The Descriptive Analysis of the Findings from the SILL Questionnaire

The SILL (ESL / EFL Version 7. 0) was implemented in this descriptive study to explore participants’ LLS use. Considering six categories of language learning strategies, the SILL was used to determine the participants’ level of strategy use. There are three levels developed to understand how often learners use strategies while learning English: high usage, medium usage, and low usage. According to Oxford (1990), if calculated mean score is between 1.0 – 2.4 or lower than these scores, it can be called as low usage. Similarly, medium usage ranges from 2.5 to 3.4 mean scores. On condition that learners’ language learning strategy use is measured between 4. 5 and 5.0 mean scores, these learners can be called as high level users. As shown Table 8, the responses of the participants were categorized into two different levels based on their overall strategy use mean scores. The study found that all strategy categories were preferred at medium level except that of cognitive strategies which were found to be used at low level by the participants (M=2.47). Moreover, it can be said that cognitive strategies were used at medium level as well since their mean score was found to be 2.47 which is so close to 2.50. Besides, results of SILL revealed that memory strategies and compensatory strategies were found to be the most preferred language learning strategies with 2.86 mean score. Furthermore, they were followed by metacognitive strategies (M = 2.80), social strategies (M = 2.78), and affective strategies (M = 2.74).

Table 8

Overall Strategy Use Scores

n Mean Usage

Memory Strategies 175 2,86 MEDIUM

Cognitive Strategies 175 2,47 LOW

Compensatory Strategies 175 2,86 MEDIUM

Metacognitive Strategies 175 2,80 MEDIUM

Affective Strategies 175 2,74 MEDIUM

Social Strategies 175 2,78 MEDIUM

As for the memory strategies (Items 1 to 9), seen in Table 9, most of the learners, 62.9% of the participants, stated that they thought about the relationship between what they already know and the new information when learning English (Statement 1). However, 37.2% of the participants said that this strategy was not true for them. Dealing with second memory strategy which is using new words in a sentence so that it can be remembered well (Statement 2), it was found that the percentage of students reporting that they used newly learnt words in a sentence so as not to forget them was 57.1% while 42.9% of the participants said that they were not using this strategy. As for another item considering the connecting the sound of a new word and an image of the word, 65.7% of the participants stated that they matched the pronunciation of the new word to an image or a picture in order to store and retrieve the it in their minds (Statement 3) while 34.3% reported that they weren’t using this strategy. Moreover, most of the participants (70.8%) used mental pictures of a situation in which the new word is utilized in order to remember it (Statement 4) while 29.2% of the participants reported that they did not use that kind of memory strategy.

Additionally, considering the strategy regarding rhymes (Statement 4), the percentage of participants using rhymes to remember new words was 55.3% whereas 44.7 % of the participants reported that they did not use such kind of strategy. As for using flash cards to remember new word (Statement 6), 40% of the participants used the strategy while 60% of the participants stated that it was not true for them. Furthermore, considering the result, we can say that physically acting out or using body language does not have crucial influence on learning. In other words, while 52.6% of the participants reported that they used the strategy that “I physically act out new English words” (Statement 7), nearly half of the participants (47.4%) explained that this strategy was not true for them.

In addition to these, a large number of participants (71.5%) were found to review English lessons (Statement 8) while 28.5% of them did not use this strategy. As for the last item of the memory strategies that “I remember new words or phrases by remembering their location on the page, on the board, or on a street sign” (Statement9), 60.6% of the participants reported that they used that kind of memory strategy. On the other hand, 39.4% of the participants stated that they were not using it.

By looking at the results, one can easily deduce that students who participated to this study used mental linkages such as image or picture for remembering the words.

Also, it was found that rhymes or flashcards do not have significant effect upon retrieval of the words.

responses are presented in the Table 10. As understood from the Table 10, it can clearly be understood that participants do not use cognitive strategies very often except from the item regarding translation from English to Turkish. May be, this can be stemmed from their strong beliefs about language learning that translation plays significant role in language learning.

As shown table 10, great majority of the participants (78.9%) practiced English either by saying or by writing new words several times (Statement 10). Only 21.1% of the participants stated that this strategy was not true for them. Also, study found that 46.3% of the participants tried to interact with people by using English like native speakers (Statement 11). On the other hand, 53.7 % of the participants responded that they were not using this strategy. Regarding the use of another cognitive strategy that

“I practice the sounds of English which are not specific to Turkish” (Statement 12), the percentage of the participants using the strategy was 32.5% while great majority of the participants (77.5%) reported that they did not use this strategy. Moreover, while almost half of the participants (49.2%) used English words that they know in different ways (Statement 13), the rest of the participants, 50.8%, did not use this strategy. As for another strategy that “I start conversations in English” (Statement14), almost 1/5 of the participants reported that they used the strategy. On the other hand, a number of students constituting 80% of the students did not adopt this strategy. Furthermore the present study revealed that 56.6% of the participants did not watch English language TV shows spoken in English or go to movies spoken in English (Statement 15) whereas 43.4 % of them preferred to use this strategy. Moreover study found that 60% of the participants liked reading for pleasure in English (Statement 16) while the percent of the participants who stated that they were not using the strategy was found to be 40%.

Likewise, similar results were found considering statement 17. According to results, participants (80.5 %) did not write notes, messages, letters or reports in English (Statement 17) while 19.5% of them wrote messages, notes in English. As for another item regarding the use of another cognitive strategy, 34.3% participants did not read over an English passage before they read it carefully (Statement 18) while majority of the participants (65.7%) reported that, at first they skimmed the English text then they went on and read it attentively. Similarly, 57.7% of the participants reported that they looked for Turkish equivalents of new words (Statement 19) while 42.3% of the participants did not seem to search similar words in their native language. Likewise, a large number of students tried to find patterns in English (Statement 20). The current study found that 62.9% of participants used this cognitive strategy while 37.1% of the participants showed that they did not use this cognitive strategy. As for another strategy which deals with finding meaning of new word by dividing into parts they understand (Statement 21), only 34.3% of the participants reported that they used this strategy.

However, 65.7% of them said that this was not true for them. Moreover, by looking at

the results revealed from the item regarding interpretation or translation of every word they hear or see (Statement 22), it can be said that participants gave much importance to translation. In other words, study revealed that great number of students (62.9%) said that they translated the sentences they read or saw word by word in order to interpret it easily. Only small percent of the participants (37.1%) reported not to use this strategy.

Finally 29.7 % of the participants reported that they summarized the information which they hear or read in English (Statement 23) while 60.3% said that this strategy was not true for them. compensation strategies effectively with help of gestures, using their body languages, guessing the meanings of the words, using synonyms of the unknown words. As shown

Table 11, most of the participants (74.9%) tried to find meaning of the English words by guessing (Statement 24), only quarter of the participants (25.1%) did not use this strategy. In addition, almost half of the participants (58.9%) reported to use the strategy that “When I cannot think of a word during a conversation in English, I use gestures”

(Statement 25). However, 41.1 % of them reported that they did not use this strategy.

Another strategy includes making up new words if they do not know correct ones in English (Statement 26). Most of the students (60%) stated that they did not make up new words instead of unknown ones. The present study revealed that 40% of the participants they made up new words if they did not know appropriate ones. Similarly, half of the participants (51.5%) stated that they kept on reading without looking up dictionary when they came across an unknown word (Statement 27). Furthermore, nearly half of the participants (48.5%) reported that they did not use a dictionary when they came across a new word and they continued reading. As for another compensatory strategy that “I try to guess what other person will say next in English” (Statement 28), 57.7% of the participants were found to use this strategy while 42.3% of the participants said that they did not use it. In addition to these, results showed that 62.3% of the participants used synonyms for unknown English words (Statement 29) while 37.7 % of them reported that this strategy was not true for them.

Table 11

In the meta-cognitive strategies category (items from 30 to 38), participants were found to use various kinds of meta-cognitive strategies (see Table 12). First of all, considering statement 30, as shown in the Table 12, 54.9% of the participants stated that they looked for as many ways as possible to use English (Statement 30). However, 43.1% of the participants said that this strategy was not true for them. Considering the next item that “I notice my English mistakes and use that information to help me do better” (Statement 31), 61.7 % of the participants reported to use this strategy. On the other hand, it was found that 38.3% of the participants did not use this strategy. As for another item regarding paying attention when someone is speaking English (Statement 32), the percentage of students who reported using this strategy was 72.9% while the percentage of the participants stating that they did not use this strategy was found to be 27.9%. Moreover, results showed that 62.9% of the participants searched for ways to answer how they learn English better (Statement 33). On the contrary, 37.1% of them reported that this strategy was not true for them. Regarding planning their schedule (Statement 34), 64.6% of the participants stated that they didn’t use this strategy while 35.4% of them said that this strategy was true for them. Additionally, the current study revealed that nearly half of the participants looked for opportunities to communicate with people in English (Statement 35), and 53.1 % of the participants reported that they did not use this strategy. Furthermore, 46.3% of the participants reported that they did their best to create opportunities to read in English (Statement 36) while 53.7% of them reported that they did not use this strategy. Similarly, nearly half of the participants (49.7%) responded that they had clear goals to improve their English skills (Statement 37) while 50.3% stated that they did not have clear goals to improve their English. As for the last item of metacognitive strategies that “I think about my progress in learning English” (Statement 38), participants stated that they evaluated their progress in English while 38.3% of them reported that they did not use that strategy. Consequently, participants were found to arrange their learning and evaluate their progress in language learning process.

Table 12 language learners’ affective sides, emotions and their motivations. Results showed that participants were able to handle difficulties like anxiety and they did not let them influence the language learning process negatively.

Table 13 shows that most of the participants (63.3%) tried to relax when they felt themselves anxious and afraid of using English (Statement 39). Only 36.7% of them reported that they did not use this strategy. Nearly similar results were found considering another affective strategy which is encouraging themselves to speak English even when they are afraid of making mistakes while speaking English (Statement40). The percentage of participants who reported using this type of affective strategy was 65.7% while 34.3% of them reported that they did not use that kind of strategy. As for another affective strategy which deals with rewarding themselves when they achieved something in learning English (Statement 41), study found that nearly half of the participants (50.8%) reported using this strategy while 49.2% of them stated that it was not true for them. Furthermore, study found that 69.1% of the participants stated that they could realize it easily when they felt anxious while learning English (Statement 42) while only 30.9% of the participants were found not to use this kind of

the strategy. In addition to these, study revealed that 32% of the students participating to study wrote down their feelings in language learning diary while 68% of them said that they did not use this strategy. Besides, 58.3% of the participants shared their feelings with someone else about how they felt when they were learning English (Statement 44) whereas 42.7% of them stated that they did not use this type of affective strategy.

Table13 category. As for the strategy that “If I do not understand something in English, I ask the other person to slow down or say it again” (Statement 45), 80.6% of the participants stated that they were using this kind of social strategy. On the other hand, 19.4% of them stated that they did not use this strategy. Similar result was found regarding another social strategy which is asking English speakers to correct students when they speak (Statement 46). The percentage of students reporting that they used this strategy was found to be 74.3% while percentage of participants reporting that this strategy was not true for them was 25.7%. Regarding another social strategy that “I practice English with other students at school” (Statement47), the current study revealed that 81.1% of the participants did not use this strategy, only small percent (18.9%) said that this strategy was true for them. Also, result revealed that 66.4% of the participants asked for help from English speakers when they needed help (Statement 48) whereas 33.6% of them stated that they were not using this strategy. Surprisingly, interesting result was

found considering the item which is asking questions in English (Statement 49). While 41.1% of the participants struggled to ask questions in English, 58.9% of them stated that this strategy was not true for them. As for the last item of social strategy that “I try to learn about target culture of English speakers” (Statement 50), 40.6% of the participants reported that they were using the strategy more than half of the participants (59.4%) were found not to use this type of strategy.

Table 14 pictures to remember the meaning of a word. Also, participants remembered the words or phrases by visualizing their locations on page or a sign. Many participants were found to be eager to repeat what they learnt especially by writing. However, they were found to be unwilling to practice English by speaking like native speaker. Additionally, the study revealed that participants controlled their emotions in language learning process. For example, when they felt themselves worried and anxious, most of them noticed it easily, they took necessary precautions like rewarding themselves.

Furthermore, participants tended to compensate what they missed during the conversation. For instance, they reported to use synonyms of words which they could not remember at the time of conversation or they used their gestures. Moreover, participants clearly asked someone for help when they had problem in understanding what other people were saying in the conversation. For example, participants asked

other people to slow down or repeat what they had said before when they did not understand something in English.

Next, participants followed their progress in language learning. Once they made any mistakes, they easily noticed them and learnt something new from their mistakes.

Last but not least, students reported that they evaluated their improvement in learning English.