This document discusses 5 factors that influence language learning strategies: motivation, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and culture, religion, and age. Motivation includes integrative and instrumental motivation. Socioeconomic status is influenced by parents' education level and family income. Ethnicity and culture can lead to differences in learning styles. Religion connects language and culture as many religions have sacred languages. Age affects strategy use, with more mature students employing more complex strategies.

1. 5 Factors Affecting Language
Learning Strategies

2. Introduction
• Every students have their own styles of learning in second language
or foreign language. And for every achievements in learning second
language, there are factors affecting in learning of it.
• Some of the factors that give the most influence in Language
Learning Strategies (LLS) are motivation, gender, culture
background, attitude and beliefs, type of work and learning styles.
(Oxford 1994)
• In addition, language skills (Park 1997), study background (Chamot
at al. 1989, 1988; Oxford 1996), career options (Ehrman & Oxford
1989), target language learning period (Oxford & Nyikos 1989),
purpose in learning or status of target language (Park 1997;
Wharton 2000) and ethnics (Mohamed Amin 1996; Osanai 2000) are
variables influencing options and consumption of LLS

3. F1 : MOTIVATION
~Let your dreams fly~
~Motivation is deemed as a key to success in language learning
(Dornyei 1990; Gardner 1985; Nunan 1999)~

4. 1) Definitions
• Motivation is defined as an effort done by students in second
language learning comes from the desire and the needs to
learn it. (Ellis 1994a)
• Motivation is also defined as one’s level in working and
struggling to learn language because of desire to do so and
experience satisfaction while conducting those activities.
• Three main components from the definitions are focus strive,
learning desire, and feeling of satisfaction with tasks which
are the important elements in evaluating stages and strength
of language learning motivation.

5. • Gardner and Lambert (1972) divided motivation into two types:
 Integrative motivation : A student is said has an integrative
motivation or universal in language
learning when he or she has a purpose
to integrate him/herself into that
community language and to get
acquainted with country language that
he/she learned.
Instrumental motivation: Or concrete is when a student is
mastering his/her second to achieve
other purpose other than the purpose
in integrative motivation such as pass in
examinations, promotion in career life,
enables them to read articles or other
reading materials in that language they
learned and many more.

6. • A motivated student will use much more strategies than a less
motivated student. For an example, they will use formal rules
of communication strategies (analyzing words, comparing
second language with tongue language and evaluate language
pattern), functional exercise (involve in target language
programs and talking to self in target language), general
learning (avoid from remembering by memorizing), and input
procurement conversation (asking for correction in pronounce
and focusing to body language to collect information in a
conversation). Oxford & Nyikos (1989)

7. F2 : SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS
~Family background accounts for more than half the
difference to student achievement
Jencks and friends (1972)~

8. • The National Child Development Study (1972) (in Azizi el. At. 2005)
reported, parents socioeconomic status is one of the variables that
influencing children ability in reading.
• Those who came from higher socioeconomic status groups were found
to have higher cognitive intelligence than students of low
socioeconomic status.
• This is because their parents are capable in providing them with
materials that trigger or stimulate intellectual activity of their children
such as reading, constructive games, a conducive study room and so
on.
• On the other hand, parents from low socioeconomic status might have
a low academic background and rarely give support, motivation and
teach their children.
• To determine socioeconomic status, there are two elements are often
referred. Those are parents academic background and family income.
• Hence, LLS researchers often make these two elements as variables in
their findings.

9. • Parents Academic Background
Mohd Nazali (1999) and Mohd Nazali and
friends (1999) found that there is a significant
correlation between parents education level
and overall consumption of strategies and by
category. Students who their parents are
highly educated often use much more LLS and
out of class and exams strategies than other
strategies groups.

10. • Family Income
It is say that parents who have a stable financial source are able to give support
to their children acquisition language process.
Mohd Nazali (1999) and Mohd Nazali and friends (1999) conducted a search on
300 Form 4 students who study Bahasa Melayu in three schools in Kuala Langat,
Selangor. This search found that there is a significant correlation between sum of
family income and overall usage of LLS. Students from high-income families use
more strategies than students from middle- and low-income families. Students
from high-income families also use more out-of-class and exam-preparation
strategies, followed by students from middle-income families and students from
low-income families. For strategies in classroom, there is no significant
correlation with families income.
Students from high-income families also consume more cognitive strategies,
storage and metacognitive strategies than students from low-income families.
(Mohamed Amin & Kamarul Shukri)

11. F3 : ETHNIC AND CULTURE
~Differences in cultural background and education system produce
different strengths and weaknesses in students.
(Surtridge 1997)~

12. • A study shown that individuals within a particular ethnic and cultural group has a
same pattern or way of study but it shows a difference when compared to other
ethnic or cultural group. (Liu & Littlewood 1997)
• Even for Asian students in Western countries usually have stereotypical attitudes
such as remain silent, reticent, and not urgent. This is due to their culture that
emphasizes harmony and respect for the authoritative. They are uncomfortable
with the attitude of individualism and competing attitudes which are parts of the
culture in America. (Lin & Yi 1997)
• All related to ethnics and culture are making some students using an active
learning methods while some are not.
• Reid (1987) found that students who came from various countries to learn English
as second language have various learning style. This situation however are related
and influence LLS options.
• There is also a study shown that there is no significant variation in using overall LLS
according ethnics. However, in LLS categories, Indian students are found to use
more classroom and out-of-class strategies compared to Malay and Chinese
students.

13. F4 : RELIGION AND WORSHIP
~The influence of religion and religious views form the language-
learning domain, which is capable of producing treatments and
special thoughts to facilitate language learning~

14. • Language is part of culture, and culture is part language. Both of these are related
to each other, and can not be separated. These two elements are getting stronger if
related to religion. This fact is reinforced by the positive developments achieved by
some of the language, which also has a big role in shaping the world. One of the
language is Latin as god language by Greek community, or Sanskrit as language of
Veda in Hindu. (Hisham al-Din 1406H)
• In learning of Arabic in Malaysia, this language is actually is not considered as
second language or foreign language that need to learn. In fact, it is the “Quran
language” and “religious language” that Muslim must study. This statement has
been cleared by Quran itself. Allah SWT say in Surah Taha (20:113) :
“And thus We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an…”

15. F5 : AGE
~We believed that a more mature and experienced student has
more contextual knowledge compared to 10 year old student~

16. • Ehrman and Oxfords’ study (1995) on 855 people (55%
boys and 45% girls, 83% workers and 17% students) found
that children use various of simple and easy strategies in
completing tasks. Meanwhile for matured students are
more flexible in using general and high-tech strategies.
This shows that why matured students are more
dedicated in learning grammar.