The Use of SILL Oxford on Understanding the Speaking Learning Strategies

Abstract

Language learning strategies are activities consciously chosen by learners for the purpose of regulating their own language learning, and it has a strong relationship with learning success. On the other hand, employing effective language learning will improve students' achievements. Effective learning strategies are not the preserve of highly capable individuals but could be learned by others who had not discovered them on their own. Speaking skills as one of the majors in learning a language is expected to be mastered by Indonesian students in the globalization era. SILL questionnaire has been used in many countries around the world to investigate strategy use among groups of students of English as a Second or Foreign language. Therefore, this paper showed the relation between the use of SILL Oxford and the speaking learning strategies. The mixed-method approach was employed, and 183 Indonesian students participated in this research. The SILL Oxford questionnaire was adapted in this research in order to find the speaking learning strategies employed by the students. The interviews were conducted to get the students’ reasons as well as confirm the students' strategies and SILL Oxford. The finding showed that most successful Indonesian students employed metacognitive strategies with percentage responses of 72.7% and the affective as the least with a percentage of 56.8%. It was also found that most of them used paying attention, using resources for receiving strategy sending messages, and self-monitoring strategy strategies. The interviews resulted showed that the SILL Oxford result was the same as the students learning strategies. And their reason for choosing the strategies was their awareness of learning asn the importance of English. Therefore, it can be the basis for the students improving their speaking proficiency by applying successful student learning strategies.