Language Learning Strategies in Acquiring English Language Skills among Year 5 Pupils in Rural Areas in Southern Malaysia

Abstract

Language Learning Strategies (LLS) and their advantages in enhancing and acquiring second language learning skills are not consciously known, especially to young learners. The main objective of this study is to identify the most preferred language learning strategies by the Year 5 primary pupils in rural areas in Southern Malaysia and the least practiced strategies in learning the English language. This study adopted a quantitative research design by adapting the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning questionnaire as a research instrument. The data was collected from 70 respondents by using a simple random sampling technique and then analysed descriptively. Through a comparison of means, this study had discovered that various strategies were practiced by the respondents. However, the most employed strategy is memory strategies, while the affective strategies are favoured the least. It is hoped that this study may give some insights and benefits to the ESL teachers in enhancing their teaching and learning process by introducing and emphasising various learning strategies for better selfregulated learning.

Language Learning Strategies Used by Malaysian ESL Students to Improve English Communication: A Systematic Literature Review

“…In terms of study design, most of the reviewed studies are quantitative in nature using survey questionnaires (n = 16) (Adan & Hashim, 2021;Aziz & Shah, 2020;Chanderan & Hashim, 2022;Dawi & Hashim, 2022;Omar et al, 2020;Ghulamuddin et al, 2022;Hanafiah et al, 2021;Jais et al, 2022;John et al, 2021;Lim et al, 2021;Min et al, 2021;Nair et al, 2021;Ooi et al, 2021;Sani & Ismail, 2021;Vimalakshan & Aziz, 2021;Zamani et al, 2023) The qualitative studies (n = 6) comprise of literature review (Aziz & Kashinathan, 2021;Kathirvel & Hashim, 2020;Kehing & Yunus, 2021;Ramalingam et al, 2022), focus group interview (Othman et al, 2022), interview, and observation (Zahidi & Ong, 2023). Meanwhile, only one study (n = 1) uses a mixed-methods approach in study design (Kamaruzaman et al, 2023).…”

“…Moreover, John et al (2021) contended that among upper-secondary ESL learners, the metacognitive technique is the most often employed LLS. Accordingly, Kehing and Yunus (2021) it included social and compensatory methods after adding cognitive strategy (Lim et al, 2021;Min et al, 2021;Nair et al, 2021). However, (Ooi et al, 2021), the majority of teenage ESL students in Malaysian secondary schools rely more on their mother tongue to communicate in English and employ little to no tactics for learning the language.…”

Effect of language learning strategies on vocabulary development in CLIL

“…Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the research was carried out in a university, and a primary or secondary school might bring different results. When talking about primary school context, Min et al (2021) report that low achieving learners hardly ever use language learning strategies.…”

“…Language learning strategies have preoccupied researchers for over 50 years (Adan & Hashim, 2021;Vimalakshan & Aziz, 2021). Generally speaking, such strategies significantly support language learning (Adan & Hashim, 2021) and develop literacy skills (Min et al, 2021). When investigated closer, different studies report the positive impact of different learning strategies in relation to the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) questionnaire, one of the most used classification of strategies designed by Oxford (1990).…”

“…By doing so, learners would become more independent and they might then be able to learn in a more organized and goal-oriented way. The student-centred approach influences strategy use in classroom and the development of learners' thinking processes (Adan & Hashim, 2021;Min et al, 2021).…”