Hathaikan Iamla-Ong. A case study of language learning strategies of visually impaired students at the Thailand association of the blind. Master's Degree(Applied Linguistics). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2007.
A case study of language learning strategies of visually impaired students at the Thailand association of the blind
Abstract:
Language learning strategies (LLS) are very crucial for English as a foreign
language learners because they help learners to learn and to communicate in the target
language efficiently. Previous research has shown that good learners use many and
various LLS in order to succeed in their study and their work, while poor learners use
fewer strategies. Earlier studies also indicate that different learning outcomes can be
affected by using different learning strategies. However, those studies were conducted
among the general student population; none have been conducted with disabled
students, so the present research aims to fill this gap.
Thus, the purpose of this research is to explore the language learning strategies
used by visually impaired students (VIS) who attended the English for Career Course
at the Thailand Association of the Blind. The course was designed to prepare the VIS
to work in a market which is now being gradually opened to them, but they have to be
highly qualified in terms of both career and English skills. To obtain information
about which LLS the VIS used and how they used them, the Strategies Inventory
Language Learning (SILL), developed by Oxford (1990), was used as a research tool
to collect data. Surveys, observations by the participant-researcher, in-depth
interviews, and think-aloud protocols were employed.
The results of the study reveal that the VIS sometimes used all strategies,
except Memory strategies (M=2.49) which were rated as generally not used. The most
frequent strategies used were Compensation strategies (M=3.38), followed by
Cognitive strategies (M=3.15), Metacognitive strategies (M=3.03), Affective
strategies (M=2.85), and Social strategies (M=2.73).