Factors Affecting

Language Learning

Strategies

1. Motivation

• More motivated students tended to use more strategies than less motivated students.

• The particular reason for studying the language especially as related to their career field was important in the choice of strategies.

• Ehrman and Oxford (1989) discovered that career choice had a major effect on reported language learning strategy use, a finding which they suggest may be the result of underlying motivation.

2. Age

• Students of different ages and stages of second language learning used different strategies.

• From a research, the development of second language differs between in formal language learning environments and in informal language learning environments (e.g.: classrooms).

Second language development in formal language learning environments.

• In the early stages of the second language development, older learners (adolescents and adults) are more efficient than younger learners (children).

• Learners who began learning second language at elementary school level did not necessarily do better in the long run than those who began in early adolescent.

Second language development in informal learning environments.

• Children can eventually speak the second language with native-like fluency, but their parents and older learners are hard to achieve such high levels of mastery of the spoken language, especially in pronunciation/accent.

• Adults and adolescents can make more rapid progress towards mastery of second language in contexts where they can make use of the language on a daily basis in social, personal, professional, or academic interaction.

3. Learner Beliefs

• Usually based on previous learning experiences.

• Virtually all learners, particularly older learners, have strong beliefs about how their language instruction should be delivered.

• Learners’ beliefs about how language learned influenced the strategies that they will choose to learn new material.

4. Intelligence

• Based on findings of a research, intelligence may be a strong factor and it may also play a less important role.

• Intelligence is complex.

• A person has many kinds of abilities and strengths.

• Shows that an individual with strong academic performance does not necessarily mean that he/she is a successful language learner.

5. Aptitude

• Aptitude refers to potential for achievement.

• An aptitude test is designed to make a prediction about an individual’s future achievements.

• However, successful language learners are not necessarily strong in all components of aptitude because some may have strong memories but only average ability to figure out grammatical rules.