A Comparative Study On English Learning Strategies By Chinese EFL Learners Of Different Age Groups

Since the 1970s, English learning strategies have always been emphasized in SLA research. Chinese researchers have made great progress in empirical studies of English learning strategies. In the past two decades, most empirical studies of English learning strategies were done on university students and secondary students, however, fewest studies were found on primary English learners. Up to now, there have been no empirical studies reported on comparisons in the use of English learning strategies among primary, secondary and university students. Studying the traits of different-period learners in employing English learning strategies benefits not only learning but also teaching. Thus, purpose of this study is to find out the characteristics of different-period learners in using English learning strategies and the similarities and differences among them. This thesis mainly concerns with the following three questions:1. What language learning strategies are employed by the primary students, secondary students and university students respectively in their learning of English?In order to reveal the situation of English learning strategies employed by the three separate groups, the following three subquestions are raised:(1) What is the frequency of English learning strategies use?(2) Whether gender differences exist in using English learning strategies?(3) Whether successful and unsuccessful English learners differ in English learning strategies use?2. What differences and similarities do primary, secondary and university students have in employing English learning strategies?3. What differences and similarities do successful learners from primary school, secondary school and university respectively have in employing English learning strategies?A quantitative research is conducted to examine the use of English learning strategies by primary, secondary and university students. The data are collected through the Likert Scale questionnaire of English learning strategies and English proficiency test. A survey is conducted on English learners--Grade 5 of primary school, Grade 1 of Senior Middle School and sophomore of university. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) 13.0 for windows is employed to analyze the quantitative data from the questionnaire: (1) descriptive statistics are employed to summarize the students' responses to strategy items; (2) Independent sample t-tests are carried out to check whether gender differences exist in using English learning strategies and the differences in the use of those strategies between successful and unsuccessful learners; (3) One-Way ANOVA is used to examine the differences in English learning strategies among primary, secondary and university learners and the differences in the use of those strategies among successful learners from primary school, secondary school and university.The results of this study show: (1) primary learners seldom employ English learning strategies, secondary and university learners sometimes do; (2) no significant gender difference exist in English learning strategies use; (3) successful learners differ significantly with unsuccessful ones in the use of English learning strategies; (4) in the use of English learning strategies, primary learners differ significantly from secondary ones who do not show any significant difference from university students; (5) successful learners from the three groups do not differ significantly in employing memory strategies, affective strategies and social strategies. Successful learners of the primary group differ significantly from those of the secondary group and of the university group in the use of cognitive strategies, compensation strategies and metacognitive strategies, but successful learners from secondary and university groups do not have any significant difference in using these three main strategies.The results suggest that English learning strategies are not employed in high frequency by Chinese English learners. Teachers of English should provide strategy training in daily teaching, so as to help learners master effective English learning strategies and impel the connection between different learning periods. By doing so, the Chinese EFL learners' English learning efficiency can be improved.