Learning Strategies Used in English Reading Tasks by Returnee Students at a Japanese Junior High School

摘要

The aims of this study are to examine the teachability of language learning strategies and deepen our understanding of possible beneficial effects of strategy instruction in English pedagogy at the Japanese junior high school level. Because of the importance of reading in second language acquisition, the analysis focuses particularly on strategies used in reading tasks. The author used a selfassessment questionnaire consisting of 50 items called the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning by Oxford (1990), with both a main informant group of fourteen returnee students and a paralled information group of 128 ordinary students at the same junior high school. The study demonstrated that strategy use is clearly correlated with English proficiency in both informant groups and that the instruction is effective for improving English proficiency. Among the three proficiency groups, the high-proficiency group showed the most variety in strategy use. Among the six learning strategy groups by Oxford (memory, cognitive, compensating, meta-cognitive, affective, and social),the meta-cognitive strategy group showed the most obvious connection with English proficiency: the high-proficiency-group had little interest in them. Metacognitive strategies such as setting goals, planning for learning, self-monitoring,help learners study more independently. The author's research suggests that strategy instruction can be effective in leading learners toward autonomy through their newly developed awareness of meta-cognitive strategies even at the junior high school level.