A Study On The Correlation Between Foreign Language Enjoyment And English Learning Strategies Of Junior High School Students

Driven by Positive Psychology,learners’ positive emotions have gradually received attention in recent years,and an increasing number of scholars at home and abroad start to pay attention to them,which sparks a wave of research.Foreign language enjoyment(FLE)is one of the most common positive academic emotions.By comparison,previous research on language learning strategies(LLS)has been done much earlier.However,there are few studies on the correlation between FLE and LLS.Therefore,the thesis aims to explore the correlation between FLE and LLS of junior high school students,based on the control-value theory and Ellis’ s model,which enjoys certain innovative significance.355 eighth-graders participated in the survey.The author tried to answer the following two research questions by questionnaires and interview:(1)What is the relationship between FLE and direct strategies of junior high school students? Are there any differences in the use of direct strategies(memory strategies,cognitive strategies,compensation strategies)among students with different levels of FLE? If so,what are the differences?(2)What is the relationship between FLE and indirect strategies of junior high school students? Are there any differences in the use of indirect strategies(metacognitive strategies,affective strategies,social strategies)among students with different levels of FLE? If so,what are the differences?The answers are as follows:(1)There is a significantly positive correlation between FLE and direct strategies.To be specific,Enjoyment of English Learning is moderately correlated with direct strategies.The correlation between Enjoyment of Teacher Support and direct strategies is low,same for Enjoyment of Student Support.In addition,there are significant differences in the use of direct strategies among students with different levels of FLE(high-FLE group,average-FLE group and low-FLE group).The higher the students’ level of FLE,the more frequently they use direct strategies.(2)There is a significantly positive correlation between FLE and indirect strategies.Specifically,Enjoyment of English Learning is moderately correlated with indirect strategies.Enjoyment of Teacher Support is lowly correlated with metacognitive strategies and affective strategies,moderately correlated with social strategies.Enjoyment of Student Support is moderately correlated with affective strategies and social strategies,lowly correlated with metacognitive strategies.There are significant differences in the use of indirect strategies among students with different levels of FLE.The higher the students’ level of FLE,the higher frequency use of indirect strategies.Besides,students with different levels of FLE have a different preference for indirect strategies.High-FLE group uses metacognitive strategies most frequently,followed by affective strategies and social strategies.Average-FLE group and low-FLE group use social strategies most frequently,followed by metacognitive strategies and affective strategies.The thesis enriches the research on the combination of Positive Psychology and Second Language Acquisition.The reliability and validity of the scales,direct strategies scale and indirect strategies scale,have been tested in the study,which provides implications for future research.In addition,the author offers some pedagogical implications on how to improve foreign language enjoyment and the use of English learning strategies to English teachers.