1. 5 Factors Affecting Language
Learning Strategies
(GGE6533)
Prepared for: Prof. Dr. Mohamed Amin Embi
Prepared by: Nurul ‘Ain Othman (P76133)

2. 5 Factors:
OMotivation
OGender
OExperience
OProficiency level
OLearning styles

4. Motivation
O motivation and attitudes are the primary sources contributing to
individual language learning. (Gardner, 1985)
O generally, motivation can be a matter explaining why people
decide to do something, how long they are willing to sustain the
activity, and how hard they are going to pursue it. (Dörnyei,
2001)
O Oxford and Nyikos (1989) indicate that the learners with high
motivation to learn a language will likely use a variety of
strategies.
O More motivated learners used more learning strategies, and
more frequently (McIntyre & Noels 1996)

6. Gender
O Females use significantly more learning strategies than
males (Green & Oxford 1995; Gu 2002; Razak et al. 2012)
O Females found to use strategies more frequently even
across cultural backgrounds (Brazil, China, German,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand,
and Togo) and dis/favoured different strategies than
males
O Females used Social and Metacognitive strategies most,
Memory the least; Males used Metacognitive and
Compensation most, Affective least (Hong-Nam &
Leavell 2006)

7. cont..
O In contrast, some studies found males to use learning
strategies more than females
O Males were more likely to use a variety of learning
strategies than females in a study of adult Vietnamese
refugees (Tran 1988)
O With 678 Singaporean university students, males used a
greater number of strategies significantly more often
than females (Wharton 2000)
O Although no significant gender differences, males used
significantly more social strategies than females (Radwan
2011)

9. Experience
O Purdie and Oliver (1999) highlights the importance
of experience in studying a language as one of the
factors affecting the choices of language learning
strategies.
O studying abroad is deemed to have an influence on
students’ thought and learning style, especially in
their actual ability in language learning.

11. Proficiency level
O High level of proficiency associated with increased use
of both direct and indirect strategies (Green & Oxford
1995; Park 1997; Chen 2002)
O In Park (1997) and Peacock and Ho’s (2003) studies, a
linear correlation and significant correlations between
strategy use and proficiency level were found among
Korean EFL learners and university students in Hong
Kong respectively
O Cognitive and metacognitive strategies show high
correlations with high language proficiency levels
(Peacock & Ho 2003)

12. cont..
O Differing levels of proficiency gave rise to differing
frequencies of strategy use— intermediate students
used metacognitive strategies more than beginners,
while the latter used more translation strategies
(O’Malley et al. 1985)
O Low-proficiency students used more communication
strategies than high- proficiency ones (Chen 1990)
O Low-proficiency students outperformed the high-
proficiency ones in their use of compensation
strategies (Chen 2002)

14. Learning styles
O an individual’s learning style preferences influence
the type of LLSs they use (Ehrman and Oxford, 1990;
Rossi-Le, 1995; among others)
O Extroverts, for example, show a strong preference for
social strategies, while introverts use metacognitive
strategies more frequently (Ehrman and Oxford,
1990)
O learners who favour group study are shown to use
social and interactive strategies, such as working with
peers or requesting clarification (Rossi-Le, 1995).

15. Thank you! 