1) Gender
Females have been found to be more socially interactive than males in the L2 classroom (Ehrman and Oxford, 1988; Oxford, Nyikos and Ehrman, 1988). It has been reported that in learning Spanish, men reported using more 'local' strategies and women more 'global' strategies when dealing with authentic input (Bacon and Finneman, 1990). They found that, when reading, men and women adjusted their strategies differently according to the complexity of the text. Men responded to more difficult passages by increasing their use of cognitive strategies and by using bottom-up processing strategies (focusing on the details first). Women responded by increasing their use of metacognitive strategies and were more likely to plan and monitor their comprehension and evaluate their strategy use.

2) Motivation and language learning goals
In a survey designed to investigate the factors that affected learning strategy choice by university students, Oxford and Nyikos (1989) found that 'the degree of expressed motivation to learn the language was the single most powerful influence on the choice of language learning strategies'. More motivated students used significantly more 'formal rule-related practice strategies', 'functional practice strategies', 'general study strategies' and 'conversational input elicitation strategies'. They also used more 'resourceful, independent strategies'.

3) Aptitude
Language learning aptitude refers to a person's natural ability to learn a language, not including intelligence. It is generally thought to be a combination of various abilities such as the ability to identify sound patterns in a new language, the ability to recognize the different grammatical functions of words, rote-learning ability and the ability to infer language rules (Parry and Stansfield, 1990). Oxford and Ehrman (1993) examined the effect of aptitude on language learning strategies used by adults. In order to measure aptitude they administered 'The Modern Language Aptitude Test' (MLAT) (Carroll and Sapon, 1959). Although this test is not considered to be flawless (see for example Parry and Stansfield, 1990), it is the standard language aptitude test. It contains 146 items and is divided into five parts. These five parts are:

1. Number learning (designed to test memory, auditory alertness).
2. Phonetic script (designed to test ability to associate sounds and symbols).
3. Spelling clues (designed to test vocabulary learning skills).
4. Words in sentences (designed to test sensitivity to grammatical structure).
5. Paired associates (designed to test memorization strategies).

Oxford and Ehrman found that students who scored highly on part 1 of the MLAT used relatively more cognitive strategies. They attributed this finding to the cognitive requirements of the associating, elaborating, and induction skills that are required by this part of the MLAT. They also observed a negative relationship between both the use of compensation strategies and the use of affective strategies and part 4 of the MLAT (grammatical sensitivity). They attributed this finding to the fact that these are strategies that are most often used by people experiencing difficulties with the language and would therefore be less likely to be employed by more successful language learners.

4) Cultural background
Oxford and Burry-Stock (1995) compared the factorial make-up of six sets of ESL/EFL data on learning strategies and were thus able to compare patterns of strategy use in six countries: Puerto Rico, Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Japan, Egypt and The United States. They observed differences between all six countries with Egypt being the most distinct, exhibiting four factors not found elsewhere. These were named by Oxford and Burry-Stock as 'request and repetition', 'memory and anxiety', 'memory and compensation', and 'compensation in reading and listening'. Puerto Rico was also atypical, exhibiting three unique factors, which were named 'social/cognitive conversation', 'cognitive and relaxation' and 'general compensation'. Taiwan had two unique factors, which were named 'memory and analysis' and 'compensation in reading'. The People's Republic of China, Japan and the US each only had one unique factor. Thus the study revealed very different patterns of strategy usage by students from these six countries but it did not provide information on specific strategy preferences of students in these countries.

5) Extroversion/introversion
One of the most easily observable types of variation in student personality types is extroversion/introversion. Extroverts have been shown to be more likely than introverts to employ social mediation strategies (Wakamoto, 2000: 77), whereas introverts have been found to use strategies associated with the search for, and communication of, meaning (Ehrman and Oxford, 1988: 240). It has also been suggested that extroverts might prefer to 'use the language', valuing a meaning-based approach and creating opportunities for themselves to practise the language. Introverts on the other hand may prefer to 'learn about the language', favouring a more systematic, form-based approach focusing on grammar and vocabulary (Tudor, 1996: 104).

Although it is very important for students to be able to use appropriate strategies, it is unlikely that this alone will enable them to become autonomous learners. Learner autonomy also requires the ability to reflect on the various factors that affect one's learning (Sinclair, 2000). This includes attitudes, motivation, beliefs about learning and above all the ways in which one learns. In other ways, it is helpful if students can be aware of their learning styles. These are discussed in detail in section 12.3.

Would you like to read more on the subject of language learning strategies?
Further reading

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Moving on…
Now that you are familiar with the concept of language learning strategies, it is time to find out about learning styles.