Abstract
Language learning strategies play a prominent role in second language learning as the information on students’ preferred learning strategies may guide lecturers to select suitable teaching and learning activities. Hence, the objective of this study is to find out preferred language learning strategies employed by the students of engineering technology at UniKL MITEC, a private university in Johor Bahru offering engineering technology programs. A total of 146 students involved in this study and they were from semester 2 and semester 3 students enrolling in an English subject. Nevertheless, the respondents from semester 1 were not involved in this study since they were very new to the environment at the university. In order to determine students’ preferred language learning strategies, Strategy Inventory of Learning Strategies (SILL) was employed. The questionnaire which consists of 50 items was provided in bilingual to ensure the clarity of every statement and to ensure the respondents to answer the questionnaire sincerely without guessing the meaning of certain words or statements. For data analysis, the findings were analysed statistically according to mean and standard deviation. Based on the analysis, it was found that the most preferred learning strategy is metacognitive strategies, followed by cognitive and compensation strategies, while the least preferred strategy is affective strategy. Thus, it shows that the engineering technology students employed less memory strategy. They prefer to manage their learning by making proper planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning. Thus, based on the findings of this study, lecturers are able to determine suitable activities which are more towards metacognitive strategies and followed by other strategies as to ensure the student will be exposed to various strategies.
Highlights
Universiti Kuala Lumpur as higher learning institute focusing on engineering technology uses English as the medium of instruction since English is the language of technology
A researcher commented that to be employed by multinational companies, students should have good language communication skills for English allows easyaccess to English-speaking societies and developed countries [1]
Students of UniKL were rated as average language user by potential employers and this portrays that language proficiency is still the issue [3]
Summary
Universiti Kuala Lumpur as higher learning institute focusing on engineering technology uses English as the medium of instruction since English is the language of technology. A researcher commented that to be employed by multinational companies, students should have good language communication skills for English allows easyaccess to English-speaking societies and developed countries [1]. A group of researchers expressed their concern on having students with low language proficiency which will affect their overall academic performance since English is used in all subjects for certain higher learning institutes [4]. Insufficient students’ language proficiency in English still provides opportunities for researchers to look into the issue from the perspective of language learning strategies among the students of engineering technology. A researcher has highlighted that it is important for lecturers to know students’ preferred language learning strategies since learning strategies are capable to be taught [8]
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