Abstract
The research in the field of language learning highlights two major paradigm shifts in the past few decades. First, the shift is from teacher-centered learning to learner-centered teaching and second related to learning processes through which learning occurs. In this second shift, research carried out in the field of language learning strategies (LLS) has amplified in the last few decades wherein the question of how the learners deal with their learning process by employing various kinds of learning strategies is being investigated systematically. This research article focuses on the profiles of learning strategies used by Indian students in learning Spanish as a foreign language, motivational orientations and gender aspect in using learning strategies. The participants (N=65) at two major universities teaching full-time Spanish courses at the undergraduate level were selected for the present research. It was found that the participants used social and metacognitive strategies the most and the memory strategies the least. The participants with interest in academic career chose to learn Spanish and the students with extrinsic motivation reported using learning strategy with higher frequency and there was no significant difference in the use of strategy concerning gender. In the end, conclusions are drawn and future area of research is suggested for researchers.
Highlights
The process of learning a second/foreign language includes external factors and psychological factors that play an important role
In the present research work, the researchers have tried to see the overall pattern of the use of language learning strategies while learning Spanish as a foreign language (SFL) in India
The researcher has used the questionnaire as the main instrument to collect the data. This questionnaire has the following parts: Part 1: Individual background questionnaire (IBQ) Part 2: SILL Questionnaire Part3: Questionnaire regarding the reason for learning Spanish to reflect motivation For this study, one of the popular quantitative tools, Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), is used
Summary
The process of learning a second/foreign language includes external factors and psychological factors that play an important role. There have been abundant research studies carried out on the important roles that strategies play in the learning of second or foreign language and these investigations have contributed immensely to our knowledge of their value in the learning process. Rubin [37] titled “What the “Good Language Learner” can teach us” In this seminal article, the individual disparity while learning and differential achievement among learners were examined. In the 1990s, a series of research in the field of LLS [23, 24] helped it to gain much prominence in the field of second language acquisition and establishing itself as one of the major areas of second language research [39]. Environments, examining the link between these elements would provide the practitioners and researchers with an understanding of the learning patterns and process better
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