Language Learning Strategies Preferences of Sundanese EFL Learners

Abstract

It is acknowledged that a strategy chosen by an individual to be employed in the process of learning a foreign language can determine the success of his foreign language mastery. Niles (1995), on the other hand, states that one’s cultural background is influential towards the selection on what language learning strategies (LLS) are culturally appropriate for him. It means that every individual coming from different ethnics would possess differently preferred LLS. Although it is necessary to know the LLS preferences of certain ethnic groups in Indonesia, up to the present time, the study identifying this is still rare. Therefore, for the sake of providing information to the members of the group which are in the process of learning English as a foreign language and bridging them to reach success in such learning, this study is important to be conducted. Specifically, the objective of this study was directed principally on the language learning strategy choices of Sundanese EFL learners. The study intended to identify what LLS that were applied by Sundanese EFL learners while they were in the process of learning English as a foreign language. This study utilized the descriptive research model with a random sampling assignment involving thirty participants among the eight semester Sundanese students taking English education major at the English Language Teaching department of Ibn Khaldun University Bogor. The instrument used to collect the data was the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning questionnaire (SILL) – Version for Speakers of Other Languages Learning English--which is adapted from Oxford (1990). The result showed that Sundanese EFL learners highly used meta-cognitive strategies and cognitive strategies, meaning they always made use all of their mental processes and organized and evaluated their learning. Meanwhile, they did not really often employ compensation strategies and social strategies in the process of learning English language.