Second Language Learning Strategies (LLSs) Used by Chinese Students at Assumption University, Thailand: An Ecological Perspective

Abstract

This study investigated Chinese students’ use of second language learning strategies (LLSs) for learning English at Assumption University (AU), Thailand. Focusing on a multicultural and multilingual context of education, the researcher adopted an ecological view of second language (L2) for L2 learning as a
contextualized, dynamic process. Eleven Chinese students at AU were invited to participate in the study. Instruments for data-collection were two semi-structured interviews with each participant, one conducted in their first semester and the other in their fourth semester at AU. The obtained findings revealed
differences between the participants’ strategy use when they studied in China and when they studied at AU; and as time evolved, the participants’ strategy use at AU evidently changed. These differences and changes in the participants’ strategy use were caused by changes and interactions in the participants’ learning contexts and their agency (knowledge and capacities applied in learning). This study was expected to shed light on the dynamic interrelationship between context, learner’s factors and the Chinese students’ strategic behavior for learning English in Thailand.