A Study On The Correlation Between Pronunciation Learning Strategies And Pronunciation Proficiency Of Junior High School Students

The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022 Edition)proposes that pronunciation should be the medium through which language realizes its social communication functions,and it plays a crucial role in English learning.English pronunciation learning strategies are learners’ unconscious behaviors or conscious actions to make English learning more successful,purposeful,and enjoyable.Scholars at home and abroad studied language learning strategies from a micro perspective and provided enlightenment.However,compared with other studies on learning strategies in reading,speaking,listening and vocabulary,there are relatively few studies on English pronunciation learning strategies of junior high school students,and the depth and breadth of the studies are still insufficient,which is in the initial stage.Therefore,studying the correlation between pronunciation learning strategies and pronunciation proficiency of junior high school students is necessary.Through quantitative(questionnaire survey and pronunciation test)and qualitative(semi-structured interviews and classroom observation)research on English pronunciation learning strategies,descriptive statistics,frequency analysis,correlation analysis and independent T-test were used to sort out and analyze the data,which enriched cognition on pronunciation learning strategies for teachers and students,improved pronunciation teaching and its learning,and provided empirical data for further research on the correlation between English pronunciation learning strategies and the pronunciation proficiency of junior high school students.Guided by Oxford language learning strategy classification and input hypothesis,this study selects two classes of Grade 7 students from a junior high school in Yingzhou District,Fuyang City,as research subjects,aiming to solve the following problems:1.What is the situation of students’ English pronunciation achievements and learning strategies in Grade 7?2.Does using English pronunciation learning strategies affect the pronunciation proficiency of Grade 7 students?3.What are the differences in the use of English pronunciation learning strategies between the high group(students with relatively higher pronunciation levels)and the low group(students with relatively lower pronunciation levels)?The following conclusions are drawn:(1)The Grade 7 students’ English pronunciation achievements were below the average level,and the frequency of their application of English pronunciation learning strategies from high to low was: cognitive strategies > metacognitive strategies > affective strategies >social strategies > memory strategies > compensation strategies.(2)Memory strategies,cognitive strategies,metacognitive strategies,and social strategies were positively correlated with the English pronunciation proficiency of Grade 7students;compensation strategies were negatively correlated with the English pronunciation proficiency of Grade 7 students;affective strategies were not correlated with the pronunciation achievements of Grade 7 students.(3)From high to low,the frequency of learning strategies used by the high group students was: cognitive strategies(M=3.8714)> memory strategies(M=3.8371)>metacognitive strategies(M=3.6914)> social strategies(M=3.5714)> affective strategies(M=3.3800)> compensation strategies(M=2.4286),and the frequency of the low group students using learning strategies was as follows: compensation strategies(M=3.2371)>metacognitive strategies(M=2.9529)> affective strategies(M=2.8586)> social strategies(M=2.5257)> cognitive strategies(M=2.4914)> memory strategies(M=1.9586).In addition,the high group students used memory,cognitive,and social strategies more often than the low group students.Metacognitive,compensation,and affective strategies were used more frequently by the low group students than by the high group students.Based on the research results,this paper proposes the following implications for junior high school students’ English pronunciation learning strategies: 1.Teachers and students should attach importance to the learning of English pronunciation learning strategies in the primary stage.2.It is necessary for teachers to explicitly teach and train pronunciation and pronunciation learning strategies,and guide students to practice pronunciation outside the limited classroom time.3.Teachers should correctly guide and standardize students’ use of cognitive strategies and memory strategies in the pronunciation learning process.