engleski

Language Learning Strategies and Young EFL Learners

Young learners use various learning strategies in order to learn a new language more easily and successfully. There are many factors that influence learners’ strategy choice, which is why EFL teachers have an important role in finding the strategies that are the most suitable for their pupils and instructing them on how and when to use them. This thesis shows the results of research conducted in a Croatian primary school regarding English language learning strategies used by second, third and fourth grade pupils. The participants were given two anonymous questionnaires. A general questionnaire provided general information about the participants’ gender, age, class and mark, their usage of English outside of school, and their attitudes towards English language in general. A language learning strategy questionnaire provided data on the usage of listening, vocabulary, speaking and reading strategies. The results of the research show that the following strategies were the most used by the participants: listening strategy ‘I listen for what seems interesting’ (81.97%), vocabulary strategy ‘Later I go to remind myself about words I learned earlier’ (79.51%), speaking strategy ‘I plan what I am going to say’ (64.75%), and reading strategy ‘I look at the pictures and what is under the pictures’ (67.21%). Statistically significant differences in the learners’ use of strategies according to age and gender were only partial, since only seven of the fifty strategies showed a statistically significant difference in favour of the female participants. Likewise, only twenty-six out of fifty strategies showed a statistically significant difference according to grade, mainly in favour of the third graders, i.e. sixteen strategies were most frequently used by this age group.

EFL, language learning strategies, young learners

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