Exploring the 21St Century ESL Learning Strategies of Students in Malaysia’s Higher Technical Institute

Faizahani  Ab Rahman; Yasir  Yahya; Sheikha  Majid; Ajhar  Ahmad

doi:10.32890/pr2021.3.7

Authors

Faizahani Ab Rahman School of Education, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
Yasir Yahya Faculty of Education, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Sheikha Majid Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Ajhar Ahmad Universiti Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia France Institute, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/pr2021.3.7

Keywords:

21st century, language learning strategies, ESL, technical college, language performance and parents’ academic background

Abstract

This research was conducted at a private technical institute of higher learning to explore the different 21st century language learning strategies used by proficient and low proficient ESL learners. In conducting the study, the range of language learning strategies was identified and the frequency of these strategies were recorded. This research determines the choice of in and out of class language learning strategies of learners by the different language performance and academic background of their parents. Using questionnaire adopted from various researchers, 241 respondents who were students of the second, third, fourth or fifth semester from a private technical institute who have just completed the course were used and then analysed using SPSS. The research findings reveal that there were 7 dimensions of the 21st century language learning strategies showing high correlation at p=0.05. The dimension which recorded the strongest correlation with strategy is to get online assistance at 0.962. The findings with 10 highly proficient and 10 low proficient learners indicated there are 46 language learning strategies with 22 strategies being frequently used by the more proficient language learners.

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