Raising Students’ Awareness of Academic Strategies Use
Strategy-based Instruction in English-for-Lawyers Course
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20372/star.v6i4.03Keywords:
Raising Awareness, strategies use, strategy-based instruction, Academic strategiesAbstract
The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of raising students’ awareness of academic strategies use on their academic success. A quasi-experimental one group pre-test post-test comparison design was developed. A total number of 38 students took part in the study. The study explicitly integrated strategy-based instruction (EISI) as strategies training on awareness-raising practices within first year English courses at Wollega University. The training had been conducted for the first five weeks, from September28 to October 4, 2016 before the regular English for Lawyers course began. Tests and questionnaire were used as data collection instruments. T-tests were employed to determine whether there were significant differences on pre-and-post-test scores of language proficiency tests, and on syllabus-based achievement test given at the end of the course; whereas, the participants’ responses to the questionnaire were analyzed comparing the mean values obtained for the categories using the sum of each item. The major findings of the study show that the treatment does not seem to bring significant improvement in learners’ comprehension ability and academic achievement in a similar way. Low achievers do seem to benefit more from Strategy Instruction than high achievers. On the other hand, the results of the questionnaire indicated that almost all participants favored strategy-based instruction and became well aware of the significance of strategies training supplemented in the course material; and finally witnessed that the texts, tasks and assessments they practiced in the course material was interesting and good for them to improve their language abilities. Based on these, it can be concluded that the strategy training provided as an introductory unit together with its accompanying improvement on both tests could not be taken as conclusive results. This is because the EISI was restricted on one section that took English for Lawyers course under a single program. Therefore, it is recommended that further studies in the area should include more than these samples and research methods.
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