On the Relationship between Students’ Language Learning Strategies and their Level of Language Proficiency in University Context

Abstract

Abstract. This study aimed at exploring the relationship between students’ level of language proficiency and their Language Learning Strategies used. A group of sixty five EFLlearners (32 junior and 33 senior) were randomly selected from EFL students majoring in English translation and English literature at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. All the participants were native speakers of Persian.To obtain the required data Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) developed by Oxford (1990) was used to determine the type of Language Learning Strategies that participants used. The results of the study showed that there were not any significant differences between junior and senior EFL learners regarding Language Learning Strategies sub-parts, namely:Memory, Cognitive, Compensation, Metacognitive, Affective, and Social learning strategies that they used. Also in order to answer the research question regarding the participants' Language Learning Strategies use based on the three levels (high/mid/low) in two groups of junior and senior students, for each strategy, a Chi-Square Test was launched to explore the differences among the groups. In this study, none of the groups yielded significant results. Meaning that the difference in proficiency level, junior/senior, did not affect the levels of each strategy the participants used.