A Survey Study On Learning Strategies Of Students With English Learning Difficulties In Junior High School

Though numerous studies concerning learning strategies have been conducted, they have no clear classifications with regard to investigated group, focusing mostly on university students and high school students. Therefore, this thesis focuses on students with learning difficulties in Junior High School, who have often been ignored by previous studies but need real attention in teaching. Thus, targeted at students with English learning difficulties in Junior High School as subjects, this thesis investigates and analyzes their status of using learning strategies, which is of great realistic significance.The thesis is composed of six chapters:The first chapter is the introduction, which mainly introduces the research background, purpose, significance and structure.The second chapter is the literature review, which concludes the previous studies on the definitions of SLD and learning strategies at home and abroad.The third chapter is the research design, which mainly adopts questionnaire. After the subjects completed the questionnaires, the author processed the collected questionnaires by Likert scale, and adopted the Microsoft Excel to analyze the data.The fourth chapter is the results and analysis, which mainly analyzes the overall status of using learning strategies by SELD in Junior High School; the status of using specific learning strategies by SELD and their effects on English learning; and the status of using learning strategies by SELD in each segment.The fifth chapter is the countermeasures and suggestions to transform SELD and improve their learning strategies.The sixth chapter is the conclusion, in which the major findings and limitations of the research are summarized and the suggestions for further research are put forward."The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL)" compiled by Cheng Xiaotang and Zheng Min was adopted in the research, which mainly consists of four kinds of learning strategies:cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies and communicative strategies. There are 42 items in total. The research subjects are 373 SELD in Grade2 and Grade3 coming from JingZhou Experimental Middle School. The collected data is analyzed by the Microsoft Excel.Several findings of the research are listed as follows:1. The overall use of learning strategies of SELD is not high.2. The using frequency of learning strategies of SELD is quite low.3. The influence of specific learning strategies used by SELD on their English learning is obvious.4. There is no obvious difference between SELD of different grades on the usage of learning strategies, with only a slight increase in every kind of learning strategies.5. There is an inverse correlation between the degree of students’English learning difficulties and the use of learning strategies.6. There are many factors affecting SELD’s use of learning strategies.All in all, the improper use of learning strategies has become one of the main causes of English learning difficulties. If SELD can use and master certain learning strategies, and consciously use them in the process of English learning, then it will be a great help on improving SELD’s learning effects and getting rid of the status of "learning difficulties". Through the research investigation, countermeasures and suggestions are given as follows:1. Suggestions to teachers:1) Receiving systematic training of learning strategies2) Putting the specific English learning strategy and method into teaching3) Training students’learning strategies in the process of English learning2. Suggestions to SELD:1) Cultivating the interest and confidence of English learning2) Raising their awareness of using learning strategies3) Creating English communicative conditionsHowever, due to the limitations of the research subjects, research time, research method, etc. the conclusions of the thesis can just be seen as suggestions and discussions. It is hoped that more and more researchers can apply various methods into the research of this field, so as to promote the reform and development of English teaching in China.