learning strategies

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the mediator role of learning strategies in the relationship between academic self-efficacy and test anxiety.  Method: This research was done in a descriptive-correlational manner. The sample of study consisted of 350 public high school students from four high schools in Kerman selected by random multistage cluster sampling method. To gather the data, the academic self-efficacy Scale (Jinks- Morgan, 1999), learning strategies scale (Kember et al., 2004), and the test anxiety scale (Friedman-Jacob, 1997) were used. Results: Path analysis results showed that Academic self-efficacy had both direct (=−.20), and indirect effects, mediated by Deep and Surface strategies (=−.08). Deep learning strategy was the strongest predictor, with a direct effect value of -0.32. The explanatory power of the predictors on test anxiety was medium (R2= 0.36). Conclusion: According to the results, the learning strategies (deep) and academic self-efficacy had a significant effect on students' test anxiety. Therefore, strengthening of this individual feature in students can lead to the better performance of students in the exam situation by decreasing test anxiety.

The present study aimed at discovering the practices and strategies autonomous EFL learners pursue in their endeavor to master English. It thus set out in the Iranian context, with 60 EFL learners, both autonomous and non-autonomous, as participants. The gathered data through a questionnaire and an interview were subjected to content and descriptive analysis. The results showed that both autonomous and non-autonomous learners preferred to apply receptive activities rather than productive ones. However, autonomous learners practiced more productive activities such as composing emails, writing articles, chatting with native speakers and their friends, as compared with non-autonomous learners. Regarding the use of strategies, autonomous learners used more metacognitive strategies, while non-autonomous learners preferred social strategies.

This experimental study considered the effects of learning style variations on EFL learners’ performance in different question types of the reading skill and their strategies to get higher scores. To achieve such goals, ninety learners with different academic backgrounds from IELTS classes of Shukuh English Language Institute in Tehran, participated in this study. The researcher first utilized two questionnaires with regard to learning styles and strategy uses. According to the Kolb’s questionnaire it is believed that learners have Activist, Theorist, Pragmatist and Reflector learning styles. A majority of candidates were recognized as Reflector but activist candidates had a better performance in IELTS and also for strategy use. In considering learning style variation according to the results of the one-way analysis of variance, we were on the safe side to say that variation due to belonging to different style groups causes variation of performance for Yes, No, not given questions in reading skill. The most favorable learning strategy of the activist learners, who were the most successful students according to their band scores, was making summaries which had not only the highest frequency, but also the highest weighted sum.

This paper reports on how top EFL students foster oral communication strategies (OCSs) throughout their 4-year English program at the university level. It is a cross-sectional study of 40 EFL learners enrolled in the Department of English, Faculty of Education, Taiz University, Yemen. Data were collected through a questionnaire based on Oxford’s Strategy inventory for language learning (SILL). The findings revealed that the respondents not only used listening and speaking strategies in Oxford’s inventory but also invented some other strategies to cope with their learning environment. It was also found that the more they advance in the EFL program, the more their strategic competence improves. The results confirm previous studies that high-achieving learners employ several OCSs which facilitate their success. These strategies are put forward to low-achieving learners so as to elevate their English learning.

Applying metacognitive strategies leads to better listening comprehension and optimal use of learners’ other cognitive skills. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the metacognitive strategies that non-Iranian Persian learners employ to comprehend oral texts and whether gender and mother tongue have any effect on it. This research is a field study in which after calculating the item reliability of the questionnaire, data were collected quantitatively through Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) developed by Vandergrift, Mareschal, and Tafaghodtari (2006). One hundred nineteen adult Persian learners from eight countries participated in this study. Data analysis indicated that non-Iranian Persian learners use problem-solving, direct attention, planning-evaluation, personal knowledge, and mental translation strategies respectively. Furthermore, the findings showed that male Persian learners employ metacognitive strategies more than female learners, even though this difference was not very significant, and that mother tongue has no effect on the use of these strategies. Research findings will help Persian language teachers to take into consideration each group of learners’ preferences and extent of their use, as well as variables such as gender and nationality.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of students' learning styles on their performance in various question types of the listening section of IELTS examination as well as their strategy selection. To this aim, 90 Iranian IELTS candidates from IELTS courses of an English language institute in Tehran, took part in the study as the sampling method was based on availability. The participants of the study comprised of 35 males and 55 females, and they mostly aged between 20 to 27 years old. The researcher first used Kolb's questionnaire to recognize the individual learning styles of candidates, which were accordingly categorized into four classes as activists, theorists, pragmatists, and reflectors. The results obtained from the one-way ANOVA showed that the dissimilarity of the style groups causes different performance in some question types of the listening test. In the note completion, multiple choice, and matching question types, the findings indicated a statistically significant difference. Therefore, it could generally be argued that in these three types of questions in the listening comprehension module of the IELTS examination, variation in different learning styles groups causes variation of performance in different question types. The results of the present study also reveal that the style preferences affect the individual differences in selecting the learning strategies

This study attempted to find the relationship between teacher-student interactions and self-regulated learning strategies among EFL learners. The population of the study comprised of 50 Iranian EFL female learners. The participants ,with an age range of 18 to 25, studied English at language institutes located in the city of Genaveh. They were selected as a homogenous sample based on their performance on English language proficiency test of Oxford Placement Test. Then the Questionnaire on Teacher-Student Interaction (QTI) and the Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ) (Brown, Miller, & Lawendowski, 1999) were given to the learners to collect the data. Findings showed that there is a significant relationship between teacher-student interaction, and self-regulated learning strategies A multiple regression analysis was run to predict self-regulated learning strategies by using teacher-student interaction and its subscales. The results showed that Responsibility subscale (.β=.369, P=.003) and Admonish subscale (β=.415, P=.000) could positively and significantly predict learners self-regulated learning strategies.

This study attempted to find the relationship between teacher-student interactions and self-regulated learning strategies among EFL learners. The population of the study comprised of 50 Iranian EFL female learners. The participants ,with an age range of 18 to 25, studied English at language institutes located in the city of Genaveh. They were selected as a homogenous sample based on their performance on English language proficiency test of Oxford Placement Test. Then the Questionnaire on Teacher-Student Interaction (QTI) and the Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ) (Brown, Miller, & Lawendowski, 1999) were given to the learners to collect the data. Findings showed that there is a significant relationship between teacher-student interaction, and self-regulated learning strategies A multiple regression analysis was run to predict self-regulated learning strategies by using teacher-student interaction and its subscales. The results showed that Responsibility subscale (.β=.369, P=.003) and Admonish subscale (β=.415, P=.000) could positively and significantly predict learners self-regulated learning strategies.