THE ROLE OF GENDER AND LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH

THE ROLE OF GENDER AND LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY OKTAY ASLAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING September 2009

Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer AYATA Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Prof. Dr. Wolf KÖNĐG Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gölge SEFEROĞLU Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oya Yerin GÜNERĐ (METU, EDS) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gölge SEFEROĞLU (METU, ELT) Assist. Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Sağın ŞĐMŞEK (METU, ELT) ii

I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Oktay ASLAN Signature: iii

ABSTRACT THE ROLE OF GENDER AND LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH Aslan, Oktay M.A., Program of English Language Teaching Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gölge Seferoğlu September 2009, 158 Pages This study intended to investigate the language learning strategies used by learners of English as a foreign language, aiming to find the amount of strategies and the domain differences of the strategies used; to reveal the link between strategy use and success levels; and to find out the difference in strategy use between genders and its influence on their achievement in English. 257 (153 male, 104 female) students from Atılım University English Preparatory School participated in the study. At the time of the study all the participants were in the same proficiency level, and were distributed to different classes of the same level. The data were gathered through strategy inventory for language learning (SILL) of Oxford (1990), which was translated to Turkish by Cesur and Fer (2007). iv

The instrument, based on Oxford s (1990) classification of the language learning strategies, is composed of 50 items in six subscales. The participants responded to the inventory before the end of the level they were in. The data were analyzed through SPSS (15.0) to find the relationship of language learning strategies, gender and achievement in learning the target language. To reveal the interconnections between these factors, independent t-tests and an ANOVA test, along with post hoc procedures were performed on the gathered data. The findings of the study revealed that use of language learning strategies are positively effective in success in English, that females were significantly more successful than males in terms of achievement tests, and that they used more language learning strategies in learning English. Depending on the statistical results, it is discovered that there is a significant connection between gender, language learning strategies and achievement in English. Keywords: language, language learning, gender, language learning strategies and learning skills. v

ÖZ İNGİLİZCE ÖĞRENMEDE CİNSİYET VE DİL ÖĞRENME STRATEJİLERİNİN ROLÜ Aslan, Oktay Yüksek Lisans, İngiliz Dili Öğretimi Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Gölge Seferoğlu Eylül 2009, 158 Sayfa Bu çalışma, İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak öğrenenlerin kullandıkları dil öğrenme stratejilerini bulmayı, kullandıkları bu stratejilerin alt gruplamalardaki dağılımlarını belirlemeyi, dil öğrenme stratejilerinin kullanımı ile başarı düzeyleri arasındaki bağlantıyı ortaya çıkartmayı ve dil öğrenme stratejilerini kullanmaları bakımından iki cinsiyet arasındaki farkı tespit edip bu durumun İngilizce öğrenmedeki başarıları üzerindeki etkilerini belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmaya Atılım Üniversitesi İngilizce Hazırlık Okulu ndan 257 öğrenci (153 erkek, 104 Kız) katılmıştır. Çalışmanın yürütüldüğü sırada bütün katılımcılar aynı İngilizce yeterlik düzeyindeki farklı sınıflarda dağılmış bulunmaktaydı. Veriler, Cesur ve Fer in (2007) Türkçeye çevirdiği, SILL (Dil Öğrenme Stratejileri Envanteri) (Oxford, 1990) ile toplanmıştır. vi

Oxford un (1990) dil öğrenme stratejilerini sınıflandırmasını temel alan araç altı alt kategori içinde 50 madde içermektedir. Katılımcılar, çalışmaya bulundukları yeterlik seviyesi döneminin son haftasında katılmıştır. Elde edilen veriler, dil öğrenme stratejileri, cinsiyet ve dil öğrenmedeki başarı arasındaki ilişkinin tespit edilmesi için SPSS (15.0) programında analiz edilmiştir. Bu faktörlerin birbiriyle olan bağlantısını bulmak için bir dizi t-test yöntemi ve bir ANOVA testi, ardından da post hoc prosedürü uygulanmıştır. Çalışma sonunda, dil öğrenme stratejilerinin kullanılmasının İngilizce öğrenmedeki başarı üzerinde olumlu bir etkisinin bulunduğu, sınav sonuçlarına bakıldığında kızların erkeklerden daha başarılı oldukları ve kızların İngilizce öğrenirken erkeklere oranla daha fazla dil öğrenme stratejisi kullandığı ortaya çıkarılmıştır. İstatistikî verilere dayanılarak; cinsiyet, dil öğrenme stratejileri ve İngilizce öğrenme başarısı arasında anlamlı ilişkiler tespit edilmiştir. becerileri. Anahtar sözcükler: dil, dil öğrenme, cinsiyet, dil öğrenme stratejileri ve öğrenme vii

to my dear wife, Elif Hicran viii

Valid Hiçbir zaman Doðru deðil Nadiren Doðru Bazen Doðru Sýk Sýk Doðru Her Zaman Doðru Total Q45 Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent 6 2,3 2,3 2,3 21 8,2 8,2 10,5 66 25,7 25,7 36,2 77 30,0 30,0 66,1 87 33,9 33,9 100,0 257 100,0 100,0 Valid Hiçbir zaman Doðru deðil Nadiren Doðru Bazen Doðru Sýk Sýk Doðru Her Zaman Doðru Total Q46 Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent 35 13,6 13,6 13,6 47 18,3 18,3 31,9 65 25,3 25,3 57,2 66 25,7 25,7 82,9 44 17,1 17,1 100,0 257 100,0 100,0 Valid Hiçbir zaman Doðru deðil Nadiren Doðru Bazen Doðru Sýk Sýk Doðru Her Zaman Doðru Total Q47 Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent 102 39,7 39,7 39,7 103 40,1 40,1 79,8 42 16,3 16,3 96,1 8 3,1 3,1 99,2 2,8,8 100,0 257 100,0 100,0 Valid Hiçbir zaman Doðru deðil Nadiren Doðru Bazen Doðru Sýk Sýk Doðru Her Zaman Doðru Total Q48 Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent 13 5,1 5,1 5,1 25 9,7 9,7 14,8 61 23,7 23,7 38,5 83 32,3 32,3 70,8 75 29,2 29,2 100,0 257 100,0 100,0 152

Valid Hiçbir zaman Doðru deðil Nadiren Doðru Bazen Doðru Sýk Sýk Doðru Her Zaman Doðru Total Q49 Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent 39 15,2 15,2 15,2 67 26,1 26,1 41,2 93 36,2 36,2 77,4 38 14,8 14,8 92,2 20 7,8 7,8 100,0 257 100,0 100,0 Valid Hiçbir zaman Doðru deðil Nadiren Doðru Bazen Doðru Sýk Sýk Doðru Her Zaman Doðru Total Q50 Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent 87 33,9 33,9 33,9 63 24,5 24,5 58,4 56 21,8 21,8 80,2 24 9,3 9,3 89,5 27 10,5 10,5 100,0 257 100,0 100,0 Frequencies APPENDIX E: T-TEST FOR GENDER AND 50 ITEMS Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Q1 Male 153 3,5229,96030,07764 Female 104 3,5865,98148,09624 Q2 Male 153 2,6275,90961,07354 Female 104 2,5577 1,00317,09837 Q3 Male 153 2,7582 1,23024,09946 Female 104 3,2500 1,12991,11080 Q4 Male 153 3,1307 1,10437,08928 Female 104 3,3269 1,09227,10711 Q5 Male 153 2,5033 1,19827,09687 Female 104 2,7404 1,32925,13034 Q6 Male 152 1,9474 1,28047,10386 Female 104 2,3846 1,20925,11858 Q7 Male 153 2,2288 1,06682,08625 Female 104 2,2308 1,20057,11773 Q8 Male 150 2,7600,93894,07666 Female 102 3,2549,90855,08996 Q9 Male 151 2,9801 1,06126,08636 Female 104 3,4712 1,11440,10928 Q10 Male 153 2,9869 1,15842,09365 Female 104 3,3462 1,11276,10912 153

Q11 Male 153 2,9412 1,16549,09422 Female 104 2,6923 1,16650,11438 Q12 Male 153 2,1765 1,17606,09508 Female 104 2,1923 1,12411,11023 Q13 Male 153 2,6144,90411,07309 Female 103 2,5049,92751,09139 Q14 Male 150 2,2733 1,06750,08716 Female 104 1,9423 1,09568,10744 Q15 Male 153 3,5686 1,16847,09447 Female 102 3,6078 1,14457,11333 Q16 Male 152 2,7368 1,17218,09508 Female 103 3,2233 1,15412,11372 Q17 Male 153 2,4052 1,11472,09012 Female 103 2,4951 1,22773,12097 Q18 Male 151 3,2185 1,14830,09345 Female 103 3,7379 1,11110,10948 Q19 Male 153 2,9216 1,26974,10265 Female 104 3,0577 1,33531,13094 Q20 Male 153 2,7320 1,13559,09181 Female 102 2,9608 1,15116,11398 Q21 Male 151 2,1921 1,00476,08177 Female 102 2,1176 1,17981,11682 Q22 Male 153 3,0980 1,09883,08884 Female 104 2,9135 1,15002,11277 Q23 Male 153 2,0915,99578,08050 Female 104 2,1731 1,05612,10356 Q24 Male 153 3,1895 1,04347,08436 Female 104 3,3077,97619,09572 Q25 Male 153 3,0000 1,28247,10368 Female 104 3,4135 1,14579,11235 Q26 Male 153 2,8105 1,23944,10020 Female 104 2,6635 1,25884,12344 Q27 Male 153 3,0458 1,21579,09829 Female 104 3,2596 1,13202,11100 Q28 Male 153 2,6667 1,11213,08991 Female 104 2,7019 1,13103,11091 Q29 Male 152 3,5066,99666,08084 Female 104 3,8462,99288,09736 Q30 Male 153 2,9935 1,07909,08724 Female 104 2,9904 1,02867,10087 Q31 Male 152 3,3026 1,07370,08709 Female 104 3,3846 1,05488,10344 Q32 Male 153 3,7124 1,11020,08975 Female 104 4,0288,94977,09313 Q33 Male 152 3,1776 1,17424,09524 Female 104 3,5000 1,18240,11594 Q34 Male 153 2,5359 1,19222,09639 Female 104 2,9615 1,14843,11261 154

Q35 Male 153 3,0065 1,13842,09204 Female 104 3,1058 1,23003,12061 Q36 Male 153 2,4248 1,06186,08585 Female 104 2,6250,92629,09083 Q37 Male 151 2,9603 1,19377,09715 Female 104 3,0577 1,25278,12285 Q38 Male 152 3,3092 1,06872,08668 Female 104 3,3942 1,16100,11385 Q39 Male 153 3,0065 1,11507,09015 Female 104 3,1442 1,12706,11052 Q40 Male 153 3,0196 1,16681,09433 Female 104 2,7019 1,26091,12364 Q41 Male 153 2,5098 1,24138,10036 Female 104 2,5577 1,30590,12805 Q42 Male 151 3,4040 1,23924,10085 Female 104 3,6635 1,12871,11068 Q43 Male 153 1,3791,81116,06558 Female 103 1,2330,61363,06046 Q44 Male 153 1,8431 1,10690,08949 Female 104 2,1250 1,25943,12350 Q45 Male 153 3,6863 1,12665,09108 Female 104 4,0865,89346,08761 Q46 Male 153 2,9020 1,23951,10021 Female 104 3,5000 1,27713,12523 Q47 Male 153 1,9346,87112,07043 Female 104 1,7308,82710,08110 Q48 Male 153 3,5033 1,19276,09643 Female 104 4,0096,98034,09613 Q49 Male 153 2,7974 1,08434,08766 Female 104 2,6538 1,18050,11576 Q50 Male 153 2,2484 1,24224,10043 Female 104 2,5769 1,40521,13779 Independent Samples Test Q1 Q2 Q3 Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Upper Lower F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed),002,963 -,517 255,606 -,06366,12314 -,30616,17883 not -,515 218,085,607 -,06366,12365 -,30737,18004 1,081,299,579 255,563,06976,12054 -,16763,30715 not,568 206,576,571,06976,12282 -,17238,31190 1,698,194-3,250 255,001 -,49183,15133 -,78984 -,19382-3,303 233,248,001 -,49183,14889 -,78517 -,19849 155

Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20 Q21 Q22 Q23 not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not,055,815-1,404 255,161 -,19620,13973 -,47138,07897-1,407 222,936,161 -,19620,13944 -,47099,07858 3,391,067-1,489 255,138 -,23712,15922 -,55067,07643-1,460 205,689,146 -,23712,16240 -,55730,08307,331,566-2,744 254,006 -,43725,15934 -,75103 -,12346-2,774 229,516,006 -,43725,15763 -,74783 -,12666 3,400,066 -,014 255,989 -,00201,14269 -,28301,27899 -,014 203,510,989 -,00201,14594 -,28976,28573,078,780-4,161 250,000 -,49490,11894 -,72916 -,26065-4,187 221,707,000 -,49490,11820 -,72783 -,26197 2,648,105-3,557 253,000 -,49102,13803 -,76286 -,21919-3,525 214,415,001 -,49102,13928 -,76556 -,21648,005,945-2,479 255,014 -,35923,14491 -,64459 -,07386-2,498 227,126,013 -,35923,14379 -,64257 -,07588,726,395 1,680 255,094,24887,14817 -,04293,54066 1,679 221,194,095,24887,14820 -,04319,54093,340,560 -,108 255,914 -,01584,14683 -,30500,27332 -,109 227,825,913 -,01584,14557 -,30267,27100,022,883,941 254,348,10952,11644 -,11979,33884,936 215,153,350,10952,11702 -,12114,34019,054,816 2,404 252,017,33103,13770,05985,60221 2,393 217,934,018,33103,13835,05835,60370,073,787 -,265 253,791 -,03922,14815 -,33098,25255 -,266 219,650,791 -,03922,14754 -,32999,25155,568,452-3,272 253,001 -,48646,14867 -,77925 -,19367-3,282 221,370,001 -,48646,14823 -,77858 -,19434 2,177,141 -,607 254,544 -,08992,14803 -,38144,20160 -,596 204,387,552 -,08992,15085 -,38734,20751,409,523-3,585 252,000 -,51932,14484 -,80457 -,23407-3,608 223,939,000 -,51932,14394 -,80297 -,23568,270,604 -,826 255,410 -,13612,16478 -,46064,18839 -,818 213,794,414 -,13612,16638 -,46408,19183,461,498-1,567 253,118 -,22876,14596 -,51620,05869-1,563 214,553,120 -,22876,14636 -,51724,05972 3,307,070,538 251,591,07441,13824 -,19786,34667,522 193,011,602,07441,14259 -,20683,35564,180,672 1,297 255,196,18458,14231 -,09568,46483 1,286 214,523,200,18458,14356 -,09838,46754,953,330 -,629 255,530 -,08157,12970 -,33700,17385 -,622 212,510,535 -,08157,13117 -,34014,17699 156

Q24,336,563 -,914 255,361 -,11815,12923 -,37264,13634 not -,926 230,788,355 -,11815,12759 -,36954,13324 Q25,287,592-2,647 255,009 -,41346,15620 -,72107 -,10585 not -2,704 236,770,007 -,41346,15288 -,71465 -,11228 Q26,256,614,927 255,355,14700,15852 -,16518,45917 not,925 219,023,356,14700,15899 -,16635,46034 Q27,314,575-1,423 255,156 -,21386,15030 -,50986,08213 not -1,442 231,430,151 -,21386,14827 -,50599,07826 Q28,024,876 -,248 255,805 -,03526,14231 -,31552,24500 not -,247 218,827,805 -,03526,14277 -,31664,24613 Q29,013,911-2,681 254,008 -,33957,12664 -,58897 -,09018 not -2,683 222,002,008 -,33957,12655 -,58896 -,09019 Q30,703,403,023 255,982,00308,13459 -,26197,26812 not,023 228,199,982,00308,13336 -,25970,26586 Q31,075,785 -,604 254,546 -,08198,13567 -,34917,18520 not -,606 224,002,545 -,08198,13522 -,34845,18448 Q32 6,789,010-2,375 255,018 -,31643,13323 -,57881 -,05405 not -2,446 241,822,015 -,31643,12934 -,57121 -,06165 Q33,414,521-2,151 254,032 -,32237,14985 -,61748 -,02726 not -2,148 220,440,033 -,32237,15005 -,61808 -,02666 Q34 1,850,175-2,851 255,005 -,42559,14929 -,71960 -,13158 not -2,871 226,732,004 -,42559,14823 -,71767 -,13351 Q35,753,386 -,664 255,507 -,09923,14949 -,39363,19516 not -,654 209,692,514 -,09923,15172 -,39832,19986 Q36 2,680,103-1,561 255,120 -,20016,12827 -,45276,05244 not -1,602 239,631,111 -,20016,12498 -,44636,04603 Q37,200,655 -,628 253,531 -,09743,15522 -,40312,20827 not -,622 214,505,535 -,09743,15662 -,40613,21128 Q38 1,750,187 -,603 254,547 -,08502,14088 -,36247,19243 not -,594 209,109,553 -,08502,14309 -,36711,19707 Q39,022,882 -,967 255,334 -,13769,14233 -,41799,14260 not -,965 219,742,335 -,13769,14262 -,41877,14338 Q40 3,733,054 2,073 255,039,31768,15323,01593,61944 not 2,043 209,667,042,31768,15552,01111,62426 Q41,172,679 -,297 255,767 -,04789,16113 -,36520,26942 not -,294 213,746,769 -,04789,16270 -,36858,27281 Q42 2,136,145-1,703 253,090 -,25949,15234 -,55950,04052 not -1,733 234,183,084 -,25949,14973 -,55449,03551 Q43 7,139,008 1,553 254,122,14608,09409 -,03922,33137 not 1,638 250,504,103,14608,08920 -,02960,32175 Q44 1,279,259-1,894 255,059 -,28186,14881 -,57491,01119 157

Q45 Q46 Q47 Q48 Q49 Q50 not not not not not not not -1,848 201,850,066 -,28186,15251 -,58258,01886 11,060,001-3,032 255,003 -,40026,13202 -,66025 -,14028-3,167 248,927,002 -,40026,12638 -,64918 -,15135,576,448-3,750 255,000 -,59804,15948 -,91210 -,28398-3,729 216,875,000 -,59804,16039 -,91416 -,28192,985,322 1,879 255,061,20387,10848 -,00977,41751 1,898 228,757,059,20387,10741 -,00778,41552 11,021,001-3,583 255,000 -,50635,14130 -,78462 -,22808-3,719 245,875,000 -,50635,13616 -,77454 -,23816 1,415,235 1,005 255,316,14354,14287 -,13781,42489,989 208,541,324,14354,14521 -,14272,42980 4,303,039-1,973 255,050 -,32856,16655 -,65655 -,00057-1,927 202,731,055 -,32856,17051 -,66475,00764 158