This study is intended to understand teaching quality of English student teachers when they conduct their teaching practicum. Teaching quality is conceptualized based on the principles of effective teaching resulted by teacher effectiveness studies. Thes IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 171 In Search of Commonly Used Language Learning Strategies by EFL students MASBIROROTNI 1 AND NUNUNG FAJARYANI 2 Abstract Language learning strategy is one of the factors that can contribute to the success in learning a foreign language including for Indonesian students. The purpose of this current study was to examine the learning strategies of English as foreign language students in one state university in Jambi Province. This current study used a survey approach to deal with the issue of the learning strategies of English as foreign language students. Data were collected through using the Language Learning Strategy Questionnaire (LLSQ). The participants of this study consisted of 129 students. Overall, the findings revealed that cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies were most commonly used by students in speaking, reading, and writing skills. However, cognitive and social strategies were the most frequently used by students for listening skill. Suggestions and future studies are also discussed. Keywords Foreign language, language skills, language learning strategies, learning English 1 English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia; eka_rotni@unja.ac.id 2 English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia; nfajaryani81@gmail.com mailto:eka_rotni@unja.ac.id mailto:nfajaryani81@gmail.com IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 172 Introduction English is one of the foreign languages used as a compulsory subject for students to study in high schools in Indonesia. As a foreign language, English certainly has vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and other language components that are not the same as Indonesian. They can cause constraints and obstacles for students to learn English. Constraints faced by college students, also certainly vary and they possibly can cause frustration and stress between them which of course will also indirectly affect the learning outcomes (Mukminin et al, 2018). In teaching and learning process, there are always learners who succeed well and there are also learners who are less successful. These are caused by various factors; one of them is the way of learning of people who learn it. As Naiman, Frohlich, Stem, and Todesco (1978, p. 1) stated that "All forms of language teaching can be well developed if we have sufficient knowledge about learners and about the teaching and learning process itself." Sharp (2004) also said that in the process of learning a foreign language, there are several factors that influence the success or failure of a person in learning, including age, sex, motivation, intelligence, learning strategies and learning styles that affect student academic achievement. Based on the statement from Naiman et al. (1978) and Sharp (2004), it can be inferred that the learning strategy is one of the most important factors in determining the success or failure of a student in learning a foreign language. Many factors could influence the success or failure of a learner in learning English as foreign language. Those factors can be external and internal. The external factors are the factors that come from the outside of the learner, such as school location, availability of the textbook, and quality of lecturers (Mukminin, Muazza., Hustarna., & Sari, 2015; Mukminin et al., 2015). Whereas, the internal factors are the factors which lay within the learners themselves, such as motivation, interest in learning the language, and learners’ strategies in learning the language. Since the learning strategies are also one factor which has a big contribution on the success in learning foreign language, so the lecturers or teachers should know what kinds of learning strategies that the learners have as learning strategies are very crucial for learners to make them active and confident in learning processes. Oxford (1990) states that learning strategies are the tools of active and self-directed involvement that is very important for developing communicative competence. So, if learners could apply the appropriate strategies in learning, it could result in the improvement of learners’ proficiency and greater confidence. Eventhough the studies related with language learning strategies have become the topic of many researchers around the world, (e.g., Oxford, 1990; Skehan, 1989), but in Indonesian contexts, this topic is still understudied (e.g., Mukminin et al., 2018) especially in Jambi Province. To fill the gap, this study attempted to contribute to the knowledge base by examining the learning strategies of English as foreign language students in one state university in Jambi Province. To achieve the purpose of the study, the following research questions guided the study: (1) what types of language learning strategies do English as foreign IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 173 language students use? (2) how is the language learning strategy choice of English as foreign language students in learning English as a foreign language in their university? Literature Review Learning strategies are very crucial for the learners of a foreign language in order to make them more active and more confident during learning processes which will result in the success or failure in learning the foreign language. This is in line with the statements uttered by Oxford (1990) that learning strategies are the learners’ steps in order to enhance their own learning. Crawford (1999. p. 9) also stated, “The learning strategies as the ways used by learners to improve their own learning.” It can be stated that learning strategies are the conscious activities done by learners that intend to achieve the learning goals. If a learner consciously applies appropriate learning strategies, he/she can increase not only his or her proficiency and but also his or her confidence in learning a foreign language. Additionally, language learning strategies create learners to be a competent learner. Another reason why the strategies in learning language are important is because they are the tools of active and self-directed, involvement, which is crucial to improve and develop communicative competence (Oxford, 1990). There are numerous classifications of language learning strategies proposed by many studies. The studies have proposed different learning strategies and different ways of grouping similar learning strategies (Setiyadi, 2016). O’Malley and Chamot (1990), Cohen (1990), and Oxford 1990 classify language learning strategies into four strategies, they are cognitive, meta-cognitive, effective, and social strategies. Cognitive strategy relates with learner’s thinking skill in processing learning materials. Meta-cognitive strategy refers to the way of the learner to do the learning materials while the effective strategy refers to learners’ behavior and feeling toward the learning processes. The social strategy is the strategy used among learners during the process of teaching and learning in order to achieve the learning goals. A quite old reference from Naiman et al. in 1978, which is based on Stern’s (1975) study, classifies more specific learning strategies consisting of 10 learning strategies including plan, active, emphatic, formal, experimental, semantic, drill, communicative, observe, and understanding. Eventhough these strategies cover many activities but they still need a modification and confirmation. Another language learning strategies which are proposed by Oxford (1990) are direct and indirect strategies. Direct strategies are the language-learning strategies that directly involve the target language, such as performing at the stage play, working with the language itself in a variety of specific tasks. While indirect strategies are the language –learning strategies that do not directly involve the target language. Even though there are many classifications of language learning strategies, this study focused on three basic classification schemes proposed by Setiyadi (2016) which are used to identify language learning strategies implemented by EFL students. They are meta-cognitive, cognitive, and social strategies. Meta-cognitive strategy allows learners to control their own congition – that is, to coordinate the learning processes by using functions such as centering, arranging, planning, and evaluating. Cognitive strategies such as summarizing or reasoning deductively, enabling IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 174 learners to understand and produce a new language by many different means. Social strategy helps learners learn through interactions with others. Methodology Research design, participants, and locale of the study This study used a survey approach. To obtain data on learning strategies used by participants, we distributed closed-ended questionnaires. This research was carried out at the one English language study program, in one state university in Jambi Province. One of the reasons to take the site was mainly the access and permission that we got from the study site authorities. This study took 6 months from April to September 2019. We invited all students at the study site; however, the participants involved in this study were 129 students who were willing to fill out the questionnaire. Data collection and analysis The instrument used in this study was the adoption of a questionnaire created by Oxford (1990) namely Language Learning Strategy Questionnaire (LLSQ). Furthermore, in 2016 this questionnaire was adapted by Setiyadi (2016) and it was created to measure the learning strategy of tertiary level students especially for Indonesian students who learn English as a foreign language. This is one of the researcher’s considerations to adopt this questionnaire as it has been revised for several times by the former researcher to gain its reliability and validity. Since this questionnaire was reliable and it was also piloted to Indonesian students at tertiary level, so it was not necessary anymore for the researchers to find its reliability anymore since the participants of this study were also the tertiary level students of English study program. The questionnaire measures the students’ learning strategy of the four language skills (listening, reading, speaking, and reading) in one sheet of questionnaire. It consists of 80 questions of learning strategies for the four language skills. Each skill consists of 20 questions and in each skill consists of three groups of learning strategies, namely; cognitive strategies, meta-cognitive strategies, and social strategies. For the speaking category, the statements of the number 1-10 are grouped into cognitive learning strategies, the statements of the number 11-15 are included in the meta-cognitive learning strategies, and the statements of the number 16-20 are included in the social learning strategies. For the category of listening and reading learning strategies, cognitive strategies are grouped into the statements of the numbers 1-11, meta-cognitive strategies are grouped into the statements of the numbers 12-17 and social strategies are grouped into the statements of the no. 18-20. Then, for learning strategies in writing, cognitive learning strategies are measured with the statements of the number 1-13, meta-cognitive strategies in the statements of the number 14-17 and social strategies with the statements of the no. 18-20. So, overall there are 80 statements for the four skills. Questionnaire data were collected by distributing questionnaires to all students of the study site through using the Google.doc form. After being filled in by participants, there were 129 participants who filled out and submitted questionnaires. The IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 175 questionnaire was analyzed statistically by looking for the frequency of each statement for each learning strategy, namely cognitive strategy, meta-cognitive strategy, and social strategy. Ethical considerations To deal with the ethics of research, particularly, to keep our participants’ identities and study site, we masked the names of the participants and research site. Also, participation in this study was totally voluntary and participants were allowed to resign anytime they wanted. All participants were given an informed consent form. Findings The purpose of this current study was to examine the learning strategies of English as foreign language students in one state university in Jambi Province. We divided our findings into four sub-headings, namely (1) the language learning strategies in speaking skill, (2) the language learning strategies in listening skill, (3) the language learning strategies in reading skill, (4) the language learning strategies in writing skill. Language learning strategies in speaking skill Cognitive strategy, table 1 shows the three highest percentages of statements about learning strategies in the terms of cognitive strategies, especially for speaking skill, the statement," I try to remember new English words by pronouncing them" was a strategy that was always used by students (27%), and also most often was 49%. Sometimes students (50%) also used the statement, "I use rhymes to remember new English words" strategy. Meanwhile, the learning strategy that was most rarely used by students was "I tape the sentences I produce" which was 42% . Table 1. Percentage of language learning strategies for speaking skills for cognitive strategies Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I use rhymes to remember new English word Never 12 9 Rarely 30 23 Sometimes 65 50 Often 19 15 Always 3 2 I try to remember new English word by pronouncing them Never 0 - Rarely 2 2 Sometimes 29 22 Often 63 49 Always 35 27 I try to remember new English word by pronouncing them Never 19 15 Rarely 54 42 Sometimes 43 33 Often 12 9 Always 1 1 IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 176 Metacognitive strategies are all learners’ behaviors related to the tactics or ways of learners to deal with and manage teaching and learning materials. For this strategy, especially in speaking skill, 45% of EFL students always used "I try to speak with myself to improve my speaking" strategy. In other words they always practiced using English by speaking to themselves. With the same percentage of 45% of students often used the strategy "I notice my English mistakes, and use that information to help me do better". It means that they learned from mistakes. For detailed percentage results for each statement in table 2 below: Table 2. Percentage of language learning strategies for speaking skills for meta-cognitive strategies Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I try to correct my mistakes that I produce orally Never 0 - Rarely 2 2 Sometimes 34 26 Often 62 48 Always 31 24 I try to speak with myself to improve my speaking Never 0 - Rarely 9 7 Sometimes 21 16 Often 41 32 Always 58 45 I notice my English mistakes, and use that information to help me do better Never 2 1 Rarely 3 2 Sometimes 30 23 Often 58 45 Always 36 28 I prepare a topic or grammatical rules in speaking practice Never 2 2 Rarely 17 13 Sometimes 59 13 Often 37 29 Always 14 11 All students’ behaviors related to student work with peers in achieving learning goals are social strategies. There were five statements in this strategy. The highest percentage of choices often used by students (26%) for speaking skill was the statement of "I ask somebody to correct me when I talk" strategy. Namely they asked for help from others to correct the mistakes that they said. Then, overall, for the total choice always, often, and sometimes, the strategy with the highest percentage was “I ask questions in English." They asked in English as much as 89%. See table 3 for the detailed results: IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 177 Table 3. Percentage of language learning strategies for speaking skills for social strategies Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I ask somebody to correct me when I talk Never 4 3 Rarely 19 15 Sometimes 32 25 Often 40 31 Always 34 26 I ask questions in English Never 1 1 Rarely 14 11 Sometimes 75 58 Often 38 29 Always 2 2 If I can not think during a conversation in English, I use gestures Never 5 4 Rarely 20 16 Sometimes 41 32 Often 48 37 Always 15 12 Language learning strategies in listening skill Cognitive strategy, for listening skill, especially for cognitive strategies in learning English, of the eleven strategies, the one that was always and often used by participants (87%) was that they learned by listening to English songs. Sometimes they learnt to listen in English by guessing what the speaker said from the materials that they were listening to (57%). The percentage of details for each listening learning strategy is in the following table. Table 4. Percentage of listening skills learning strategies for cognitive strategy Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I try to guess what somebody is saying by using grammatical rules. Never 3 2 Rarely 27 21 Sometimes 73 57 Often 18 14 Always 8 6 I learn English by listening to English song or other listening scripts. Never 1 1 Rarely 2 2 Sometimes 14 11 Often 54 42 Always 58 45 I concentrate on the grammar rather than on the communication. Never 7 5 Rarely 49 38 Sometimes 58 45 Often 13 10 Always 2 2 IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 178 For meta-cognitive strategies in listening skill, the highest percentage (95%) used was the statement," After a listening practice, I check and recheck my understanding.” Almost all participants double-checked their understanding of the materials that they were listening to while 21% of participants rarely and never even prepared themselves as presented in the following table. Table 5. Percentage of listening skills learning strategies for meta-cognitive strategies Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I listen to what I say to practice my listening skill Never 3 2 Rarely 23 18 Sometimes 58 45 Often 35 27 Always 10 8 Before practicing my listening skill, I prepare a topic, pronunciation or grammatical rules which give me the greatest trouble. Never 4 3 Rarely 23 18 Sometimes 60 47 Often 30 23 Always 12 9 After a listening practice, I check and recheck my understanding. Never 1 1 Rarely 5 4 Sometimes 32 25 Often 65 50 Always 26 20 I correct the mistakes that I produce orally. Never 1 1 Rarely 11 9 Sometimes 42 33 Often 48 37 Always 27 21 I try to be aware of which sound give the greatest trouble. In this way I can pay special attention to them while I listen and practice. Never 0 - Rarely 13 10 Sometimes 56 43 Often 46 36 Always 14 11 From the results of data analysis, it was found that almost all students (98%) stated that using listening strategy by listening to other people’s speaking in English was the way they used “mostly.” Only 2% of participants did not use this strategy as presented in the following table. IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 179 Table 6. Percentage of listening skills learning strategies for social strategy Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) If I cannot understand what somebody is saying, I ask him/her to slow down or say it again Never 1 1 Rarely 4 3 Sometimes 37 29 Often 54 42 Always 33 26 Listening to what somebody is saying improves my listening skill Never 1 1 Rarely 1 1 Sometimes 28 22 Often 51 40 Always 48 37 In a group discussion, my listening skill is improved Never 0 - Rarely 15 12 Sometimes 46 36 Often 46 36 Always 22 17 Language learning strategies in reading skill For the cognitive strategy, there were two strategies that were not used by most students, especially in learning reading skills. The highest percentage was that 40% of participants almost never and never read the text in a loud voice (I read the passage aloud) which was followed by 36% of participants never translated words to understand the text being read (I try to translate words for word). However, there were two strategies in understanding texts in reading skills that obtained the same percentage where almost all participants (98%) chose the strategy "I try to understand the passage by using my general knowledge and experience" and "I use the key words to understand the whole ideas” as presented in the following table. Table 7. Percentage of learning skills for reading skills cognitive strategy Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I try to translate word for word Never 8 6 Rarely 39 30 Sometimes 41 32 Often 24 19 Always 17 13 I try to understand the passage by using my general knowledge and experience Never 0 - Rarely 2 2 Sometimes 52 40 Often 59 46 Always 16 12 IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 180 Table 7. Continued… I use the key words to understand the whole ideas Never 0 - Rarely 2 2 Sometimes 35 27 Often 56 43 Always 36 28 I read the passage aloud Never 14 11 Rarely 37 29 Sometimes 56 43 Often 19 15 Always 3 2 I read a text more for ideas than words Never 14 11 Rarely 37 29 Sometimes 56 43 Often 19 15 Always 3 2 For the meta-cognitive strategy, there were 4 statements starting from number 12 to 15. Of the four statements, statement number 12 had the highest percentage (98%) (a combination of sometimes, often, and always) such as “I correct my mistakes by rereading the text." The majority of students corrected their mistakes in understanding English-language text by re-reading the text given by the lecturers. In addition, the second strategy was the most commonly used by students (96%) was "If I cannot understand a reading passage, I try to analyze what difficulty I actually have". They re-analyzed what difficulties they faced in understanding the texts given by the lecturers. Table 8. Percentage of reading skills learning strategies for meta-cognitive strategies Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I correct my mistakes by rereading the text Never 0 - Rarely 3 2 Sometimes 40 31 Often 57 44 Always 29 22 If I cannot understand a reading passage, I try to analyze what difficulty I actually have Never 0 - Rarely 5 4 Sometimes 42 33 Often 50 39 Always 32 25 I try to be aware of which words or grammar rules give me the greatest trouble. In this way I can pay special attention to them while I read and practice Never 1 1 Rarely 14 11 Sometimes 62 48 Often 37 29 Always 15 12 IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 181 For the social strategies, three strategies were used by participants for the reading skills. From the results of data analysis, 90% of the participants used the strategy by asking for help from their friends or lecturers if there was something that they did not understand from the reading that they read. Then, 84% of them discussed their reading materials with their friends. The last strategy that they used was that they read English messages sent by their friends. This strategy only gained 62%. Table 9. Percentage of learning skills for reading skills social strategy Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I discuss reading passages with my friends Never 1 1 Rarely 19 15 Sometimes 61 47 Often 33 26 Always 15 12 If I do not understand the content of a reading passage, I ask my friends or my teachers for help Never 0 - Rarely 13 10 Sometimes 35 27 Often 53 41 Always 28 22 I improve my reading skill by reading letters from my friends Never 14 11 Rarely 35 27 Sometimes 49 38 Often 21 16 Always 10 8 Language learning strategies in writing skills For the cognitive strategy in writing skills, out of thirteen (13) cognitive strategies, the strategy mostly used by students (98%) was by writing down whatever on their minds (I write what I am thinking about). Meanwhile, more than half of participants (58%) almost never and never used the strategy "I keep a diary". It showed that the use of writing diary had been replaced by making a statement on social media because commonly the students generally used social media instead of diary, but not by using English. Table 10. Percentage of writing skills learning strategies for cognitive strategy Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) If I do not know how to express my ideas in English while writing, I keep writing using certain rules that I know. Never 0 - Rarely 6 5 Sometimes 47 36 Often 57 44 Always 19 15 IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 182 Table 10. Continued… I write what I am thinking about Never 0 - Rarely 3 2 Sometimes 35 27 Often 53 41 Always 38 29 I consult a dictionary to find out the meanings of words. Never 0 - Rarely 7 5 Sometimes 36 28 Often 44 34 Always 42 33 I write out new material over and over. Never 2 2 Rarely 21 16 Sometimes 67 52 Often 30 23 Always 9 7 There were two strategies used by students in writing skills, especially in learning English, which got the highest percentage of 95% each. The strategy was "I choose a topic to improve my writing skills " and " I read my writing and correct the mistakes." The next strategy was "I try to be aware of which words or grammar rules give the greatest trouble, this way I can pay special attention to them while I write and practice" as much as 94% and the last strategy was " I rewrite my composition by correcting the mistakes that I notice” with 92% of participants used it. Table 11. Percentage of writing skills learning strategies for meta-cognitive strategies Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I choose a topic to improve my writing skill Never 0 - Rarely 7 5 Sometimes 59 46 Often 49 38 Always 14 11 I read my writing and correct the mistakes Never 0 - Rarely 6 5 Sometimes 27 21 Often 61 47 Always 35 27 For writing strategies in terms of the social strategy, there was one strategy that got the highest percentage with more than half of the participants (52%) writing letters to their friends using English. However, almost all participants (91%) chose a strategy of asking friends or lecturers IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 183 to correct their writing, followed by 82% of participants sent messages either by SMS or WA application using English to their friends. This showed that students rarely used letters in communication. Table 12. Percentage of writing skills learning strategies for social strategy Statements Choices Participants Percentage (%) I write a message to my friends in English for practice. Never 6 5 Rarely 17 13 Sometimes 62 48 Often 33 26 Always 11 9 I write letters in English to my friends. Never 30 23 Rarely 37 29 Sometimes 37 29 Often 20 16 Always 5 4 I ask my friends or my teachers to correct my writing. Never 3 2 Rarely 8 6 Sometimes 45 35 Often 45 35 Always 28 22 Discussion The purpose of this current study was to examine the learning strategies of English as foreign language students in one state university in Jambi Province, particularly (1) what types of language learning strategies do English as foreign language students use? (2) how is the language learning strategy choice of English as foreign language students in learning English as a foreign language in their university? Based on the findings of the questionnaire results regarding student language learning strategies in learning English as a foreign language, there were several things that we interpreted based on the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). First, for speaking skill, the strategy mostly used in cognitive strategies by students was to pronounce the new vocabulary they got so they could remind the word. While for the meta-cognitive strategies, participants immediately corrected the words they said when they realized if what they said was wrong. Finally, for the social strategy, in speaking skills, students asked more questions in English. The findings of this study indicated that participants used the strategies that worked for them as Tuncer (2009) claimed that learners had a benefit such as utilizing cognitive and metacognitive skills while learning a language while the findings of Mukminin’s et al. (2018) study indicated that social strategies were among the least preferred strategies used in learning a foreign language. IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 184 Second, in listening skills, almost all participants used songs and other English-language materials that they listened to improve their listening skills in cognitive domains which are in line with the findings of Mukminin’s et al. (2018) study showed that cognitive strategies were among the most preferred strategies in learning a foreign language. Then, for the meta-cognitive domains, they used the strategy by re-examining the assignments given by the lecturers. They did this to find out their understanding of what they heard. Meanwhile, for the social strategy, they listened to someone else to speak that could improve their listening skills. Third, for reading skills, there were two learning strategies with the same percentage, namely 98 percent used by students in improving their understanding of the reading materials provided by lecturers for the cognitive domain. The first learning strategy was to understand the texts provided by using the experience and knowledge they had before. The second was using keywords to understand the overall ideas of the reading given. Then, for learning strategies in the meta-cognitive domain, students used the method of repeating the reading materials given to correct the mistakes they made. Finally, for learning strategies in the social strategy domains, students usually asked for help from friends or lecturers if they did not understand the materials provided by the lecturers. Fourth, the writing skills, the strategy that was mostly used by students in the realm of cognitive strategies in improving their writing skills, especially using English was by writing whatever was in their minds by pouring into written forms. For the meta-cognitive strategies, most students used how to choose the topics they wanted and read while correcting mistakes made specifically on the grammatical side and vocabulary selection got the most percentage at 95%. Meanwhile, for the social strategies, students asked for help from friends or lecturers to correct their writing. Concerning the social strategies, Oxford (1990) explicated that the school arrangement might disappoint social strategies such as cooperating with other students because of competitive accomplishments that boost individual accomplishment. However, the findings of this current study showed participants helped each other in learning English by asking help from their friends if they got difficulties in specific language skills, for example, in writing and reading skills. Conclusion and Implications Based the results obtained, it can be concluded that for speaking skills , reading skills and writing strategies, cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies were most often used by students. Then for listening skills, cognitive strategies and social strategies were most often used by students. This study provides a classification of foreign language learning strategies consisting of three categories namely cognitive, meta-cognitive, and social strategies. This classification is actually not final, it still needs further studies to enrich the findings related to foreign language learning strategies so that findings will be obtained more consistently and can be used in any community. This study is also very important to be conducted for learners at any levels. In addition, lecturers also need to be given training on their language teaching strategies so that they will be more familiar with effective learning strategies for students to use. IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 185 Disclosure statement There is no conflict of interest reported by the authors. Acknowledgments We would like to thank all participants who participated in this study. Also we would like to thank IRJE and reviewers for accepting our article. References Cohen, A. (1990). Language learning: Insight for learners, teachers, and researchers. New York: Newbury House. Crawford, H. T. (1999). English for specific purposes: A learning-centered approach. UK: Cambridge University Press. Mukminin, A., Muazza., Hustarna., & Sari, S.R. (2015). 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Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. New York: Newbury House. Setiyadi.B. (2016). Language learning strategy questionnaire (LLSQ): A measurement to identify students’ learning strategies and prepare the success of learning English in the Indonesian Context (Empirical Evidence). Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu Publisher. Sharp, A. (2004). Language learning and awareness of personality types in Chinese settings. Retrieved from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com Skehan, P. (1989). Individual differences in second language learning. London: Edward Arnold. Tuncer, U. (2009). How do monolingual and bilingual language learners differ in use of learning strategies while learning a foreign language? Evidences from Mersin University. Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences, 1, 852-856. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&prev=_t&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.asian-efl-journal.com IRJE |Indonesian Research Journal in Education| |Vol. 4| No. 1|June|Year 2020| |E-ISSN: 2580-5711|https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/index.php/irje/index| 186 Biographical notes Dr. MASBIROROTNI works as a lecturer at English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia; eka_rotni@unja.ac.id Dr (cand.) NUNUNG FAJARYANI works as a lecturer at English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia; nfajaryani81@gmail.com mailto:eka_rotni@unja.ac.id mailto:nfajaryani81@gmail.com