Understanding The Language Learning Strategies Of English Language Learners In The Community College System

Understanding the Language Learning Strategies of English Language Learners in the Community College System

This study focused on English language teaching and learning through the lens of language-learning strategies, and how strategies-based instruction is implemented within the community college system. The intent of this study was to determine the extent to which language-learning strategies are taught to second-language learners in a community college district, the specific strategies that language-learners use, and whether improvements to strategies-based instruction in the community college system are needed. This research used a customized version of Rebecca Oxford's Strategies Inventory for Language Learners. It also queried instructors who teach English as a Second Language (ESL), and it analyzed ESL course curricula. The study found that, generally, language-learning strategies are not explicitly taught but implicitly learned, both inside and outside of the ESL classroom. The study also found that advanced level students who took the survey use seventy-one percent of the strategies measured, leaving as many as twenty-nine percent of the strategies little used or unused altogether. Finally, the study recommends that language-learning strategies be taught explicitly, in awareness-raising exercises, so that students learn not only to identify the specific strategies available for use, but also how to apply them using the material being learned.

Resources in Education

Organization Development Interventions on Chinese Language Learners: A Learning Community Perspective

This book focuses on the interface of organizational development and language learning, using mixed methods of qualitative (reflective journals) and quantitative analysis (experimental design, pre- and post-testing exam scores and questionnaires). Employing organizational development interventions (ODIs) in the context of language learning enriches the diversity and expands the possibilities of higher education. The action research cycle employed in the three-semester ODI process offers readers a source of inspiration. As the book shows, the combination of ODI techniques with language learning strategies in a learning community can be both effective and efficient, holding great potential for further research.