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【Abstract】In order to know the strategy use of second foreign language learning of postgraduates majoring in English，this paper uses a qualitative study of 26 English major postgraduates to describe the strategy use in SFL learning.A questionnaire based on Oxford’s classification of language learning strategy is used to collect data and some interviews are employed to clarify some doubts to make the finding more convincing and reliable.The findings show that postgraduates use direct strategy more frequently than use indirect strategy，there is almost no gender difference in postgraduates SFL learning and different second foreign language learners do not significantly affect the use of language learning strategy.
【Key words】English major postgraduates； second foreign language （SFL）acquisition； learning strategy
1.Background
The study of learning strategies has seen an ‘explosion of activity’ in recent years .This may due to the shift of focus in language teaching research---from how to teach to how to learn and from teacher---centered to learner---centered.Many researchers have given different definitions of learning strategy from different angles.Tarone （1980： 419） distinguishes learning strategy into language learning strategy and skill learning strategy and considers language learning strategy are concerned with the learners’ attempts to master new linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in the target language.Oxford （1989） refers language learning strategy as ‘behaviors or actions with which learners use to make language learning more successful，self---directed and enjoyable’.Although the concrete concept of language learning strategy is a somewhat ‘fuzzy’ one，there is，generally speaking，a consensus that the study or use of language learning strategy can affect learner’s learning achievement.
2.Research
2.1Research purpose.The purpose of this case study is mainly to describe the strategies used by postgraduates of English majors in learning their second foreign language.Three questions are raised according to this purpose：
①Which strategy is more frequently used，direct strategy or indirect strategy？ Why？
②Is there any gender difference in second foreign language （SFL） learning？
③Do learners of different SFL use different learning strategy？ Why？
2.2Subjects.The participants in this study are 26 （20 females，6 males） first-grade postgraduates of English majors from Hubei University.24 of them have learned their second foreign language （French/ Japanese） for almost two and a half years； the rest two students only learn their second foreign language for one and a half year.All the subjects have passed Test for English Majors level 8（ TEM 8） and are preparing for band 4 test of second foreign language in the middle of this June.The reasons for the author to chose these postgraduates as participants are： First，compared with the undergraduates，postgraduates may have a better understanding of language learning； second，since the subjects are required to pass the band 4 test of second foreign language by the university，they must prepare or learn their second foreign language as non---English majors prepare and learn their English. 2.3Instrument.First，a questionnaire is designed.It contains two parts.The first part is personal information.The second part，based on Oxford’s SILL version 7.0-classification system，investigates the strategy use of the subjects in second foreign language learning ，which is divided into six categories of strategies，namely，memory，cognitive，compensation，affective，meta-cognitive and social.For each of the items，Likert---5point scale ranging from “ I always do like this” to “I never do that” and the subjects are required to choose one situation which could correctly describe their way of learning.
Second，some interviews are processed after the questionnaires for better understanding the reasons for some choices.
2.4Data collection.The data are collected by calculating the mean value of different categories according to different variables，such as the gender，different SFL etc.This method uses the frequency to distinguish the relationship between different dependent variables and independent variables.
3.Results and discussion
3.1 Figures show that postgraduates of different SFL do use learning strategies in their SFL learning.The mean value of all the strategies used is near 3.00 （M=2.96）.And they use direct strategy （M=3.09） more often than use indirect strategy （M=2.82）.
Since all the participants in this case study have passed TEM 8 and learnt English，their first foreign language for almost 11 years and they have comparatively rich foreign language learning experience which positively affects their SFL learning.Consequently，on one hand they often use learning strategies，consciously or unconsciously，in SFL learning； on the other hand，due to the fairly short time of SFL learning and insufficient experience，they are more or less on the meditative level and use the lower level strategy，that is the direct strategy more frequently than indirect strategy.Furthermore，the learning environment of SFL learning is quite different than that of first foreign language learning，such as the limited resources and the limited time，the learning purpose and so on，this may，to some degree，affect the choice of learners in their learning process.
3.2 The mean values of the whole strategy between females（ 2.987） and males（2.9645） are almost the same However，comparing these figures in different ways，we can easily find that there are some slight gender differences .For example，the divergence between cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies in the female （2.7125 Vs 3.175） group is larger than that of the males （2.8333 Vs 3.00） and males use the social strategy the least while females use the affective strategy the least. 3.3 Learners of different second foreign languages，here only refers to learners of French and learners of Japanese，employ almost the same strategies in SFL learning for their mean value of the two groups are respectively 3.06 （the mean of learners of Japanese） and 2.9 （the mean of learners of French）.And learners of Japanese use indirect strategy （M=2.92） more often than learners of French （M=2.79）.
The reasons may be as follows：
First， similarities between Japanese and Chinese，such as the characters，grammars，is more obvious than that of French and Chinese.Hence，learners of Japanese can more easily transfer their first language learning strategy to their learning of Japanese than the learners of French can.
Second，as most learners have pointed out，since the participants are under the pressure of passing band 4 test of SFL，learners of Japanese are more or less eager to improve their Japanese in the limited time and thus put more energy and time to study Japanese in their study life.
4.Conclusion
This case study has showed that although postgraduates of English majors use learning strategy in their SFL learning，their strategy use are more direct than indirect and need to further improve in order to arrive a better level of their SFL.The change of attitude from exam—oriented to real competence---oriented will be much more helpful.Based on the preference for different kinds of strategies of different genders，teachers can use appropriate teaching methods to meet the different needs of students.And learners can exchange opinions on their SFL learning and learn from each other in accordance with the merits and appropriateness of different strategies.
5.Limitations and further studies.
First，the participants in this study were first year postgraduates of English major from one class in one university which limits the scope for generalization of the research findings.Further study with a larger and more heterogeneous sample is desired.Second，the data analysis is far from enough and more figures such as S.D and T value are needed to make the research more convincing.Third，the validity and reliability of the questionnaire should have been testified before the study to make the instrument more reliable .
Reference：
[1]Oxford，R.1989.‘Use of language learning strategies：a synthesis of studies with implications for teacher training’.System.17：235-47.
[2]O’Malley，J.M.，and Chamot，A.U.Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition.Cambridge university press.1990.
[3]Eliss，R.1997.The Study of Second Language Acquisition.Oxford University Press.
[4]Tarone，E.1980.‘Communicative strategies ，foreign talk，and repair in inter-language’.Language learning.30：417-31.
[5]尚晓华，王海华.大学生英语学习策略与英语水平的相关研究.外语教学，2010（2）：54-56.
[6]李育.英语学习策略教学在大学英语教学中的实践研究.外语界，2008（04）：82-87.
[7]程冰.大学英语学习策略培训实践与效果分析.西安外国语学院学报.2006（3）：48-50.
【Key words】English major postgraduates； second foreign language （SFL）acquisition； learning strategy
1.Background
The study of learning strategies has seen an ‘explosion of activity’ in recent years .This may due to the shift of focus in language teaching research---from how to teach to how to learn and from teacher---centered to learner---centered.Many researchers have given different definitions of learning strategy from different angles.Tarone （1980： 419） distinguishes learning strategy into language learning strategy and skill learning strategy and considers language learning strategy are concerned with the learners’ attempts to master new linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in the target language.Oxford （1989） refers language learning strategy as ‘behaviors or actions with which learners use to make language learning more successful，self---directed and enjoyable’.Although the concrete concept of language learning strategy is a somewhat ‘fuzzy’ one，there is，generally speaking，a consensus that the study or use of language learning strategy can affect learner’s learning achievement.
2.Research
2.1Research purpose.The purpose of this case study is mainly to describe the strategies used by postgraduates of English majors in learning their second foreign language.Three questions are raised according to this purpose：
①Which strategy is more frequently used，direct strategy or indirect strategy？ Why？
②Is there any gender difference in second foreign language （SFL） learning？
③Do learners of different SFL use different learning strategy？ Why？
2.2Subjects.The participants in this study are 26 （20 females，6 males） first-grade postgraduates of English majors from Hubei University.24 of them have learned their second foreign language （French/ Japanese） for almost two and a half years； the rest two students only learn their second foreign language for one and a half year.All the subjects have passed Test for English Majors level 8（ TEM 8） and are preparing for band 4 test of second foreign language in the middle of this June.The reasons for the author to chose these postgraduates as participants are： First，compared with the undergraduates，postgraduates may have a better understanding of language learning； second，since the subjects are required to pass the band 4 test of second foreign language by the university，they must prepare or learn their second foreign language as non---English majors prepare and learn their English. 2.3Instrument.First，a questionnaire is designed.It contains two parts.The first part is personal information.The second part，based on Oxford’s SILL version 7.0-classification system，investigates the strategy use of the subjects in second foreign language learning ，which is divided into six categories of strategies，namely，memory，cognitive，compensation，affective，meta-cognitive and social.For each of the items，Likert---5point scale ranging from “ I always do like this” to “I never do that” and the subjects are required to choose one situation which could correctly describe their way of learning.
Second，some interviews are processed after the questionnaires for better understanding the reasons for some choices.
2.4Data collection.The data are collected by calculating the mean value of different categories according to different variables，such as the gender，different SFL etc.This method uses the frequency to distinguish the relationship between different dependent variables and independent variables.
3.Results and discussion
3.1 Figures show that postgraduates of different SFL do use learning strategies in their SFL learning.The mean value of all the strategies used is near 3.00 （M=2.96）.And they use direct strategy （M=3.09） more often than use indirect strategy （M=2.82）.
Since all the participants in this case study have passed TEM 8 and learnt English，their first foreign language for almost 11 years and they have comparatively rich foreign language learning experience which positively affects their SFL learning.Consequently，on one hand they often use learning strategies，consciously or unconsciously，in SFL learning； on the other hand，due to the fairly short time of SFL learning and insufficient experience，they are more or less on the meditative level and use the lower level strategy，that is the direct strategy more frequently than indirect strategy.Furthermore，the learning environment of SFL learning is quite different than that of first foreign language learning，such as the limited resources and the limited time，the learning purpose and so on，this may，to some degree，affect the choice of learners in their learning process.
3.2 The mean values of the whole strategy between females（ 2.987） and males（2.9645） are almost the same However，comparing these figures in different ways，we can easily find that there are some slight gender differences .For example，the divergence between cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies in the female （2.7125 Vs 3.175） group is larger than that of the males （2.8333 Vs 3.00） and males use the social strategy the least while females use the affective strategy the least. 3.3 Learners of different second foreign languages，here only refers to learners of French and learners of Japanese，employ almost the same strategies in SFL learning for their mean value of the two groups are respectively 3.06 （the mean of learners of Japanese） and 2.9 （the mean of learners of French）.And learners of Japanese use indirect strategy （M=2.92） more often than learners of French （M=2.79）.
The reasons may be as follows：
First， similarities between Japanese and Chinese，such as the characters，grammars，is more obvious than that of French and Chinese.Hence，learners of Japanese can more easily transfer their first language learning strategy to their learning of Japanese than the learners of French can.
Second，as most learners have pointed out，since the participants are under the pressure of passing band 4 test of SFL，learners of Japanese are more or less eager to improve their Japanese in the limited time and thus put more energy and time to study Japanese in their study life.
4.Conclusion
This case study has showed that although postgraduates of English majors use learning strategy in their SFL learning，their strategy use are more direct than indirect and need to further improve in order to arrive a better level of their SFL.The change of attitude from exam—oriented to real competence---oriented will be much more helpful.Based on the preference for different kinds of strategies of different genders，teachers can use appropriate teaching methods to meet the different needs of students.And learners can exchange opinions on their SFL learning and learn from each other in accordance with the merits and appropriateness of different strategies.
5.Limitations and further studies.
First，the participants in this study were first year postgraduates of English major from one class in one university which limits the scope for generalization of the research findings.Further study with a larger and more heterogeneous sample is desired.Second，the data analysis is far from enough and more figures such as S.D and T value are needed to make the research more convincing.Third，the validity and reliability of the questionnaire should have been testified before the study to make the instrument more reliable .
Reference：
[1]Oxford，R.1989.‘Use of language learning strategies：a synthesis of studies with implications for teacher training’.System.17：235-47.
[2]O’Malley，J.M.，and Chamot，A.U.Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition.Cambridge university press.1990.
[3]Eliss，R.1997.The Study of Second Language Acquisition.Oxford University Press.
[4]Tarone，E.1980.‘Communicative strategies ，foreign talk，and repair in inter-language’.Language learning.30：417-31.
[5]尚晓华，王海华.大学生英语学习策略与英语水平的相关研究.外语教学，2010（2）：54-56.
[6]李育.英语学习策略教学在大学英语教学中的实践研究.外语界，2008（04）：82-87.
[7]程冰.大学英语学习策略培训实践与效果分析.西安外国语学院学报.2006（3）：48-50.