Language learning strategies employed by Vietnamese university undergraduates: a gender comparison
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to look into the frequency of language learning strategies employed by first-year Vietnamese university undergraduates. It also examined the relationship between gender and language learning strategies. In order to collect and analyze data for this study, mix method approaches were used, which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative data. A total of 100 first-year students from a Vietnamese university—50 females and 50 males—were involved in the quantitative phase. Twenty students participated in the study’s interview phase during the qualitative phase. A semi-structured interview guide was utilized to gather qualitative data, while a questionnaire adapted from Oxford’s (1990) Strategies Inventory of Language Learning was the instrument used in the quantitative phase. The findings demonstrated that, with the exception of compensatory strategies, female students considerably more frequently used language learning strategies than did male students. Compared to males, females employed more indirect tactics. Furthermore, social technique was the most often utilized language learning strategies by both male and female students. Males tended to employ memory tactics more frequently than females, whereas females used compensatory strategies less frequently. The findings showed that, with regard to the utilization of each strategy type, gender differences were not statistically significant in the three language learning strategy categories: affective, compensating, and cognitive.
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References
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