5 FACTORS AFFECTING

LLS USAGE
NORA EZZATI BINTI AZMI
P83215

MOTIVATION

SOCIOECONO
MIC STATUS

LANGUAGE
PROFICIENCY
LEVEL

LEARNING
STYLE

GENDER

MOTIVATION
According to Gardner (1985),
motivation and attitudes are the
primary sources contributing to
individual language learning.
Gardner has described the
phenomenon of motivation as
consisting of four components: a
goal, effort, want, and attitudes
toward the learning activity.

Drnyei (2001), one of the wellknown leaders within the field of

motivation also states, generally,
motivation can be a matter
explaining why people decide to do
something, how long they are
willing to sustain the activity, and
how hard they are going to pursue
it. Similarly, Oxford and Nyikos
(1989) indicate that the learners
with high motivation to learn a
language will likely use a variety of
strategies.

LEARNING
Studies in this area point
STYLE
to the fact that an
individuals learning style
preferences influence the
type of LLSs they use
(Ehrman and Oxford,
1990; Rossi-Le, 1995;
among others).
Extroverts, for example,
show a strong preference
for social strategies,
while introverts use
metacognitive strategies
more frequently (Ehrman
and Oxford, 1990);
learners who favour
group study are shown to
use social and interactive
strategies, such as
working with peers or

GENDER
A number of studies
reported significantly more
use of learning strategies
than their male
counterparts (e.g. Goh &
Kwah, 1997; Factors
Affecting Language
Learning Strategy
Reported Usage 71 Green
& Oxford, 1995; Gu 2002).
These studies postulated
that female students used
Compensation and
Affective strategies more
frequently than male ones
males used learning
strategies more than
females when learning a
language (Tran, 1988;
Wharton, 2000).

LANGUAGE
PROFICIENCY
Previous studies
have
also pointed
LEVEL

out that a high

level of proficiency
is associated with
an increased use
of both direct and
indirect strategies
(Green & Oxford
1995; Kato 2005;
among others)
The higher their
overall English
proficiency, the
more frequently
they used these

SOCIOECONOMIC
STATUS

Language learning is closely

related to the social
environment of learners.
Since students from different
socioeconomic statuses have
different resources to
facilitate their language
learning, the languagelearning environment of
students with different social
backgrounds should be
different.
Students with higher
socioeconomic status
generally perform better
than their poorer
counterparts due to their
richer economic capital and
linguistic capital (Bourdieu
1973; Flowerdew & Miller
2008).
It is assumed that the
socioeconomic status of
subjects can be reflected by

REFERENCES
1. Kevin Chi-Him Tam. 2013. A Study On Language Learning Strategies
(LLSs) Of University Students In Hong Kong. Taiwan Journal of Linguistics.
Vol. 11.2, 1-42, 2013.
http://tjl.nccu.edu.tw/volume11-2/11.2.1.pdf
2. Mohammad Rahimi, Abdolmehdi Riazi , Shahrzad Saif. An Investigation
Into The Factors Affecting The Use Of Language Learning Strategies By
Persian EFL Learners. RCLA CJAL
http://www.aclacaal.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/4-vol-11-no2-art-rahi
mi-riazi-saif.pdf
3. Attapol Khamkhien. 2010. Factors Affecting Language Learning Strategy
Reported Usage by Thai and Vietnamese EFL Learners. Electronic Journal
of Foreign Language Teaching. Centre for Language Studies. National
University of Singapore. Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 6685.
http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v7n12010/khamkhien.pdf