IDENTIFYING LEARNER STRATEGIES OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN AN EFL CONTEXT

Learning strategies are the actions that learners use to improve their performance in the learning process. Though many studies have focused on the language learning strategies, a somewhat smaller body of research studies has dealt with university students’ use of strategies in terms of gender and class grade. The aim of this study is to measure the language learning strategies preferred by the university students and to reveal whether their preferred learning strategies create any differences in terms of gender and class grades. The study covers 150 students who study in different departments in the Faculty of Education, Muş Alparslan University. The results indicated that language learning strategies that students use are mid-level and they use metacognitive strategies the most and cognitive strategy the least during the language learning process. A significant difference was also found in terms of gender and class grade, meaning that girls use language learning strategies than boys do and first grade students use strategies more than second grades.