VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐOÀN THỊ THU PHƢƠNG THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES AND ENGLISH PROFICIENCY OF 4TH YEAR STUDENTS AT FELTE, ULIS, VNU Mố i quan hê ̣ giƣ̃a chiế n lƣơ ̣c ho ̣c tâ ̣p ngôn ngƣ̃ và trình đ ộ tiếng Anh của sinh viên năm thứ 4 khoa Sƣ Phạm Tiếng Anh, trƣờng Đại học Ngoại Ngữ - ĐHQGHN M. COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Teaching Methodology Major code: 60 14 10 Hanoi - 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐOÀN THỊ THU PHƢƠNG THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES AND ENGLISH PROFICIENCY OF 4TH YEAR STUDENTS AT FELTE, ULIS, VNU Mố i quan hê ̣ giƣ̃a chiế n lƣơ ̣c ho ̣c tâ ̣p ngôn ngƣ̃ và trình đ ộ tiếng Anh của sinh viên năm thứ 4 khoa Sƣ Phạm Tiếng Anh, trƣờng Đại học Ngoại Ngữ - ĐHQGHN M. COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Teaching Methodology Major code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Dr. Đỗ Tuấn Minh Hanoi - 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Declaration i Acknowledgement ii Abstract iii List of tables and figures iv List of abbreviations/ acronyms vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
Statement of the problem and rationale for the study 1 1. Aims and objectives of the study 4 1. Scope of the study 5 1. Organization of the study 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.
Definition of learning strategies 7 2. Classification of learning strategies 10 2. Definition of language proficiency 18 2. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages 20 2.
Language learning strategies and English proficiency 24 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3. Selections of subjects 28 3. Data collection instruments 28 3. Ielts Test 29 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Procedures of data collection 32 3. Procedures of data analysis 34 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4. Frequency of language learning strategy use 36 4. The correlation between students‟ language learning strategies and their English proficiency 46 4.
Key strategies and potential factors affecting strategy use 48 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 5. Major findings of the study 69 5. Contributions of the study 71 5. Limitations of the study 72 5.
Suggestions for further research 73 REFERENCES 74 APPENDICES I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES PAGE Table 2. Classification of learning strategies (1975-1985) (Olga, 2003, p. Classification of strategies (1983 – 1991) (Olga, 2003, p. A Comparison of Rubin‟s and Oxford‟s Strategy Classification Systems (cited in Hsiao & Oxford, 2002, p.
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) 21 Table 2. Common Reference Levels: global scale. Average reported frequency of language learning strategy use by both groups of students. Average reported frequency of language learning strategy use for the basic group, the proficient group and both groups of students.
High average reported frequency of language learning strategy use for the basic group, the proficient group and both groups of students 42 Table 4. Average reported frequency of language learning strategy use dominated by proficient group. Average reported frequency of language learning strategy use dominated by basic group. Language learning strategies and English proficiency 46 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Comparison between strategies used by students with the highest and the lowest Ielts scores 48 Table 4. Comparison between strategies used by proficient students with low frequency level of strategy use and basic students with high frequency level of strategy use. 57 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/ ACRONYMS SILL Strategy Inventory for Language Learning IELTS International English Language Testing System 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day.
Teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime” (Wenden, 1985, cited in Griffiths, 2003, p. In the context of language learning and teaching, this saying may mean that if students are provided with answers, they can solve the problem immediately; but if they are taught strategies to figure out the answers themselves, they can face with any problem now and then, or “they may be empowered to manage their own learning” (Griffiths, 2003, p. Aware of the significance of the “How” rather than the “What”, recent research in second language acquisition has swerved attention from the products of language learning to the processes in which learning takes place (Oxford, 1990). The potential relationship between how students perform the task sand how successful they solve the tasks was explored in Rubin (1975) and Stern (1975).
Later, scholars such as Oxford (1990), Wenden (1991), Cohen (1998) and Chamot (2004) have also suggested that learners might be able to learn language more effectively thanks to the use of learning strategies. The concept of using strategies to facilitate the learning process is not new. In secondary school, for example, the researcher was instructed to remember the phrase OSSACOMP, which indicates the order of adjectives before a noun (O-opinion, S-size, S-shape, A-age, C-color, O-origin, M-material, P-purpose). There have existed other general learning strategies given by almost teachers, such as listening to music, watching movies in English, highlighting main ideas, summarizing the lesson, etc.
However, all these strategies do not 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com make sense without the implementation of learners. Gage and Berliner (1992, p.302, cited in Griffiths, 2003, p.4) suggests that the effectiveness of such strategies may require the learner to be “more active cognitively” than a learner who is less strategically involved in the task. Under the cognitive perspective, language learners are considered as “an active participant in the learning process, using various mental strategies in order to sort out the system of the language to be learnt” (Williams and Burden, 1997, p.13, cited in Griffiths, 2003, p. To put it simple, learners hold great responsibility for carrying out learning strategies successfully, contributing to the language development.
Nevertheless, according to Larsen-Freeman (2001), the contribution of learners to the learning process is still underestimated. This is the another reason, which triggers the researcher to investigate more about what strategies learners employ and how they do with those strategies to achieve success. In fact, some learners acquire knowledge more quickly and efficiently than others. This discrepancy among weaker learners and stronger learners in second language acquisition stems from the cognitive, affective, and socio- cultural factors to which the learners are imposed during the language learning process (Nisbet et al.
Among these factors, learning strategies stands out as a subjective factor. They have become a means of achieving learners‟ autonomy in the process of language learning (Oxford, 1990; Benson and Voller, 1997 as cited in Rahimi et al. Valuable work has been and continues to be done on learning strategies; however, existing research has mostly focused on learners‟ strategies use in second language contexts (Rihami, 2004). In English as a foreign language (ELT) contexts, research on language learning strategies has mainly been conducted in South East Asia, especially China (Nisbet et.al, 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2005; Feng 2010; Wu, 2010), but has not been widely studied in Vietnamese contexts.
This creates the motivation for the researcher to conduct a study on language learning strategies by Vietnamese students in a Vietnamese context. A great body of research confirms the relationship between learners‟ language learning strategies and their English proficiency (Park, 1997; Dreyer and Oxford, 1996; Peacock and Ho, 2003; Nisbet et al., 2005; Adbullah and Seyyed, 2012). However, there has been conflict in the scholars‟ opinion regarding the learning strategies used by good language learners and bad language ones. Some claims that good language learners use particular strategies – which can hardly be found in bad language learner‟s cases – to assist them in mastering new language skills (O‟Malley, Chamot, Stewner-Manzaranes, Russo and Küpper, 1985, p.557-558 cited in Saricoban & Saricaoglu, 2008).
However, Hişmanoğlu (2000) claims that bad language learners may use the same language learning strategies as the good ones without becoming successful. This study is, therefore, conducted to compare the status quo concerning the relationship between proficiency and language learning strategy use in Vietnam with that in other countries. For the four main reasons, further research into the language learning strategy use of language learners in Vietnamese context, specifically fourth-year students at the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University – those who specialize in the English language for at least four years and are expected to become teachers – is needed. The researcher, therefore, has decided to conduct an investigation into the relationship between this group of students‟ language learning strategies and their English proficiency.
This study is a step in the 6 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com direction of checking whether there is a correlation between learners‟ language learning strategies and their language proficiency level. Aims and objectives of the study This study serves four main purposes. Firstly, it aims to investigate the frequency of language learning strategies used by fourth-year students at FELTE, ULIS, VNU and then figure out whether there is a particular set of language learning strategies used by basic learners and proficient learners. Moreover, the study is expected to check whether there is a correlation between students‟ language learning strategies and their English proficiency.
Finally, it is supposed to investigate the English language strategy use on the individual scale regarding students‟ strategies to overcome studying difficulties and students‟ stance on the factors which may influence their choice of strategies. This research paper, therefore, strives to address the four main questions: 1. How frequently are language learning strategies used by fourth- year students at FELTE, ULIS, VNU? 2. To what extent does the reported frequency of language learning strategy use vary between Basic Group and Proficient Group? 3.
In what way do students’ language learning strategies correlate with their English proficiency (if any)? 4. Which strategies do individual students consider most effective and what factors may affect their choice of strategy use? 7 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Scope of the study As a broad area of language research, language learning strategy has been identified as having relationship with many factors such as learners‟ language proficiency, learning styles, learning outcome, learning motivation and other learners‟ differences. Within the limitation of a thesis paper, this study investigates the frequency of language learning strategy use by fourth-year students at FELTE, ULIS, VNU.
To move a further step, students are divided into basic and proficient groups; therefore, patterns of strategy use by students at different proficiency level are indicated. In addition, the possibility of a correlation between students‟ proficiency level and their strategy use is checked. Last but not least, the study elaborates on individual students‟ use of strategies to cope with studying difficulties as well as students‟ opinion on what may affect their option of language strategy use. Organization of the study The first chapter has demonstrated a brief background in theory and practice concerning the topic of learners‟ language learning strategies.
Also, it has stated clear purposes and scope of this study including four research questions. An overview of the rest of the paper is displayed below: Chapter 2 – Literature review – provides the background of the study, including definitions and classification of the key concept “learning strategies”, definitions of language proficiency, overview of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and a brief summary of research on the relationship between language learning strategy and English proficiency. 8 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter 3 – Methodology – describes the participants and instruments of the study, as well as the procedures employed to carry out the research.