The learning strategies of beginning ESL learners at the primary level

This study investigates the language learning strategies used by beginning level ESL learners at the primary level. Scholars in the field have suggested that successful language learners employ certain strategies to aid their learning of a second language and that unsuccessful language learners could be taught these language learning strategies. Much research has been done to identify these strategies among adolescent and adult learners but very little research has been conducted in this area with children. In this study, 120 Francophone learners at four primary schools in Quebec were asked to report on their language learning strategies through two studies: Study 1 (N = 100) and Study 2 (N = 20). In Study 1 students were surveyed about their language learning strategies, using Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) adapted for use with children. In Study 2 children from the same general population as those surveyed in Study 1 were questioned about their use of specific strategies in an in-depth interview. It was hypothesized that the strategies children use would be similar to or different from those of adults depending on the category of strategies. Similarities were expected at the level of the more concrete cognitive strategies such as practice and repetition, and differences were expected at the level of the more abstract learning strategies for developing cognitive processes, such as those related to grammar. Successful learners were expected to demonstrate different patterns of strategy use from unsuccessful learners, and they were expected to be more adroit at selecting strategies which were more effective and appropriate for them than unsuccessful language learners. This study presents evidence confirming these hypotheses.