in learning English and they can better control their emotions.Through further analysis,this research finds that the reasons causing students' poor use of learning strategies are mainly as follows: on the one hand,these students lack motivation and interest in learning English.On the other hand,the students lack the understanding and mastery of English learning strategies and the teachers lack the guidance in their teaching.In the last part of the thesis,the author puts forward some implications and suggestions for both students with English learning difficulties and language teachers and hopes that with the help of teachers,these students can set up correct awareness of strategies use and can use effective learning strategies to guide their learning and improve their English achievements.