| This thesis was written in an attempt to investigate what learning strategies Chinese EFL college students use in the context of the Internet. The use of general learning strategies was to serve as a comparison. The present study tries to reveal the relationship between strategy use and language achievement in online language study. A quantitative study was conducted on a sample of 209 students from Dalian Maritime University and with the instrument of questionnaire modified from Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL).The statistical results of the study reveal that Chinese college students are interested in the new technology of the Internet and use it as a resource and a tool. The application of the new technology in EFL learning has received a booming emphasis.All the six categories of strategies listed in SILL are employed by Chinese students, but the average frequency is only at a moderate level. In online study, students use fewer strategies than average level, which is to some extent due to the lack of awareness of using strategies in the new context.The difference of strategy use by gender, major, personality and self-rated language proficiency was investigated through t-test and One-way ANOVA. Female students reported a higher frequency. The difference between students majoring in arts and those of science was not statistically significant. Students of varied personality had no significant difference from each other in online study. The mean score of students with a higher self-rated proficiency was larger than that of students with lower self-evaluation.Further analyses were carried out to display the relationship between strategy use and language achievement. Higher proficiency students used more strategies appropriately with a higher frequency. Strategy use was revealed correlated with language achievement through correspond analysis.Since strategies have been proven as one of the factors for successful language learning, it is necessary to implement strategy training. In order to produce more authentic interaction and obtain more resources, network-based language learning is suggested as a supplement to the conventional EFL learning. Teachers play an important role both in training students to use strategies and in integrating networking with classroom teaching.Implications and recommendations for future research are presented to sponsor more studies focusing on the relationship between strategy use and language achievement in the new context of the Internet. |
