The Importance Of Learning Strategies

Students have different strategies in learning, especially while learning a second language. Based on preliminary interview, students find it easier by watching movies and reading a book or magazine. They have to decide their learning strategies which more suitable to make they understand the lesson more. As Oxford (1990) stated that “Learning strategies are specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster and more enjoyable, more self directed, more effective and more transferable to new situation.” So, learning strategies are what students do in their learning process in order to get a better understanding about the lesson. Therefore, students need to use their learning strategies as one of tools to achieve their goals, because there are only eight hours per day for students to learn at the school but not everything can be taught in the classroom (Harmer, 2002: 335), then the rest of the hours students have to study by themselves. Therefore, learning strategies help students to study with or without teacher in an enjoyable way for them because, it is

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impossible for teachers to always teach everything, unless the students themselves want to learn.

Furthermore, Wenden (1987) in Learner Strategies in Language

Learning book, there was an ancient proverb “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime”. This can be interpreted as students if they only know the answer of the question without know how to solve it.