A Comparison of English Learning Strategies Used by Law and Engineering Students In English For Specific Puposes (ESP) Context

Abstract

Over past few years, students’ interest in learning English has increased. Along with the development of technology, people are required to learn English to compete with other people in this increasingly sophisticated era. English language learning is used in almost all fields, of course, those who are not familiar with English or non-native will find it difficult to learn English. Therefore, the right learning strategy is needed to achieve the desired learning. In achieving the desired learning, of course, we must choose the right learning strategy. This study aimed to find out the learning strategies used by law and engineering students and to compare the learning strategies used between law and engineering students in ESP context. As we know that learning strategies are divided into two groups. The first is direct strategy that consists of memory, cognitive, and compensation strategies. Another strategy is indirect strategy that involves metacognitive, social, and affective strategies. The researcher used a quantitative approach using a survey adapted from Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) 7.0 by Oxford. Participants in this study were 32 law students and 31 engineering students. There are 50 items in it and the questionnaire is first translated into Indonesian to make it easier for students to fill it out. After getting an answer, the researcher analysed the data using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) Version 26. Using independent sample t-test data analysis techniques to find out the difference between them. The results of this study showed that law students more often use metacognitive strategies (M = 4.37) and for strategies that are rarely used by law students are social strategies (M = 4.16). As for engineering students, learning strategies that are often used are affective strategies (M = 4.44) and for strategies that are rarely used are social strategies (M = 4.23). The results also showed that there was a significant difference in the use of affective strategies by both and H0 is accepted and Ha is rejected (p value> 0.05).

Keywords: Learning Strategies, Law Students, Engineering Students, English For Specific Purposes