Taiwan Journal of Linguistics

A Diamond Open Access Journal (free to authors and readers)
ISSN: 1729-4649 (print); 1994-2559 (online)

A STUDY ON LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES (LLSs) Of UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN HONG KONG

Kevin Chi-Him Tam
The major purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between gender, second language proficiency, socioeconomic status, and language learning strategies (LLSs). The data for this research were provided by 50 first year university students from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, using SILL test version 7.0 developed by Oxford (1990) as the measurement instrument. The Use of English Examination Results (HKALE) was used as a proficiency indicator. It was found that gender, second language proficiency, and socioeconomic status would affect the user’s use of LLSs. The major finding was that males and females had a significant difference in using Memory, Compensation, Cognitive, Metacognitive, and Social Strategies to learn English, with females using all of these strategies more frequently than males. A positive correlation was found between Compensation, Cognitive, and Social Strategies and the users’ second language proficiency. It was also found that socioeconomic status would greatly influence local university students’ use of Social Strategies. This result provides area for future research since the relationship between socioeconomic statuses since LLSs was seldom investigated in previous studies. Key words: language learning strategies, gender, socioeconomic status, second language acquisition, English learning

有關香港大學生的語言學習策略(LLSs)研究

譚志謙/ 香港大學
本文利用由Oxford (1990) 所設計的語言學習策略量表(SILL 7.0) 作為研究工具,嘗試找出性別、第二語言程度、社會經濟地位及語言學習策略(LLSs) 相互間之關係。此研究訪問共50名香港理工大學一年級學士學位學生,並以其香港高級程度會考 (HKALE) 中英語運用科 (USE OF ENGLISH) 的考試積點作為第二語言的程度指標。 研究結果顯示,性別、第二語言程度及社會經濟地位皆會顯著影響受訪者對語言學習策略(LLSs) 之運用。在性別範疇上,男性與女性在運用記憶策略 (memory strategies) 、認知策略(cognitive strategies)、補償策略(compensation strategies) 、後設認知策略(meta-cognitive strategies) 及社交策略(social strategies)上有顯著分別,而女性相對男性較頻繁運用上述策略。另外,補償策略 (compensation strategies) 、認知策略(cognitive strategies) 及社交策略(social strategies) 與使用者的第二語言程度有正相關關係。研究結果亦指出,香港大學生的社會經濟地位對於對其於社交策略 (social strategies) 的運用有重要影響。由於先前有關學習策略的較少提及社會經濟地位,此項發現將可能提供新的研究方向。 關鍵詞:社會經濟地位、語言學習策略、第二語言習得