A Survey Of The Use Of EFL Learning Strategies By Junior High School Students In Penglai

In junior high school EFL teaching practice,teachers should be concerned not only with the perfection of their language teaching itself,but also the implementation or improvement of EFL learning strategy instruction on the basis of an understanding of the present situation of their students’ strategy use.In fact,however,few junior high school teachers have paid adequate attention to the students’ use of EFL learning strategies.Similarly,in second language learning strategy studies and junior high school EFL teaching research,scholars should not only study EFL learning strategies themselves and language teaching itself,but also explore the implementation or improvement of EFL learning strategy instruction on the basis of adequate studies of the learners’ actual use of strategies.So far,however,there have been inadequate studies of junior high school EFL learners’ use of strategies either by second language learning strategy researchers or by junior high school EFL teaching scholars.Oriented to the problems of neglecting the students’ use of EFL learning strategies in junior high school EFL teaching practice and relevant research,the present study attempts to systemically explore the status quo of the use of EFL learning strategies by junior high school students in Penglai in terms of the coverage and frequency of strategy use,its impacts on EFL learning outcomes,and the causes of the present situation of strategy use,so as to implement or improve EFL learning strategy instruction on the basis of the findings.It is carried out in the light of systemic thinking,on the basis of the systemic view and typology of second language learning strategies proposed by Jia Zhengchuan and others.It uses as subjects of study 279 second grade junior high school students selected from three middle schools in Penglai,employs as instruments of data collection a systemic questionnaire on the use of EFL learning strategies and an interview checklist of the factors influencing the use of EFL learning strategies(designed by Jia Zhengchuan on the basis of the systemic view and taxonomy of EFL learning strategies and with reference to other relevant questionnaires and interview questions),and an English achievement test for the first semester second year junior high school students,applies Excel2015 as instrument of statistical analysis,and adopts a comprehensive procedure integrating quantitative with qualitative analysis.Results generated from the study demonstrate(1)that the use of EFL learning strategies by junior high school learners in Penglai in general covers almost all types of strategies,but the frequency of using strategies varies among students and among strategies,with the frequency of some students’ use being higher than that of other students’ use,and with the frequency of using some strategies(e.g.,psychological factors management strategies,meta-strategies)being higher than others(e.g.,natural and instructional situation management strategies,social and cultural environment management strategies,cognitive and linguistic factors management strategies);(2)that EFL learning strategy use influences learning outcomes,with students who use strategies more systematically and frequently achieving more and students who less often use strategies being less successful in EFL learning;and(3)that the present situation of strategy use by junior high school students in Penglai is the result of the positive and negative influence by their social and cultural settings,natural and instructional situations(especially their teachers’ adequate or inadequate instruction of strategies),their own psychological and cognitive factors,and the nature of their strategies(especially the adequate or inadequate variety of their strategies).The present study is hopefully significant both to the practice of junior high school EFL teaching and to relevant studies.Practically,its findings may be used as the basis for the implementation or improvement of EFL learning strategies instruction in junior high school EFL teaching.Academically,this study may help to remedy the inadequate study of junior high school student’s EFL learning strategies in general EFL learning strategy research and in junior high school EFL teaching research.