scholarly journals Strategies Instruction to Improve the Preparation for English Oral Exams

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Vicente Abad ◽  
Paula Andrea Alzate

<p><span>This article presents the results of an inter-institutional research study that assessed the impact of strategies instruction on students’ preparation for and performance in oral exams. Two teacher-researchers at different universities trained 26 students in their respective B1-English-level courses in using language learning strategies. The study included pre- and post-intervention tests and on-line questionnaires after each oral exam. After comparing the test scores and analyzing the questionnaire responses, we arrived at two main conclusions: First, that strategies instruction, especially in combination with evaluation rubrics, promotes students’ autonomy and enhances their oral test performance. Second, that students’ use of language learning strategies is influenced by instructional variations tied to the relative importance that teachers ascribe to specific aspects of oral communication.</span></p>

2016 ◽  
pp. 4-15
Author(s):  
Sahar Alzahrani ◽  
Julie Watson

In the context of ongoing debate about the relationship between strategy training and autonomous learning, this study set out in the belief that they are inextricably linked and sought to explore three important aspects of learner strategy development more deeply. An experiment was designed to investigate the effectiveness of learner training with three groups of Saudi students taking a course in English for Medical Purposes: control (no treatment), offline (treatment delivered on paper), and online (online treatment). The treatments used supplementary learning material focused on language learning strategies (LLS). The design and the delivery of the treatments was informed by Rubin, Chamot, Harris, and Anderson (2007), Cohen (1998), Murphy and Hurd (2011), and Murphy (2008a). This paper sought to answer three research questions related to the impact of learner training on students’ attitudes, awareness, and use of LLS in relation to their autonomous abilities after exposure to the treatment. Qualitative data from students’ reflective writings, interviews and focus group discussion was used to answer these questions. For the two treatment groups, the treatment impact was found to be positive in relation to the research questions and negative in the control. The online group outperformed the offline one in all the three investigated aspects.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Eugenia Guapacha Chamorro ◽  
Luis Humberto Benavidez Paz

This paper reports an action-research study on language learning strategies in tertiary education at a Colombian university. The study aimed at improving the English language performance and language learning strategies use of 33 first-year pre-service language teachers by combining elements from two models: the cognitive academic language learning approach and task-based language teaching. Data were gathered through surveys, a focus group, students’ and teachers’ journals, language tests, and documentary analysis. Results evidenced that the students improved in speaking, writing, grammar, vocabulary and in their language learning strategies repertoire. As a conclusion, explicit strategy instruction in the proposed model resulted in a proper combination to improve learners’ language learning strategies and performance. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-319
Author(s):  
Suci Rahmi Amjusfa ◽  
Burhanuddin Yasin ◽  
Kismullah Abdul Muthalib

The objectives of this research were to find out the types of language learning strategies employed by higher and lower achieving students on speaking skill and to find out the impacts of language learning strategies employed by them. A questionnaire was used as the instrument of this study. The sample of this research were 82 students who were chosen based on the criteria: (1) the students already passed all the Speaking I to IV classes, (2) the students consist of higher achieving students (score ≥B) and lower achieving students (score ≤C), and (3) the students allowed the researcher to obtain their speaking scores. Thus, purposive sampling was used here. In this research, the researcher used Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) by Oxford (2003) to determine the students’ language learning strategy. The result revealed that the higher achieving students used memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies in learning speaking. On the other hand, the lower achieving students generally did not use the learning strategies in their learning activities. Therefore, as the impact of this learning habit, they do not possess a good speaking ability and achieve low scores in speaking class.


2018 ◽  
Vol III (I) ◽  
pp. 17-38
Author(s):  
Arshad Ali Khan ◽  
Sayyed Rashid Ali Shah ◽  
Hussain Ahmad

This study investigates the relation of language learning strategies, memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, social and affective strategy with the language performance of undergraduate students in ESL classroom. Data from the sample of 97 male and 63 female learners in a private university was collected through Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) by Oxford (1990), which is based on 50 items on the pattern of five-point Likert scale. Students’ GPA scores were collected for the relevant course in order to examine language performance. For descriptive and inferential statistics, the data have been analyzed through SPSS 15.0. The results showed a significant difference between used language strategy and performance. The cognitive and memory strategies were more significant while social and affective strategies were least significant. The study also revealed that female students used strategies more than male students, however gender did not play any significant role in language performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-132
Author(s):  
Asst. Prof. Zeena Abid Ali Dawood

This present study was designed to investigate the impact of using direct language learning strategies on long term and short term (LT and ST for short) of vocabulary retention of non-specialist EFL learners in Iraq. A total of 60 Iraqi male non-specialist EFL learner’s college between the ages of 19 and 21participated in the study. The data were collected using a questionnaire (five-point rating) from Oxford’s (1990) the Strategy Inventory for the Language Learning (SILL for short / version7). To identify the strategies used, the information gathered was analyzed using descriptive statistics of means, frequency and standard deviation. In direct language learning strategies (DLLS for short) study, the (t-test) has been used to examine the learners ' performance of vocabulary retention in LT and ST. On the other hand, One-way between groups (ANOVA) with post-hoc comparison test was used to investigate the differences between LT and ST of the vocabulary retention by using the subcategories of direct language learning strategies. The outcomes showed that the learners’ strategy uses ST more out weights than LT of vocabulary retention. According to the outcomes, the most used (in both long term and short term) was (memory) strategies and followed by (compensation and cognitive) strategies. In the light of the results obtained, a number of pedagogical implications and suggestions were presented.


XLinguae ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-234
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Khonamri ◽  
Martina Pavlikova ◽  
Fatemeh Ansari ◽  
Natalia L. Sokolova ◽  
Andrey V. Korzhuev ◽  
...  

Research on the relationship among language learning strategy, language learning beliefs and autonomy abounds in the literature. However, few studies have explored the possibility of promoting learners’ autonomy and changing their beliefs through instructing language learning strategies in a collaborative manner. In addition, most of the earlier investigations have been carried out through purely cognitive or sociocultural perspectives employing solely quantitative or qualitative methods. Using a socio-cognitive framework, the present study aimed at first, identifying the relationships among language learning beliefs, language learning strategies, and learner autonomy; and second, investigating the role of collaboration in using language learning strategies that would eventually lead to autonomy and change of beliefs. To collect data, a mixed-method design was applied. An autonomy questionnaire, Horwitz's BALLI (Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory, 1987) and Oxford's SILL (Strategy Inventory for Language Learning, 1990) were given to177 EFL learners at the University of Mazandaran in Iran. To supplement the quantitative data with qualitative data, negotiated interviews and the learners' selfreflection notes were used. The analysis was done using paired sample T-tests, SEM and also content analysis. The findings revealed that language learning beliefs affected the learners' autonomy through the mediation of language learning strategies. However, the instruction of the strategies did not have any effects on the learners' autonomy but it helped in changing their language learning beliefs. The qualitative analysis also led to identifying some categories, subcategories and their relationships to and effects on each other.


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