Tìm hiểu chiến lược học ngôn ngữ của một sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh sử dụng để viết một đoạn văn

24<br /> <br /> Tran Vu Mai Yen<br /> <br /> LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY A NON-ENGLISH MAJOR LEARNER TO<br /> COMPOSE A WRITTEN TEXT: AN INTERVIEW STUDY<br /> TÌM HIỂU CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC NGÔN NGỮ CỦA MỘT SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN<br /> TIẾNG ANH SỬ DỤNG ĐỂ VIẾT MỘT ĐOẠN VĂN<br /> Tran Vu Mai Yen<br /> University of Foreign Language Studies - The University of Da Nang; tvmyen@ufl.udn.vn<br /> Abstract - This article studies the learning strategies used by a<br /> Vietnamese learner of English when producing an English written<br /> text. The participant was asked to write a reflection on her present<br /> life and study with some suggested ideas provided. An interview<br /> was set and recorded after the participant had completed the task<br /> to clarify different learning strategies that she had employed in<br /> writing. The data collected from the interview were analysed based<br /> on O’Malley’s (1990) classification of metacognitive, cognitive, and<br /> social affective strategies. The participant revealed preferable uses<br /> of metacognitive and social affective strategies, but little use of<br /> cognitive strategies. This study will be helpful to the identification<br /> of similar groups of Vietnamese female learners of English, taking<br /> into account of their learning strategies.<br /> <br /> Tóm tắt - Bài viết này nghiên cứu các chiến lược học tập được một<br /> sinh viên không chuyên Tiếng Anh sử dụng để viết một đoạn văn bằng<br /> tiếng Anh. Người tham gia khảo sát được yêu cầu viết một đoạn văn<br /> mô tả về cuộc sống hiện tại của mình với những gợi ý cho sẵn. Đoạn<br /> phỏng vấn được ghi âm sau khi sinh viên hoàn thành xong phần viết<br /> nhằm tìm hiểu các chiến lược học ngôn ngữ khác nhau được sử dụng<br /> để làm bài viết. Dữ liệu thu thập từ cuộc phỏng vấn được phân tích dựa<br /> trên sự phân loại các nhóm chiến lược học ngôn ngữ của O’Malley<br /> (1990) như: nhóm chiến lược nhận thức, siêu nhận thức và nhóm chiến<br /> lược kiểm soát cảm xúc. Kết quả cho thấy, người tham gia sử dụng<br /> nhóm chiến lược siêu nhận thức và nhóm chiến lược kiểm soát cảm<br /> xúc nhiều hơn nhóm chiến lược nhận thức. Nghiên cứu này sẽ giúp ích<br /> cho việc xác định các nhóm người học là nữ, học Tiếng Anh như một<br /> ngoại ngữ dựa trên cơ sở sử dụng các chiến lược học ngôn ngữ.<br /> <br /> Key words - learning strategies; English writing; non-English major<br /> learner; cognitive; metacognitive<br /> <br /> Từ khóa - chiến lược học; viết Tiếng Anh; sinh viên không chuyên<br /> Tiếng Anh; nhận thức; siêu nhận thức<br /> <br /> 1. Introduction<br /> It is obvious that in second language learning,<br /> appropriate learning strategies used by the learner can<br /> affect his/ her language proficiency. A language learner is<br /> said to be good at language learning if he/she is able to<br /> successfully employ different strategies in mastering the<br /> language. Associated with good language learners, not<br /> only learner’s characteristics but also strategic techniques<br /> could be identified (Stern, 1975). This article studies the<br /> learning strategies used by a second language learner when<br /> he/she produces a written English text.<br /> The article first deals with literature review about the<br /> subject’s proficiency level and sociocultural background,<br /> learning strategies, and their important role in the process of<br /> acquiring a second language. The research method begins<br /> with describing the subject, then introduces the task and how<br /> the data was collected and analysed. A summary of findings<br /> from the data analysis will be presented in the “findings”<br /> section. The discussion of finding will identify the learning<br /> strategies used by the learner to produce a written text.<br /> <br /> maintenance of the information with the purpose of making<br /> learning effective [8]. The benefit of learners' strategies is<br /> emphasized as “specific actions undertaken by the learner to<br /> make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more selfdirected, more effective, and more transferable to new<br /> situations” [10:8]. Learning strategies are defined as what a<br /> learner behaves and thinks during learning that may<br /> influence the learner’s encoding process [14]. Wenden [15]<br /> asserted that learner strategies are the key to learner<br /> autonomy, and that one of the most important objectives in<br /> language teaching is to facilitate the learner’s autonomy. The<br /> appropriate and frequent use of learning strategies will refer<br /> to the student achievement and proficiency; and decide the<br /> student’s level of self-efficacy. Therefore, to increase the<br /> student’s proficiency in the second language, teachers<br /> should study their learners’ variables so that the learners can<br /> be helped to learn how to use more relevant and more<br /> powerful learning strategies. In addition, teachers can get<br /> much understanding of “what makes learners successful and<br /> unsuccessful, and establish in the classroom a milieu for the<br /> realization of successful strategies” [1:124].<br /> Macaro [6] discussed that the strategies employed by a<br /> second language learner are influenced by several factors,<br /> which are called independent variables such as motivation,<br /> sex, age, and background and cultural differences. Rubin<br /> [12] concerned about individual preferences including<br /> learning styles, language proficiency, cultural differences<br /> and the learning environment. Understanding all the<br /> features that are related to the learners and learning process<br /> regarding individual and non-individual factors is totally<br /> helpful for teachers in language instruction.<br /> The learner’s language proficiency also influences<br /> what learning strategies the learners choose; and how<br /> <br /> 2. Literature review<br /> From the mid 1970s to the 1990s, much consideration<br /> was taken into learners’ differences, which led to a great deal<br /> of researches on language learning strategies. Some<br /> theoretical ideas have focused on the effects of strategic<br /> factors on the process of language learning. In fact, it is<br /> important to investigate learners’ strategies because they<br /> play a vital role in language learning, and reflect how<br /> communicatively competent the learner is when using<br /> appropriate strategies. The identification and categorisation<br /> of learner strategies are regarded to be good ways of getting<br /> the information that can enhance comprehension or<br /> <br /> ISSN 1859-1531 - TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ NẴNG, SỐ 8(129).2018<br /> <br /> various and different their choices may be. O’Malley et al.<br /> [8] concluded that students at all levels “reported the use of<br /> an extensive variety of learning strategies”. Students with<br /> greater English proficiency seem to use metacognitive<br /> strategies more than other students. Effective language<br /> learners prefer to use cognitive strategies more frequently<br /> in their learning. On the other hand, in a study of strategies<br /> used by students in Hue University in Vietnam, Duong and<br /> Nguyen [3] found that students at all levels employ<br /> memorization in their language study, which is relevant to<br /> cognitive strategy.<br /> Different uses of learning strategies are also related to<br /> gender. Oxford and Nyikos [9] studied the strategies used<br /> by university students and found that gender differences<br /> definitely influenced on the use of learning strategies.<br /> Politzer [11] reported that females used social learning<br /> strategies significantly more than males. Similar results are<br /> found in a study of Green and Oxford [4], which indicated<br /> that females significantly used learning strategies more<br /> often than males. It is said that the learner’s goal, the<br /> context of learning situation, and the cultural values will<br /> have a significant influence on the choice of language<br /> learning strategies [2].<br /> These studies insist the importance of understanding<br /> the learners’ strategies in learning a foreign language. If the<br /> learner gets enough strategy instructions from the teacher,<br /> he/ she will be able to employ appropriate strategies in<br /> performing a language task.<br /> 3. Research method<br /> 3.1. The Participant<br /> The participant engaged in the study is a female, native<br /> speaker of Vietnamese, whose age is between 23 and 26.<br /> She can speak Vietnamese, Chinese, and English. She has<br /> been studying English for over 6 years, including 3 years<br /> at high school, 3 years at Boxhill Institue in Vietnam, and<br /> 4 months at Griffith English Language Institue. When she<br /> was at Boxhill Institute, which was an Australian branch in<br /> Vietnam, her major was accounting. During the time she<br /> studied there, English was the prominent language. So her<br /> English level is intermediate. She is taking a ten - week<br /> course of English for academic purposes at Griffith English<br /> Language Institute and will do a bachelor program in<br /> business at Griffith University next semester.<br /> She agreed to participate in the study with a<br /> commitment that she had the right to choose the suitable<br /> time for the interview when she was in a good mood. The<br /> participant was advised to read the information sheet to get<br /> enough ideas on the purpose of the project and<br /> requirements for the participant. She was also asked to read<br /> and sign a consent form to pledge that she understood what<br /> would be done in the study, what her rights were and how<br /> her participation would contribute to the study.<br /> 3.2. Research Method and Procedure<br /> The research is carried out with an interview on learning<br /> strategies of a female student who has been learning English<br /> as a foreign language. The participant was asked to produce<br /> a written text based on the topic given by the researcher. The<br /> topic for writing was to raise some thoughts about her life<br /> <br /> 25<br /> <br /> and study at present, in Australia. Before doing the task, the<br /> participant some suggested ideas about what she should<br /> consider and include in her writing. The task involved<br /> sharing feelings, experiences, opinions etc.<br /> During the task, the researcher was able to observe and<br /> collect any necessary data. The participant was informed<br /> that her written text would not be used for any other<br /> purposes and that she should feel comfortable in doing the<br /> task as it would not be marked or assessed. Also, she could<br /> feel free to ask the researcher about what she was not sure<br /> when she did the task (e.g. time limit, new vocabulary,<br /> writing format etc.). She was allowed to use a bilingual<br /> dictionary to help with unfamiliar words and phrases. The<br /> time taken for the task was 15 minutes with another 2<br /> minutes to look through the question and suggestions and<br /> to revise her written production. The participant should<br /> make sure that she would finish writing in time.<br /> After finishing the task, the participant was interviewed<br /> and asked about her learning strategies that she employed<br /> to do the task and the reason why she used this strategy, but<br /> not that for each of her writing step. The audio recording<br /> of the interview was then transcribed and used as the main<br /> resource for the analysis.<br /> The transcription of the interview was reviewed to<br /> identify different learning strategies that the participant had<br /> employed. Learning strategies were grouped into three<br /> main categories following O’Malley’s classification,<br /> which are metacognitive, cognitive, and social affective<br /> strategies. How many times the participant used a type of<br /> learning strategy and which seemed to be her preferable<br /> strategy in doing a writing task would reveal to help<br /> understand her learning process.<br /> 4. Findings<br /> This section presents some important findings based on<br /> the analysis of the participant’s strategies use.<br /> 4.1. An Overview of Strategies Used<br /> Different strategy types and the number of instances<br /> that the participant employs in each strategy type are<br /> presented in the following graph.<br /> 12<br /> 10<br /> 8<br /> 6<br /> 4<br /> 2<br /> 0<br /> Meta- CognitiveCognitiveSocial Affective<br /> 4<br /> 4<br /> 3<br /> <br /> Total strategy types<br /> <br /> Number of Instances<br /> <br /> 11<br /> <br /> 4<br /> <br /> 4<br /> <br /> Figure 1. Strategies types and occurrence of stategies<br /> <br /> 4.2. Metacognitive, Cognitive, and Social Affective<br /> strategies<br /> Total instances of metacognitive, cognitive, and social<br /> affective strategies that the participant employs are shown<br /> in Figure 2, 3 and 4.<br /> <br /> 26<br /> <br /> Tran Vu Mai Yen<br /> Self- Evaluation<br /> Self- Monitoring<br /> Organisation Planning<br /> <br /> Advanced Organisation<br /> 0<br /> <br /> 2<br /> <br /> 4<br /> <br /> 6<br /> <br /> Figure 2. Metacognitive strategies<br /> Deduction/ Induction<br /> <br /> Elaboration<br /> <br /> Substitution<br /> <br /> Rehearsal<br /> 0<br /> <br /> 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> 1,2<br /> <br /> Figure 3. Cognitive strategies<br /> <br /> Questioning for classification<br /> Cooperation<br /> Self- reinforcement<br /> 0<br /> <br /> 0,5<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> 1,5<br /> <br /> 2<br /> <br /> 2,5<br /> <br /> Figure 4. Social Affective stragetries<br /> <br /> 4.3. Strategies Used in Different Stages of the Writing Task<br /> Figure 5 introduces each stage of the strategy use before, during, or after the task that the participant employs.<br /> 7<br /> 6<br /> <br /> Pre<br /> <br /> 5<br /> <br /> During<br /> <br /> 4<br /> Post<br /> <br /> 3<br /> 2<br /> 1<br /> 0<br /> Meta-cognitive<br /> <br /> Cognitive Social Affective<br /> <br /> Figure 5. The number of times each stage of<br /> the strategy is used<br /> <br /> The use of metacognitive strategies seems to be<br /> preferable to the participant. She employs different types<br /> of metacognitive strategies before, during, and even after<br /> doing the task. As shown in Figure 1, 11 instances of<br /> metacognitive strategies use are applied by the participant,<br /> which focus more on 4 strategy types: Advanced<br /> organisation, organisation planning, self-monitoring, and<br /> self-evaluation. What is presented in Figure 5 also reveals<br /> <br /> that the participant prefers to use metacognitive strategies<br /> during the task, which accounts for 6 instances. The<br /> number of times she employs metacognitive strategies in<br /> pre-task and post- task is 2. In addition, self-monitoring<br /> and self-evaluation are mostly used among the 4 strategy<br /> types in metacognitive strategies.<br /> The participant is capable of self-monitoring when she is<br /> doing the writing task. This strategy type is the most<br /> favourable among the 4, which makes up 5 occurrences<br /> during and after the task (Figure 2). It is a prominent strategy<br /> when she knows how to manage her writing. She monitors<br /> her ideas and chooses the ideas when necessary by reading<br /> the suggestions many times during the task. The way she has<br /> a look at what she has written shows her ability to control<br /> what she is doing. She explains, “I think it’s not correct and<br /> I check it again but sometimes I think it’s OK”. Her selfmonitoring strategy is also presented in her production. She<br /> checks the writing at sentence level, what she is unsure and<br /> confused, then “I need to use eraser and put another word”<br /> “because I wrote it wrong”. The participant shows her<br /> awareness of the writing content and arrangement of words<br /> and ideas, as she says, “maybe another word can explain<br /> more and it can explain directly many ideas”.<br /> Another strategy type that occurs frequently after the<br /> task with 4 instances is self-evaluation. The participant<br /> judges her writing in terms of production, performance,<br /> ability, and language repertoire after she has finished the<br /> writing task. She thinks a little about how well she does with<br /> the writing, makes some judgments on how good her text is<br /> and how well she uses the language. She can recognise her<br /> strength in most of her writing, that is, “good about ideas but<br /> not good about the sentence or make the sentence well”.<br /> Cognitive strategies are not likely to be the participant’s<br /> favourite choices. Among the number of 15 strategy types<br /> listed in cognitive strategies, there are only 4 employed by<br /> the participant with just 1 instance for each, which are<br /> rehearsal, substitution, elaboration, and deduction/<br /> induction (Figure 3). Cognitive strategies are mostly<br /> employed during the task (Figure 5).<br /> During the task, when she needs to make good sentences,<br /> she spends time practising in her head any sentence to make<br /> sure that it will look good in her writing. “I have to think<br /> about it because it can make the sentence good. If I didn’t<br /> think about it, I don’t know how I can write it.<br /> The substitution strategy is also chosen when she tries<br /> to use a suitable word in the context. She notes that “I just<br /> think which word I use first, and maybe next time… It’s<br /> not next time. It’s like the second text I need to use another<br /> word but the same meaning”. She can choose a synonym<br /> to express her ideas, to avoid the repetition, and to help to<br /> run the ideas in the right order.<br /> One of the most motivated strategies involving in<br /> cognitive strategies that the participant finds significant to<br /> employ is the elaboration strategy. Personal elaboration<br /> regarding anything in the task deals with her opinions of life<br /> and study. She judges that “when I’m writing about present<br /> life and study, it’s uncomfortable because here everything is<br /> new, and it makes me… something a little bit crazy because<br /> <br /> ISSN 1859-1531 - TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ NẴNG, SỐ 8(129).2018<br /> <br /> different life, different country, and study, different way to<br /> study…”. Based on what she feels and thinks, she knows<br /> how to adjust and apply those in what she is going to write.<br /> Her ability to apply appropriate grammar rules is<br /> demonstrated in her deduction/induction strategies. The<br /> participant’s performance in this strategy type is illustrated<br /> by the use of English tenses that she learned. She also<br /> explains why she makes sentences using these tenses, that<br /> “Oh, I used the past sentence… and present continuous.<br /> Yes, because I study here this month and I will study more<br /> than this”.<br /> Among the four strategy types of social affective<br /> strategies, the participant attaches her preference in 3<br /> (Refer to Figure 4), with much consideration on selfreinforcement strategy. After reading the task and its<br /> instructions, she is not sure about the word limit and the<br /> text type; and asked the researcher for clarification. This<br /> strategy is employed just before she does the task. For<br /> cooperation, she chooses to work together with the<br /> researcher when she finishes her writing. What she asks the<br /> researcher is to read her written text and give her some<br /> feedback on her production. Self-reinforcement strategy is<br /> employed twice, during and after the task has been<br /> finished. She highly appreciates her improvement in<br /> writing exercises by doing the task, that “I will be good in<br /> writing. It makes me improve English. Yes, I think it’s<br /> good for me”. The participant is additionally motivated to<br /> do any task in general and this writing task in particular by<br /> setting a reward for herself, which always helps to reduce<br /> stress, and get more energy in her study.<br /> The results suggest that learning strategies play an<br /> important role in students’ learning of a foreign language<br /> and that the student is aware of using them to enhance her<br /> learning. One of the findings shows that the metacognitive<br /> strategy group was most frequently used by the participant.<br /> When the student uses metacognitive strategies in her<br /> learning process, it may indicate that she will get more<br /> motivation and improve her language skill more if she has<br /> a goal to work towards [5].<br /> 4.4. Limitations<br /> The findings of the study derived from answers of just<br /> a female student from non-English major groups.<br /> Therefore, further research should involve a large number<br /> of male and female students doing different tasks so that a<br /> broader view of non-English major students’ language<br /> learning strategies can be drawn.<br /> 5. Conclusion<br /> It is undeniable that the participant is good at choosing<br /> some strategies that are suitable for her doing the writing<br /> task. The data and its analysis of her learning strategies<br /> <br /> 27<br /> <br /> show that she focuses on the two main strategy types in<br /> metacognitive strategies which are self-monitoring and<br /> self-evaluation. Obviously, the number of times she applies<br /> these two strategies reveals the fact that she prefers using<br /> them more than the other strategies. With cognitive<br /> strategies, the participant chooses to use 4 out of 15<br /> strategy types with equal frequencies, which seems to be<br /> her least preferred strategies. Evidence of the use of social<br /> affective strategies includes her employment of 3 among 4<br /> with greater preference in self-reinforcement strategies. It<br /> is suggested that to help this learner make progress in<br /> language learning, efforts in language teaching should be<br /> made to improve her awareness of using metacogitive and<br /> social affective strategies in performing any language tasks<br /> so that the learner can achieve the best proficiency in<br /> language learning.<br /> REFERENCES<br /> [1] Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching<br /> (3rd edition). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall Regents.<br /> [2] Chamot, A. U. (2004). Issues in Language Learning Strategy<br /> Research and Teaching. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language<br /> Teaching, 1 (1), p. 14-26. Retrieved June 1st, 2009, from<br /> http://www.e-flt.nus.edu.sg/ National University of Singapore.<br /> [3] Duong & Nguyen (2006). Memorization and EFL Students'<br /> Strategies at University Level in Vietnam. TESL-EJ, 10 (2), 1-16.<br /> [4] Green, J. & Oxford, R. (1995). 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Applied Linguistics, 19 (4), 515- 537.<br /> <br /> (The Board of Editors received the paper on 27/6/2018, its review was completed on 29/7/2018)<br /> <br />