Foreign Language Learning Strategies

CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF

GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH

Department of English Language Teaching

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES USE, GRADE OF COLLEGE LEVEL AND GENDER: A STUDY OF EFL LEARNERS AT THE

UNIVERSITY OF RAPARIN IN NORTHERN IRAQ

MA Thesis

Latif Yahya Hamad Amin

Supervisor

Assist. Prof. Dr. Ozge RAZI

Nicosia - 2015

ABSTRACT

In the past decades, numerous researches in the era of foreign language learning strategies have been observed by a lot of successful researchers around the world. Their results showed the productive effectiveness and the significant role of language learning strategies for successful language learning. Accordingly, various factors have been found which directly

Rubin derived the language learning strategies under the perspective of cognitive psychology. Afterwards, the scope of language learning strategies (LLSs) was integrated with the cognitive of psychology in which Training research on learning strategies with second languages has been limited almost exclusively to cognitive strategy applications. In the point of that view, various types of strategies were born, as O’Malley cited “Cognitive strategies are more directly related to individual learning tasks or transformation of the learning tasks and entail direct manipulation or transformation of materials” (Brown and Palincsar, 1982). Another type of LLSs that suggested in the literature on cognitive psychology was metacognitive strategies which involve “thinking about the learning process, planning for learning, monitoring comprehension or production while it is taking place, and self-evaluation of learning after the language activity is completed” (O’Malley et al, 1985;

The first person -who defined language learning strategies- is Aaron Carton who took the first attempt on learner strategies in his study entitled The “Method of Inference” in Foreign Language Study in 1966. In 1971, after Carton’s published study, Joan Rubin began to research on this area to identify language learning strategies for foreign language learners. Based on her observations on the good language learners, she classified LLS as a process into direct and indirect language learning (Rubin 1975). Furthermore, Oxford (1990) defined Language learning strategies as operations and specific actions which the language learners use to assist the acquisition, retrieval, storage, and use of information. These strategies are very utilizable to make language learning easier, faster, more enjoyable and effective that direct learners to cope with learning