A Study Of Oral English Learning Strategies And Affective Factors For Adult Learners In Teaching

The study about the second language learning strategies has begun from the early 1970s, mainly covering the description of the learning strategies of good language learners and the classification of language learning strategies. In the past 20 years, scholars have paid more and more attention to the comprehensive exposition of the theories. They have also done lots of case studies. Participants in the survey are mainly college students but the adult learners from society are seldom included. Among the learners of the English language in China, adult people are a special group. They are different from college students in age, educational background, English proficiency level and motivation. They are different from each other in English learning strategies. It is thus necessary to carry out a survey on the application of language learning strategies in oral English learning. This can help learners to improve their oral proficiency more efficiently.The present survey is based on the theories of second language learning strategy and has been carried out among the adult learners at an adult training center in Hefei. The survey is trying to find out the overall situation about the application of language learning strategies, for instance, common strategies used; age difference, gender and motivation; overall oral proficiency of adult learners; relevance between oral English strategies and oral proficiency. As we have mentioned before, the participants for the survey are adult learners who come to training centers for various reasons. The data collected from the questionnaire and oral tests was analyzed by Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS). For this survey, the author collected data from 52 adult learners in the Web International English training center (Hefei). The questionnaire was adopted from Oxford (1990) SILL for language learning strategies. The tests include the placement test before they entered school and an oral test. The research shows that: 1) most learners use one or two strategies: Memory and compensation strategies have got the highest frequency in use; 2) when it comes to the age difference, there is also a difference in strategy use: Students aged from 20 to 28 are most likely to use strategies than other age groups; 3) there is not any significant difference in strategy use between students of integrative or instrumental motivations; 4) adult students show a gender preference for the use of strategy: Female students are likely to use affective strategy more frequently than their male participants and 5) compensation and cognitive strategies are positively correlated to the oral proficiency. The author discusses and analyzes the chosen adult learners. The author lays emphasis on how to lower anxiety on the part of the learners in order to build up their self-confidence and self-esteem through learning strategies. Teachers are there in the actual class activities to improve the learners'oral English proficiency by helping them alleviate their negative feelings.