This task has been done as a course requirement (GE6533 Language Learning Strategies Instruction), a program offered for Masters in Education (TESL) at National University of Malaysia. Our instructor Prof Amin Embi has required us to present some points on 5 factors affecting language learning strategies based on previous researches.

1. GGGE6533 LANGUAGE LEARNING
STRATEGIES INSTRUCTION
FACTORS AFFECTING
LANGUAGE LEARNING
STRATEGIES
BY
VINOTHINI
RAJASEGARAN(P67436)

2. MOTIVATION
• According to Gardner (1985), motivation and attitudes are the
primary sources contributing to individual language learning.
• Oxford and Nyikos (1989) found that motivation was the best
predictor of strategy use in a large-scale study of university students.
• Gardner (1985) also posited that motivated learners achieve higher
levels of proficiency because they put more of themselves into
learning.

3. • The learners with high motivation to learn a language will likely use
a variety of strategies (Oxford and Nyikos 1989)
• Motivated learners learn more because they seek out
input, interaction, and instruction, and when they encounter target
language input they pay attention to it and actively process it. In other
words, they use learning strategies. (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991 and
Tremblay & Gardner,1995).
• More motivated students used learning strategies of all kinds more
often than did less motivated students.

4. DURATION OF ENGLISH/LANGUAGE STUDY
• Griffith (2003) reported a positive relationship between
the duration of English study and strategy use.
• Ramirez (1986) showed that the years of language
learning affected the use of nine (out of 50) strategies
indicated in the inventory.
• Ok (2003) investigated the effect of school years on LLS
use but found no evidence that learners’ LLS use in all
six categories increased during a certain school year.
• An increase in the years of study would result in higher
proficiency levels by learners which would, in turn, lead
to an increase in their strategy use.

5. PROFICIENCY LEVEL
• The higher the proficiency level of the students, the more
aware they are of the rules and strategies of language
learning (Rahimi et al.2004).
• A high level of proficiency has been associated with an
increased use of both direct and indirect strategies
(Chang, 1990; Green and Oxford, 1995; Park, 1997 and
Chen, 2002).
• Peacock and Ho (2003) investigated the relationship
between the use of LLSs and the English proficiency
level of students in 8 different majors in Hong Kong. The
results of the study showed significant correlations
between strategy use and proficiency level.

6. PROFICIENCY LEVEL
• Language learning strategies research has consistently
established a positive link between language proficiency
and strategy use (e.g., Khalil, 2005; Magogwe &
Oliver, 2007; Park, 1997; Shmais, 2003), suggesting that
more proficient learners usually use more strategies than
less proficient learners.
• Lan & Oxford (2003) found significant effects for
language proficiency on Taiwanese elementary school
EFL learners’ use of
metacognitive, cognitive, compensatory and affective
strategies.
• On the other hand, more proficient learners used fewer
communication strategies although they used them more
effectively than less proficient learners (Chen, 1990;
Halbach (2000); Mahlobo (2003) and Magogwe & Oliver

7. GENDER
• Gender difference is deemed worthy investigation on the
influence on language learning and acquisition (e.g.
Chamot & Keatley, 2004; Gu, 2002; Hong-Nam &
Leavell, 2006 and Wharton, 2000).
• A study by (Hong Nam and Leavell 2006) revealed that
females employed more strategy use frequently than
males.
• Green and Oxford’s (1995) study revealed that gender
was one of the factors affecting the choices of language
learning strategies : females used memory and
metacognitive strategies more frequently than males.

8. GENDER
• In sharp contrast, males used a greater number of
strategies significantly more often than females in a study
conducted among 678 university students learning
Japanese and French as foreign languages
(Wharton, 2000).
• In the majority of these studies, females have consistently
been reported as using LLSs more frequently than males
(Politzer, 1983; Hashim and Salih, 1994;
Sy, 1994;Wharton, 2000).
• Other studies pointed out that gender might not have
significant effects on the choices of language learning
strategies (Ma, 1999; Griffiths, 2003 and
Khamkhien, 2010)

9. LEARNING STYLES
• Learning styles are internal traits of learners while
strategies are external skills consciously or
subconsciously used by learners (Pei-Shi 2012).
• Oxford (2005) claimed that learning styles and strategies
are the main factors helping determine how language
learners learn a second or foreign language.
• Extroverts, for example, show a strong preference for
social strategies, while introverts use metacognitive
strategies more frequently(Ehrman and Oxford, 1990);
learners who favour group study are shown to use social
and interactive strategies, such as working with peers or
requesting clarification (Rossi-Le, 1995).

10. • According to Celce-Murcia (2001), the main
characteristics of visual and auditory learners were:
• Visual learners prefer to have information presented in
graphs, maps, plots and illustrations
• Auditory learners depend on hearing and speaking as a
main way of learning.
• The researchers found that learners with auditory learning
style use more social strategies than those with visual
learning style (Pei-Shi, 2012).

11. REFERENCES
• Chamot, A.U., & Keatley, C.W. 2004. Learning strategies of students of less commonly taught
languages. Paper presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research
Association, San Diego, CA.
• Chang, S.J. 1990. A study of language learning behaviors of Chinese students at the University of
Georgia and the relation of these behaviors to oral proficiency and other factors. Doctoral
dissertation, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
• Chen, S. 1990. A study of communication strategies in interlanguage production by Chinese EFL
learners. Language Learning, 40, 155-187.
• Celce-Murcia, M., 2001. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. 3 rdp Edn., Heinle
and Heinle, Boston, ISBN-10: 0838419925 p: 584.
• Crookes, G. & Schmidt, R. 1991. Motivation: Reopening the Research Agenda. Language
Learning 41: 469-512.
• Gardner, R.C. 1985. Social psychological aspects of language learning: The role of attitudes and
motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
• Green, J.M., & Oxford, R. 1995. A closer look at learning strategies, L2 proficiency and gender.
TESOL Quarterly, 29(2), 261–297.
• Griffiths, C. 2003. Patterns of language learning strategy use. System, 31, 367–383
• Gu, Y. 2002. Gender, academic major, and vocabulary learning strategies of Chinese EFL learners.
RELC Journal, 33(1), 35–54.Halbach, A. 2000. Finding out about students’ learning strategies by
looking at their diaries: a case study. System, 28, 85-96.
• Hong-Nam, K., & Leavell, A.G. 2006. Language learning strategy use of ESL students in an
intensive Eng-lish learning context. System, 34, 399–415
• Khalil, A. 2005. Assessment of language learning strategies used by Palestinian EFL learners.

12. • Khamkhien, A. 2010. Factors Affecting Language Learning Strategy Reported Usage by Thai and
Vietnamese EFL Learners, Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 2010, Vol. 7, No.
1, pp. 66–85, Centre for Language Studies.
• Lan, R. & Oxford, R. (2003). Language learning strategy profiles of elementary school students in
Taiwan. IRAL, 41, 339-379.
• Ma, R. 1999. Language learning strategies of a sample of tertiary-level students in the P.R. China.
Guide-lines, 21(1), 1–11.
• Magogwe, J. & Oliver, R. (2007). The relationship between language learning
strategies, proficiency, age and self-efficacy beliefs: A study of language learners in Botswana.
System, 35, 338-352
• Mahlobo, E. 2003. The relationship between standardized test performance and language learning
strategies in English as a second language: a case study.Journal for Language
Teaching, 37(2), 164-176.
• Ok, L.Y. 2003. The relationship of school year, sex and proficiency on the use of learning
strategies in learning English of Korean junior high school students. Asian EFL Journal, 5,3, pp. 1–
36.
• Oxford, R., & Nyikos, M. 1989. Variables affecting choice of language learning strategies by
university students. Modern Language Journal, 73, 291–300.
• Oxford, R.L., 2005. Language Learning Strategies:what every Teacher Should Know. 1st
Edn., Heinle and Heinle, Boston, ISBN-10: 0838428622 pp: 342.

13. • Park G.-P. 1997. Language learning strategies and English proficiency in Korean university
students. For-eign Language Annals, 30(2), 211–221.
• Peacock, M. and B. Ho. 2003. Student language learning strategies across eight disciplines.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13, pp. 179–200.
• Rahimi, M. 2004. An investigation into the factors affecting Iranian EFL students’ perceived use of
language learning strategies. Doctoral dissertation, Shiraz University,Iran.
• Ramirez, A.G. 1986. Language learning strategies used by adolescents studying French in New
York schools. Foreign Language Annals, 19, pp. 131–141.
• Rossi-Le, L. 1995. Learning style and strategies in adult immigrant ESL students. In J.M. Reid
(ed.), Learning styles in the ESL/EFL classroom. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, pp. 118–125.
• Shmais, W. 2003. Language learning strategy use in Palestine. TESL-EJ, 7(2). Retrieved from
http://tesl-ej.org/ej26/a3.html.
• Tremblay P & R Gardner, R. 1995. Expanding the Motivation Construct in Language Learning.
The Modern Language Journal . 79: 505-520.
• Wharton, G. 2000. Language learning strategy use of bilingual foreign language learner in
Singapore. Lan-guage Learning, 50(2), 203–243.