Libyan University Students’ Language Learning Strategy Use and Their Language Achievement

Abstract

A common phenomenon of continuous innovations in the field of ESL or EFL is learner-centred education. One of these innovations increasingly catching the attention of researchers is Language learning strategies. However, as researchers carry out studies in this area, and as the pool of diverse findings rises, further gaps are opened, calling for research interventions. This is basically because of the broad nature of Language Learning Strategies (LLSs) with their context-mediated influences. On this background, the present research intended to investigate the extent of relationships between LLSs and university students’ achievement in Libya. The population of the study included 571 students from the Department of English at the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Education, and from all the departments of the Faculty of Medical Technology. 309 subjects were randomly selected from the population. The instrument of data collection was the SILL (strategy inventory for language learning, adopted from Oxford (1989).   Data analysis was done using t-tests. The findings revealed that memory strategy and cognitive strategy both have significant impacts on the foreign language achievement of the learners, while the use of compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies do not significantly impact the achievement of EFL learners.