Foreign language learning strategies: do different strategies lead to different levels of proficiency?

Abstract

This study focused on learning strategies used by students of foreign languages. It sought to find out whether the use of different learning strategies led to different levels of proficiency. It tried to establish which learning strategies students considered important or beneficial to them, and which of these were of more benefit than others towards accelerating proficiency. The foreign language that was examined was German and the sample was composed of eighteen intermediate level students learning the language at the Goethe Institute in Nairobi. Data were collected using an adapted version of the SILL Questionnaire developed by Oxford (1990). The data so collected were analysed using a statistical package called SPSS. In addition, at the end of the learning course, a written examination was administered; the results were used to determine the written proficiency rankings. These were then compared with students' strategy preferences in order to determine the relationship' between strategies and proficiency. The findings indicated that learners who made use of more learning strategies than others scored higher on the written proficiency test. The results showed that these learners mostly made use of metacognitive learning strategies and, to some extent, also (used) social learning strategies.