This study aimed to explore high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to their EFL students.. In short, because of the importance of learning strategies, t
INTRODUCTION
Rationale
Many nations in Asia and Europe have recently increased their efforts to teach English as a second language (ESL) or as a foreign language (EFL) (ESL)
In recent years, second language education has shifted its emphasis away from the ideal teaching strategy and toward how effective teachers and students accomplish their objectives Teachers' classroom study on the linguistic, discursive, and interactional structure of educational events resulted from this in their case For students, this has resulted in research on (1) how individuals approach learning both inside and outside of the classroom and (2) the different types of methods and cognitive processes they employ when learning a second language One of the main purposes of educational evolution is to help students learn how to learn more effectively Teachers need to give students the information, skills, and strategies they need to succeed
When learning languages, some foreign language teachers may wonder why some of their students are jumping ahead while others are slowly moving forward, no matter how hard the teacher works to make the language lesson interesting and fun Part of this difference between more and less effective language learners may be due to differences in ability, motivation, and/or commitment But an important factor seems to be the knowledge and ability to use "how to learn" techniques or learning strategies The purpose of using
Mayer, 1986) As students begin to understand their learning processes and gain some control over those processes, they tend to take more responsibility for their learning
Chamot, Barnhardt, El-Dinary and Robbins (1999) noted: “The differences between the most effective learners and the least effective learners were found in the number and range of strategies used, in how the strategies applied to the task, and whether they were appropriate to the task” (p 166) Therefore, teaching learning strategies is especially useful for later learners Learning strategies must be chosen according to the activity Teachers can teach certain strategies to their students, but these strategies do not always work for them The fact that teachers teach students optional strategies is certainly an important factor and will affect their ability to be competent English learners As their learning styles differ, so do their preferred learning strategies If they find effective strategies for learning, they will be able to study successfully
In short, because of the importance of learning strategies, this research aims to find out high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to EFL students That is the reason why the research on high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to EFL students was carried out.
Aim and Objectives of the Study
This study aims to explore high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to their EFL students
To achieve this aim, the researcher has tried to fulfill the following objectives:
- to investigate high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the necessity of teaching students how to learn English,
- to explore high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the advantages in teaching students how to learn English, and
- to find out high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the disadvantages in teaching students how to learn English.
Research Questions
To achieve the above aim and objectives, the researcher has collected data and analyzed it to answer the following questions:
1 What are high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the necessity of teaching students how to learn English?
2 What are high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the advantages of teaching students how to learn English?
3 What are high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the disadvantages of teaching students how to learn English?
Scope of the Study
In this part, the research mentions the scope of the time, the setting and participants, the issues and the data
The research will only be carried out in the academic year 2021–2022 The research will be conducted at high schools in Gia Lai province with the participation of 40 teachers of English
There are many factors relating to the perceptions of teaching learning strategies to EFL students such as the reasons, the importance, the effect, the advantages and the disadvantages But in this research, the researcher will only focus on one issue: the importance of teaching learning strategies to EFL students There are two reasons for this choice: Firstly, due to the limitation of time and ability, the research cannot cover all of the issues and problems And this problem is suitable for the reality of the teachers there so they can easily have a complete understanding of these problems
There are many ways to collect the data The data can be collected by questionnaires, narratives, interviews, observation and so on In this study, the researcher will use questionnaires and interviews to collect the data because these ways are accessible and suitable for the teachers there and the researcher can have qualitative and quantitative data with great reliability.
Significance of the Study
This study hopefully can give some contribution as follows:
The research should be seen as further contribution in understanding about teaching learning strategies to EFL students Moreover, this study will give useful data related to teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to EFL students Findings and suggestions may be reasons for further researches
The findings of the research may help high school EFL teachers to know the insights on teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to their EFL students Thanks to this, teachers can adjust and improve their teaching methodology to help the students be able to know how to learn English.
Organization of the Study
There are five chapters in this study
Chapter 1 – Introduction – presents the background information of the study; including the rationale of the study, the aim and objectives, research questions, scope of the study, the significance and organization of the study
Chapter 2 – Literature review – provides the literature review with the theoretical background of teaching learning strategies In addition, previous studies related to teaching learning strategies are also mentioned in this chapter
Chapter 3 – Research methods and Procedures – discusses the qualitative and quantitative methods employed in the study Secondly, it describes the participants of the study Thirdly, it introduces the research instruments, questionnaire and interview, used to collect data for the study Lastly, this chapter will come to an end with the procedure to conduct the study and the methods of data analysis
Chapter 4 – Findings and Discussion – analyzes, describes and illustrates the EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to their EFL students The information collected from the questionnaire and the data of the semi-structured interviews will be analyzed in order to give more explanations for the findings of the study From these analyses, the results from the analysis will be discussed
Chapter 5 – Conclusion and Implications – summarizes the main points of the study and suggests some implications for the learners and teachers in teaching learning strategies as well as for further studies Some limitations are also presented in this chapter.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Language Learning Strategies
Language learning strategies play an essential role in teaching and learning English since they facilitate learners' enhancement, which is very useful for learners' competence
2.1.1 Definitions of language learning strategies
Different linguistic researchers define language learning strategies (LLSs) in different ways The term "language learning strategies" is defined in various ways such as "technique", "tactic" and "skill" These definitions sometimes overlap and conflict with each other Weinstein and Mayer (1986) claim that LLSs relate to both behaviors and thoughts, which are invisible Therefore, Weinstein and Mayer (1986) state that "LLSs are known as particular behaviors and thought processes used by the learners to facilitate acquisition, storage, or retrieval of information" (p.315) In contrast, Oxford and Aphek (1989) define the term as "behaviors" or "actions", which are easily visible Simply, Nunan (1991, p.168) defines "LLSs are the mental processes which learners adopt to learn and use the target language" As such, Nunan's definition limits learning strategies as "mental processes"
Oxford (1998) states that LLSs are the purposeful mental methods adopted by the learners to approach of the target language Similarly, Takac
(2008) defines LLSs are learners' effortfulness to learn a second language He also collects some more definitions of the different scholars
Table 2.1 Definitions of language learning strategies -Takač (2008:51)
Tarone (1981) An effortfulness to develop linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in the target language
Behaviors and thoughts that a learner engages in during learning that are intended to influence the learner’s encoding process
Chamot (1987) Techniques, approaches or deliberate actions that students take in order to facilitate learning, recall of both linguistic and content information
Wenden (1987) The term refers to language behaviors learners engage in to learn and regulate the learning of L2, to what learners know about the strategies they use (i.e strategic knowledge), and to what learner know about aspects of L2 learning
Rubin (1987) What learners do to learn and do to regulate their learning
Ellis (1995) Generally, a strategy is a mental or behavioral activity related to some specific stage in the process of language acquisition or language use
Ridley (1997) Broadly speaking, the term strategy denotes procedures which are sometimes conscious and sometimes unconscious used by a person as a way of reaching a goal
Oxford (1998) Behaviors or actions which learners use to make language learning more successful, self-directed and enjoyable
Cohen (1998) Processes which are consciously selected by learners and which may result in action taken to enhance the learning or use of a L2, through the storage, recall and application of information about that language
Purpura (1999) Conscious or unconscious techniques or activities that an individual invokes in language learning, use or testing
It seems that the researchers agree that LLSs as “techniques” employed by the learners to gain knowledge of the target language Although they attempt to clarify the definitions of LLSs in different ways, these concepts of LLSs, which are still general, vague, and unclear, some arguments over the concept of LLSs in a particular perspective, altogether they agree with Liang
(2009) about what LLSs are either behavioral, and thus visible, or mental, and thus invisible or LLS are learning methods including broad approaches as well as particular actions or techniques for learning a foreign language (FL)
2.1.2 Features of language learning strategies
It is argued that the best ways to define the notion of LLSs is to list the central characteristic of LLSs Oxford (1990) provides an adequate list feature of language learning strategies
Table 2.2 Features of language learning strategies - Oxford (1990:9)
Features of language learning strategies
1 Contribute to the main goal, communicative competence
2 Allow learners to be more self-directed
3 Expand the role of the teacher
5 Are specific action taken by learner
6 Involve many aspects of the learner, not just the cognitive
7 Support learning both directly and indirectly
11 Are influenced by a variety of factors
2.1.3 Classifications of language learning strategies
As specified in the above definitions, LLSs are divided into different categories by various researchers such as Weinstein and Mayer (1986), Oxford and Aphek (1989), Nunan (1991)
The classification of LLSs is logically developed through time The early categorization which attempted to recognize and define the behavior of
“language learners” Basing on language learning process, LLSs are divided into four categories The first category is formal language practicing (which refers to knowledge about language related to grammatical and syntactical elements (i.e., “the language code”), the second category is functional practicing or using language for “authentic communication purposes”, the third category is monitoring for examining and modifying or correcting linguistic output, and the last category is inferencing used for guessing a previously unknown meaning or form in a second language (Bialystok 1978, p 78-80)
Wong-Fillmore (1979) also looking into the role of the individual in language learning divides LLSs into “cognitive” and “social” LLSs, while Rubin (1981), relying on learners’ actions, classifies LLSs into “indirect” and
The earlier classification of LLSs (Bialystok, 1978; Wong-Fillmore, 1979; Rubin, 1981) concentrates on providing the whole picture of LLSs employed by the learners while the later categorization of LLSs by O’Malley, Chamot, Stewner-Manzanares, Russo, and Küpper (1985), depending on
“learners’ mental process,” divides LLSs into cognitive, metacognitive and socio-affective strategies
Oxford (1992) claims that LLSs fall into five categories, the first categories are those referring to the behaviors of successful language learners; the next ones are those based on psychological functions (cognitive, metacognitive and affective); the following ones are those based on language aspects (e.g monitoring); the later ones are those relied on language skills or knowledge (e.g., oral production, vocabulary learning); and the last ones are those relied on different learning types or styles
According to Oxford (1990, p.16), direct learning strategy is divided into three secondary strategies, namely: memory, cognitive, and compensation strategies While Oxford categorizes Indirect learning strategy into metacognitive, affective, and social strategies as presented in the following table
Table 2.3 Language Learning Strategy System (Oxford 1990:17)
Type Primary Strategies Secondary Strategies
D Creating structure for input and output
B Overcoming limitations in speaking and writing
B Arranging and planning your learning
Oxford (1990:37) characterizes direct learning strategy as language learning strategy that involves directly the target of the learning As shown in the table above, Memory strategies, Cognitive strategies, and Compensation strategies are defined as direct learning strategies by Oxford
“Memory strategies, such as grouping or using imagery, have a highly specific function helping students store and retrieve new information Cognitive strategies, such as summarizing or reasoning deductively, enable learners to understand and produce new language by many different means
Compensation strategies, like guessing or using synonyms, allow learners to use the language despite their often large gaps in knowledge” (p.37) Memory Strategy has some secondary strategies as follows a Creating mental linkages
There are three useful strategies for receiving, remembering, and retrieving new knowledge associating/collaborating, grouping, and placing new vocabularies into a context to make mental linkages b Applying images and sounds
To remember new expressions that the students get from listening or reading, they can use four strategies such as using imagery, semantic mapping, using keywords, and representing sounds in memory c Reviewing well
Previous research related to the study and Gaps in the existing research
Up to now, there has been much research investigating the learning strategies Previous studies on teaching learning strategies have been conducted in different contexts with different focus This research reviews up- to-date examples from the relevant literature on teaching learning strategies to determine the research gap for which this study was conducted In order to support the writing of the research methodology and methods, the researcher reviewed previous empirical studies that are related to the topic of the current research
An experimental study on the effects of different types of strategy training on listening comprehension for high school Spanish students found some benefits of strategy training, especially when the material was difficult for students (Rubin, Quinn & Enos, 1988) An important conclusion of the study was that teachers need as much time to understand and become proficient in teaching learning strategies as students do in understanding and applying learning strategies Further, the study suggested that teachers should be involved in the design of learning strategy lessons
A multicase study carried out by Émilie Tremblay-Wragg, Carole Raby, Louise Ménard and Isabelle Plante describes the use of diversified teaching strategies in university courses and examines the contribution of these strategies and their context of use on student learning motivation For this purpose, classroom observations and interviews were conducted with four teachers using diversified strategies, and 40 targeted students Furthermore, the motivation of 195 students was measured at the beginning and end of the semester Results reveal that the teachers used between six and nine different teaching strategies and that student motivation increased during the semester for two groups but remained the same or decreased for the other groups In addition, other more or less positive contextual factors seemed to modulate the benefits of strategy diversification on students’ motivation to learn These findings highlight the importance of diversifying teaching strategies in higher education as well as to take into account their context of use in order to promote their positive contribution
Utilizing learning strategies is regarded as one of the principal factors that led to the successful acquisition of foreign vocabulary Heng's case study in 2011 studied five Cambodian teachers and five high school students employing semi-structured interviews to collect data to find out the most effective learning strategies used by teachers and students The results reported a wide range of effective learning strategies for learning vocabulary as well as a number of common problems faced by Cambodian EFL teachers and students
Jafari (2013) examined the strategies employed by Iranian EFL students in three different English learning levels A questionnaire on vocabulary strategies was completed by 110 randomly selected students of three levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced) The study results showed that there was no significant difference among the students with diverse competence levels in employing learning strategies
Teaching learning strategies has recently received due attention from both teachers and EFL learners in Vietnamese contexts This was reported by several investigations about perceptions and implementation of learning strategies in various Vietnamese educational institutions at various levels, particularly high schools Bui (2019) investigated the learning strategies towards learning English and the correlation between gender and the learner's field of study and English learning strategies The researcher interviewed 67 students who were taking a language course as part of their high school program Participants were 35 students of English major and another 32 participants of non-English major at a gifted high school in Hai Phong, Vietnam Findings revealed that both majored and non-majored English learners used strategies in learning English However, the English-majored learners were reported to make more use of strategies in learning than the non-English majored ones This study also revealed that the learning strategies used between the two genders were not much varied
In another study with teenage Vietnamese EFL learners, Luong (2014) attempted to investigate vocabulary learning strategies used by the tenth-form students at a high school in a rural area of Hanoi The research was done with seven teachers and 140 students working and studying at a public school in Hanoi The results showed that both teachers and learners at this high school value the importance of teaching and learning vocabulary in foreign language classes They employ a variety of vocabulary teaching and learning strategies But some strategies like inferring from the context of the text, using an
English-Vietnamese dictionary, translating, taking notes in class, and using the vocabulary section in the textbook are often used Students with majors sometimes use the others instead of those without majors To improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning vocabulary, strategies should be promoted in classrooms
As we can see from the above researches, different studies gave different learning strategies’ aspects and the studies were conducted in certain regions However, a number of these studies were carried out among students not teachers
From the above sections of previous research, it is clear that many researchers have investigated learning strategies, but most of them pay attention to some certain aspects but not to teaching learning strategies to EFL students Moreover, there is not much research that investigates the roles of teachers’ perceptions in teaching learning strategies to EFL students Therefore, the gap about this issue appears.
Summary
In conclusion, this chapter presents an understanding of the concept of learning strategies and perception Following this, the framework for learning strategies is briefly provided The chapter ends with reviews of previous studies and the gap in the literature.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Method
This study is a mixed methods approach The quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to answer the research questions The quantitative data was gathered by distributing a survey questionnaire whereas the qualitative data was collected by using an interview with open-ended questions to investigate High school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to EFL students.
Participants
40 teachers from various high schools who are teaching students at high schools in Gia Lai province voluntarily participated in the study The participants answered the questionnaire individually and were not interfered by any external impacts Table 3.1 provides a summary of participants’ background characteristics The summary is based on the work of (Valizadeh,
2021), but it was adjusted some characteristics to meet the demand of the study
Table 3.1 Participants’ background characteristics (Valizadeh, 2021)
It can be seen from the table that the total of participants are 40 teachers who has the age ranging from 26 years old to over 40 years old The majority of participants are female with 35 teachers; the others are male with 5 teachers They are working in high schools and 32 teachers have Bachelor’s degree Specifically, 8 teachers have Master’s degree Only 1 teacher has less than 5 years of experience accounting for 2.5% Most of them have experienced in education sector over 16 years of teaching with 28 participants accounting for 62.5%.
Instruments
This section describes the data collection instruments that were used in the study This study employed a mixed method research design of qualitative and quantitative approach in order to find the answers for the three research questions
The questionnaire was used because “questionnaire is regarded to be one of the easiest methods to manage, even with large numbers of subjects”
The qualitative and quantitative data was collected by using a close- ended questionnaire and three open-ended questions The questionnaire incorporated the adapted items which have been developed by Valizadeh (Valizadeh, 2021) to have the suitable questionnaire for the survey
The survey was divided into two sections The first section provided a demographic information part about the participants’ gender, age group, highest degree, and language teaching experience The second section incorporated 3 close-ended dimensions on 4 Point Likert Scale investigating High school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to EFL students The participants needed to read the questionnaire survey, fill in the suitable options and answer to them Additionally, the survey questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese in order to prevent misunderstanding from the part of the participants
The purpose of the questionnaire in this study is to obtain the informants’ background information and to investigate High school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to EFL students in terms of the necessity, the benefits as well as the difficulties The quantitative data were obtained via close-ended questions with response on Likert-scale format The participants were asked to identify each statement that related to their teaching perceptions on a four-point scale from, (1) strongly disagree;
(2) disagree; (3) agree; to (4) strongly agree Whereas the qualitative data were conducted through one open-ended question in the questionnaire to explore teachers’ perceptions about the necessity, the benefits as well as the difficulties to these terms
The interview is conducted to gain the data about the high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies This instrument helps the researcher to get deep information about the high school EFL teachers’ perceptions Richards (2003) claims that the interview is an important tool of qualitative inquiry and provides framework flexibility to probe In addition to the quantitative data obtained through the questionnaire, interviews were conducted to get detailed qualitative data, as it is commonly known that
“interview is used to provide a credible account of the collected data already yielded by the questionnaire” (Mackey & Gass, 2005).The interview is the stage following on from the questionnaire but is based on a selection of typical research subjects In the interview, the questions are open-ended to give the researcher a chance to allow an interviewee to develop and elaborate on his/her ideas Therefore, it helps the researcher to reassert the result collected through questionnaires, gather more reliable information, and encourage the respondents to express their views and interests Thus, the researcher can have a profound insight into the problems that cannot be found in the questionnaires
Three high school EFL teachers are interviewed using semi-structured interview after finishing the questionnaire, and then recorded in a written form Of these, 1 teacher has been teaching for five years, 1 teacher has been teaching for 15 years and 1 teacher for 18 years
Each of the three teachers is invited for the interview Each interview takes place in 15 minutes The interview includes 7 open-ended questions (see Appendix C) about High school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to EFL students at their schools Similar to the survey questionnaire, the interview questions were also translated into
Vietnamese in order to prevent misunderstanding from the part of the participants.
Data Collection
A questionnaire was distributed to 40 high school EFL teachers at 9 high schools in Gia Lai province
The instrument of the current research was selected from previous studies (Valizadeh, 2021) and adapted with minor adjustments to fit in the purpose of the current research and the specific educational context The survey items and questions were translated into Vietnamese, which was the respondents’ first language in order to enhance the understanding of the questionnaire and gain the most genuine responses from the participants The questionnaires were converted into online forms using Google Form
To begin with, a pilot study was conducted with three high school teachers to validate the questionnaire items, and check the existence of any ambiguous survey items Therefore, the participants were required to complete the online questionnaire, and then leave their comments on the wording, clarity and comprehensibility of the items
In the formal study, the link of online questionnaires, an instruction to respond and a consent form was sent to the target participants via Zalo of groups of high school teachers in Gia Lai province Their participation was voluntary and solicited via online Google Form through the link https://forms.gle/nsubvH6Xrp8iAPM9A They were informed that by completing and returning the questionnaire, they had consented to participate in the study They responded to the questionnaire anonymously by clicking on the suitable categories: (1) strongly disagree; (2) disagree; (3) agree; to (4) strongly agree It took them 15 to 20 minutes to complete the form Out of 40 teachers, all of them completed and submitted the questionnaire The quantitative data was analyzed by calculating Min., Max., means, and standard deviations, frequency, and percentages in details if necessary The procedure used to collect the quantitative data within the research settings were shown in Figure 3.1 below
Figure 3.1 Quantitative data collection procedure
The semi-structured interviews were done after collecting the questionnaires the researcher selected 3 participants on purpose to ensure the variety of age, gender, and teaching experience The interview questions (Appendix C) were raised according to the research questions to maintain the focus and consistency of the interviews The interview included 7 open-ended questions which aimed at getting a deeper understanding of high school EFL teachers' perceptions about teaching learning strategies The interviewees were interviewed one by one, each interview session was conducted face to face The interview questions were translated into Vietnamese so that the participants could feel more comfortable expressing their own opinions Simultaneously, the answers were tape-recorded and then transcribed by the researcher for later analysis Additionally, teachers were coded as Teacher 1 (T1), Teacher 2 (T2), and Teacher 3 (T3) to keep their confidentiality
Quantitative data (Questionnaires) Quantitative analysis
The aim of the study was informed to the participants All their identities stay confidential They also were notified that the data collected is only be used for research purposes They were told that they would get no benefits from the study and that they could withdraw at any time without any prior permission
The following Figure 3.2 illustrated the qualitative procedure of data collection
Figure 3.2 Qualitative data collection procedure
Data Analysis
In terms of collecting the data, the quantitative analysis was employed to find out the statistical result of the questionnaire The Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 26 was taken advantage to quantitatively analyze the questionnaire because its purpose was to statistic and to measure the mean and the frequency of each variable analyzed Descriptive statistics was used to investigate the perceptions caused by the mean score of each construct and each item in each construct The mean values were adapted from (Srakang& Jansem, 1998) and were interpreted as follows:
Qualitative data (Transcript) Qualitative analysis
In addition, the qualitative analysis was also employed by conducting content analysis of the open-ended answers in the interview to determine the high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning strategies to their EFL students.
Summary
This chapter describes the methodology of the study- the mixed-method approach Specifically, it presents participants and instruments of data collection The procedures for administrating the questionnaires and the interviews are described Finally, the process of data analysis is also briefly illustrated.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Scale reliability Analysis
As mentioned in chapter 3, the researcher used the survey questionnaire and the semi structure interview to collect the data for the research With the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (IBM SPSS; Version 26) program, Scale Tests were run to check the reliability of the questionnaire The Table 4.1.1 below displays the result of the Scale Tests
Table 4.1 Reliability Statistics of the questionnaire
It can be seen from Table 4.1.1 that the reliability of the questionnaire was acceptable (α=0.982) Accordingly, this questionnaire was reliable enough to be used as instruments in this research.
High School EFL Teachers’ Perceptions in terms of the necessity of
After collecting the responses of the participants of the questionnaire and the interview, the researcher utilized the quantitative data of the questionnaire and presented them in Appendix The interview and the questionnaire are also analyzed qualitatively
As an attempt to answer the first research question “What are high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the necessity of teaching students how to learn English?”, this section presents the data from three items designed to elicit EFL teachers’ perceptions about the necessity of teaching strategies for learning English The questionnaire was in the form of a four- point Likert scales, ranging from one “totally disagree” to four “totally agree” Hence, the higher the mean score obtained the more agreement with the item the participants had
The table below shows the teachers’ views about the necessity of teaching students how to learn English
Table 4.2 EFL teachers’ perceptions about the necessity of teaching learning strategies
The necessity N Min Max Mean SD
1 Teachers should teach English learning strategies to their students 40 1 4 3.22 698
As seen in table 4.2, descriptive statistics showed that there were 40 teachers (N= 40) taking part in the study The minimum value of item 1 is 1, which means that some teachers showed strong disagreement with this item The largest value of this item is 4, which shows that there is strong agreement with this item The item number 1 “Teachers should teach English learning strategies to their students with four scales as totally disagree, disagree, agree, and totally agree.” had a high mean (3.22) This mean value indicates that most of the participants agreed with the given item This finding suggests that the level of agreement of the respondents is very high The tables below show the statistics
Table 4.3 EFL teachers’ perceptions about the necessity of teaching learning strategies
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
The table gives information about participants’ perceptions about the necessity of teaching students how to learn English Nearly all of the teachers (95%) agreed that teachers should teach English learning strategies to their students, only 5% disagreed This illustrated that most of the teachers believed that teaching learning strategies in English language teaching is very necessary
To approve the above viewpoint, in the teachers’ answer to question 1
“In your opinion, should teachers teach English learning strategies to their students?”, all of the three teacher participants confirmed that they taught learning strategies in English classes because they saw “the benefits that learning strategies brings to teaching and learning It facilitates teaching and motivates our student to learn English” (T1) and it is also very “efficient, as a source of enrichment material” (T2)
Utilizing learning strategies in my classes as EFL teacher is valuable for me and my students as well It gives them an opportunity to learn the language in a very different and effective way For me, it is a supplementary useful teaching way and it makes teaching more effective, interesting and active However, teachers should be vigilant when choosing suitable learning strategies they want to teach to their students.
Table 4.4 EFL teachers’ perceptions about the importance of teaching learning strategies
The necessity N Min Max Mean SD
2 The teaching of English learning strategies to the students 40 1 2 1.50 506
As shown in table 4.4, there were 40 teachers (N= 40) taking part in the study The minimum value of item 2 is 1, which means that half of the teachers strongly agreed with this item The largest value of this item is 2, which shows that there is strong agreement with these statements It can be seen that the average value (Mean) of item number 2 “The teaching of English learning strategies to the students with four scales as very important, important, not so important, and not important.” is 1.50 This mean value shows that all of teachers had the same view that teaching learning strategies is important This finding also suggests that the level of agreement of the respondents is very high though the EFL teachers had different levels of agreement about this idea Therefore, the following table shows key data on the importance of teaching learning strategies to the students
Table 4.5 EFL teachers’ perceptions about the importance of teaching learning strategies
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Table 4.5 shows that the importance of teaching learning strategies is appreciated on different levels While half of the studied teachers stated that it is very important to teach learning strategies to EFL students, another half of the teachers agreed that it was important
Moreover, in reply to the importance of teaching learning strategies, data from the interviews generally aligned with quantitative findings That is to say, all of three respondents held a positive attitude toward the importance of teaching learning strategies For instance, when being asked whether teaching English learning strategies to students is important in learning and teaching teaching learning strategies was believed to help “brings better benefits and outcomes to students’ English learning” by T1 Sharing the same opinion about the importance of teaching learning strategies, T3 commented that “it is important and useful for students to be taught learning strategies because they help learning activities easier to do” Another teacher, T2, added that teaching learning strategies is crucial as the more teachers teach learning strategies, the better students learn T2 also asserted “teaching learning strategies is effective in general, but is more effective for students’ way of learning than others.”
From the above analysis, it indicated high agreement between the participants with the item 2 The researcher comes to the conclusion that the results achieved are positive, which indicates that the EFL teachers are fully aware of the importance of teaching learning strategies to their EFL students
Another interesting point is that the reasons for teaching learning strategies of high school EFL teachers varied This can be clarified in table 4.6 below
Table 4.6 Reasons for teaching learning strategies to EFL students
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent a Teaching English learning strategies brings better benefits and outcomes to students’
36 35.0 35.0 35.0 b I have enough skills and knowledge to teach students how to learn English
23 22.3 22.3 57.3 c My students like to know and use English learning strategies
17 16.5 16.5 73.8 d My colleagues teach learning strategies to their students, so I have to teach learning strategies to my students
6 5.8 5.8 79.6 e Schools require teachers to teach learning strategies to their students
4 3.9 3.9 83.5 f When I was at school, I was taught learning strategies and leaning strategies helped me to learn better
It can be seen in Table 4.6 that 36 of the respondents (35%) said that they used learning strategies in their teaching because it brings better benefits and outcomes to students’ English learning Following this, 22.3% of the teachers thought that they have enough skills and knowledge to teach students how to learn English Additionally, 17 teachers, accounting for 16.5%, agreed that students like to know and use English learning strategies Therefore, the teachers were motivated to teach learning strategies to their EFL students
Teachers’ personal preference in item f “When I was at school, I was taught learning strategies and leaning strategies helped me to learn better.” was also another reason for teaching learning strategies, making up 15.5 % Another finding is that 5.8% of teachers stated that the reasons for teaching learning strategies came from their colleagues because they had to teach learning strategies to their students as other colleagues did Interestingly, the reason
“Schools require teachers to teach learning strategies to their students” ranked as the lowest This illustrated that the influence of school administrators does not have a strong influence on teaching learning strategies Only 1 teacher (T1) gave other reasons for teaching learning strategies She stated, “I teach
English learning strategies to my students because it supports my teaching and helps my students to be more confident and active in learning.”
The findings from the survey data were fully supported by those high schools EFL teachers’ answers in the interview To clarify this point more specific, when being asked about the reasons for teaching learning strategies, all of the three teachers confirmed that they teach learning strategies because they found that “teaching learning strategies improves student learning efficiency and supports students' self-study skills” (T1) Another reason for teaching learning strategies is because it “facilitates my teaching as it adds something to them like new strategies” (T2) T3 supplemented that it is
“beneficial” and it “adds something valuable or assists my teaching process”
In summary, based on the quantitative and qualitative data collected from the first three questions in the questionnaire and the answers of question
1, 2, 3 in the interview as for the necessity of teaching students how to learn English, most of the teachers agreed that teachers should teach learning strategies to their students and that learning strategies play an important part in teaching Additionally, the majority of the participants provided the reasons for the necessity of teaching students how to learn English.
High School EFL Teachers’ Perceptions in terms of the benefits of
This part aims to answer the second research question “What are high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the benefits of teaching students how to learn English?” To find the answers for this question, the researchers designed 20 items to elicit EFL teachers’ perceptions about the benefits of teaching students how to learn English Table 4.7 is a brief summary of descriptive statistics of the high school EFL teachers’ perceptions in terms of the benefits
Table 4.7 EFL teachers’ perceptions about the benefits of teaching learning strategies
The benefits of teaching students how to learn English N Min Max Mean SD
1 The teaching of English learning strategies improves student learning efficiency
2 The teaching of English learning strategies makes students more interested in learning
3 The teaching of English learning strategies makes students more active in learning
4 The teaching of English learning strategies makes English teaching activities more interesting and engaging
5 The teaching of English learning strategies helps to diversify teaching and learning activities (e.g teaching and learning takes place in the classroom, at home or anywhere, anytime; students can learn with the teacher, with friends or self-study; can teach and learn a variety of skills; can personalize learning, etc.)
6 Teaching English learning strategies is just as important as using textbooks for students.)
The benefits of teaching students how to learn English N Min Max Mean SD
7 Teaching English learning strategies creates additional opportunities for students to communicate with their teachers and classmates
8 Teaching English learning strategies makes learning activities easier to do
9 Teaching English learning strategies caused me to learn harder to have more learning strategies to teach my students
10 Teaching English learning strategies makes it easier for teachers to present and convey lesson content
11 The teaching of English learning strategies supports student-centered teaching methods
12 The teaching of English learning strategies can improve students' understanding of how to learn English
13 The teaching of English learning strategies supports students' self-study skills
14 The teaching of English learning strategies enhances students' confidence in learning English
15 The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning easier
16 The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning faster
17 The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning more enjoyable
18 The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning more self- directed
19 The teaching of learning strategies makes
20 The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning easier to transition to newer situations
As demonstrated in Table 4.7, the mean scores for the items about the teachers’ perceptions about the benefits of teaching learning strategies range from 2.97 to 3.20 The participants showed the high agreement with items number 1, 5 with the mean scores at 3.20, 3.12, whereas item 9 and item 19 with the same mean scores at 3.13 The item number 2 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes students more interested in learning English”, 14 “The teaching of English learning strategies enhances students' confidence in learning English”, and 18 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning more self-directed” have the same mean values This means that the respondents showed equal agreement with these items Five items as number 4 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes English teaching activities more interesting and engaging”, 11 “The teaching of English learning strategies supports student-centered teaching methods”, 12 “The teaching of English learning strategies can improve students' understanding of how to learn English”, 13 “The teaching of English learning strategies supports students' self-study skills” and 20 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning easier to transition to newer situations” received the same agreement among the respondents, with 3.08 Similarly, the item number 3 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes students more active in learning English”, 7 “Teaching English learning strategies creates additional opportunities for students to communicate with their teachers and classmates”, and 17 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning more enjoyable” had the average mean values of 3.05 The mean value for items 6, 8, and 15 is 3.02, indicating that the respondents agreed with the benefits of teaching learning strategies as textbooks and simplicity of English activities The value of item
10 is 2.97, which means that the teachers showed the agreement with this idea Item 16 also showed the respondents’ agreement with 3.00 when the majority of the teachers stated that the teaching of learning strategies makes English learning faster The maximum value of nearly all the items is over teaching learning strategies’ usefulness
More importantly, this finding was also reaffirmed by what the teachers (T1, T3) shared their opinions about the benefits of teaching English learning strategies to students and teachers in the interview as follows
In terms of teaching learning strategies’ benefits in students' learning, the responses were:
T1 emphasized the benefits of teaching learning strategies in “enabling students to be more active in learning and making English teaching activities more interesting and engaging.” In term of students’ motivation, T1 supplemented “it motivates them positively” Regarding students’ achievement, she added “it encourages them to improve their language and a result, their achievement could be better."
Additionally, this finding was reconfirmed by what the teachers shared in the interview as follows
Teaching English learning strategies creates additional opportunities for students to communicate with their teachers and classmates It is a good chance for my students to feel that they are learning and develop social skill at the same time Their social interaction when learning may motivate them intrinsic and extrinsic
It is an amazing tool that I use and I think it is an engaging and motivating classroom device for teaching English language As it enhances students’ learning in general, it also has its effectiveness in developing students’ achievement
(T3) The teachers’ answers were varied That may be related to the many benefits like, students’ engagement, students’ motivation, students’ achievement, etc On the other hand, the teachers agree that teaching students how to learn English has many benefits in general
In terms of teaching learning strategies’ benefits in teachers' teaching, following were the answers and the comments
According to T1, when stating about the benefits of teaching learning strategies, she agreed that learning strategies support teachers and that is the main reason for teaching it in her class Sharing the same opinion that teaching learning strategies will benefit teachers’ teaching, T2 commented that "teachers benefit greatly from teaching learning strategies because it develops teachers’ teaching practice."
I think it brings about many benefits on teachers because learning strategies makes it easier for teachers to present and convey lesson content Moreover, the teaching of English learning strategies helps to diversify teaching and learning activities such as teaching and learning takes place in the classroom, at home or anywhere, anytime; students can learn with the teacher, with friends or self-study; can teach and learn a variety of skills; can personalize learning, etc
The teachers’ replies were varied but benefits may be related to teachers’ activities that teachers use to teach students
In short, the findings from the questionnaires and interview indicated that the high school EFL teachers positively perceived about the significant benefits of teaching learning strategies in learning and teaching
4.4 High School EFL Teachers’ Perceptions about difficulties in teaching learning strategies
Despite the beneficial impacts on teaching and learning, teachers still meet certain challenges when teaching learning strategies to their EFL students To answer the third research question “What are high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the difficulties of teaching students how to learn English?” two items in the survey questionnaire is designed to find out the respondents’ perceived difficulties in teaching their students strategies for learning English
Table 4.8 presents statistics of item 1 about the EFL teachers’ perceptions about difficulties in learning strategy instruction
Table 4.8 EFL teachers’ perceptions about the difficulties of teaching learning strategies
The difficulties Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent a I don't know many English strategies to teach my students 17 14.4 14.4 14.4 b I don't have enough time to integrate teaching learning strategies to students in school instruction
28 23.7 23.7 38.1 c My school does not fully and timely support teachers in teaching learning strategies to students
5 4.2 4.2 42.4 d I have not been trained to teach learning strategies to students
19 16.1 16.1 58.5 e Most parents are not aware of the need for teachers to teach learning strategies to students
12 10.2 10.2 68.6 f Most students are not aware of the importance of learning and using learning strategies
22 18.6 18.6 87.3 g Most teachers are not aware of the need of teaching learning strategies to students
5 4.2 4.2 91.5 h Teaching learning strategies to students is not mandatory for teachers at my school
It can be observed from the above table that, 23.7% of the participants reported that they did not have enough time to integrate teaching learning strategies to students at school It could be inferred that this is the most common difficulty According to the high school EFL teachers (18.6%), most students are not aware of the importance of learning and using learning strategies and it is also one of the difficulties Five out of 40 respondents chose the option c “My school does not fully and timely support teachers in teaching learning strategies to students.” and g “Most teachers are not aware of the need of teaching learning strategies to students.” accounting for 4.2% Only 1 teacher (T1) gave other reasons for this question The difficulty mentioned by T1 was that the ability level of students in a class was varied, and some students did not find it useful to use learning strategies
Regarding the answers to the open-ended question in item 2 “Do you have any suggestions to motivate teachers to teach English learning strategies to students?”, T1 and T2 answered as follows T1 showed that limited time allowance indeed challenged teachers “I do not have enough time to teach learning strategies in my teaching The content of each lesson often takes quite a lot of time, so teachers may not have more time for teaching learning strategies.”
Summary
This chapter has shown the data analysis and discussion of the results of the questionnaires and the interviews about high school EFL teachers' perceptions about teaching learning strategies to EFL students The research results indicate that the majority of the respondents had positive perceptions about the necessity and benefits of teaching learning strategies to EFL students This means that teaching learning strategies may bring about many benefits to EFL learners Besides, the findings also show that the EFL teachers faced difficulties in teaching their students English learning strategies Based on these findings, the next chapter will present the conclusion, limitations, implications, and recommendations for further research.