Language learning strategy use: Perceptions of female Arab English majors

This study investigated the patterns of language learning strategy use among 120 female Arabic-speaking students majoring in English at a university in Qatar. Perceptions of strategy use were measured by the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL, ESL/EFL Student Version). The study found that (1) this group of EFL learners featured medium bordering on high strategy users with an overall mean of 3.46 out of 5; (2) strategy categories were used in the order of metacognitive, cognitive, compensation, social, memory, and affective; (3) freshmen students reported the highest rate of strategy use with a mean of 3.64; and (4) except for compensation strategies, results did not show any significant difference among four educational levels regarding the use of strategy categories.