Abstract
Language Learning Strategies (LLSs) are crucial and helpful in the learning of English as a second language (ESL). However, it appeared that the unawareness of their LLSs has affected ESL learners in the area of this study in their learning of English language. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the LLSs used among ESL learners in a rural primary school. Data were collected using a survey research design through questionnaire. A set of questionnaire comprises four parts were given to a group of 30 Year 6 pupils in a rural area primary school in Borneo, Malaysia. Data collected showed that majority of or almost all respondents used the listening strategies listed in the questionnaire. Meanwhile, only limited speaking strategies being used by respondents in this study. This is because there was a big number of respondents who felt that speaking strategies are not significant to them due to limited usage of English language. These findings illuminated that majority of the respondents did not use some speaking strategies listed in the questionnaire when learning the English language. For translation strategies, data collected showed that the respondents used the translation strategies listed in the questionnaire when learning the English language. The findings of this study benefit the language teachers in primary schools in a way that these findings appear to be a good reference for them to be aware of their teaching approaches and to ensure their approaches suit learners’ LLSs. Overall, the findings of this study showed that listening and translation strategy supported learners more in their language learning.
Highlights
A good language learner possesses different characteristics than the others in order to learn a new language
The findings illuminated that only one respondent (3.3%) who did not use each of these three strategies (I try to remember unfamiliar sounds I hear; I ask the person to speak the new sound; and I listen to the rise and fall of sounds) in order to understand sounds in the English language
Strategy “I find sounds in the language that are like sounds in English” denoted the lowest mean score but there were 25 respondents (83.3%) used this strategy in order to understand sounds in the English language
Summary
A good language learner possesses different characteristics than the others in order to learn a new language. He uses various learning strategies including cognitive and metacognitive strategies (Oxford & Nyikos, 1989). In the learning process of English as Second Language (ESL), a language learner needs to have good LLSs as these strategies direct the learning process of the language learner. In learning of ESL, a good language learner is believed to include the knowledge of his or her first language in the learning of a second language (Rubin, 1975; Stern, 1975; Rubin and Thompson, 1994; as cited in Zare, 2012).
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