Towards a Culturally and Contextually Relevant Questionnaire For English Language Learning Strategies: The What and the How

Language learning strategies (LLS) have been the research focus of the language teaching and learning area for more than 35 years. One of the most significant revelations about LLS is that effective manipulation of LLS will lead to improved performance of language learners. In addition, learning strategies are found to be transferable, which means insights into the strategies used by successful language learners could help less successful language learners improve their learning ability. Based on these two premises, various types of strategy assessments have been designed to examine the strategy use of individual ESL/EFL learners worldwide and the most prevalent tools are questionnaires. However, when LLS are culturally-situated, contextually-bound, and learner-dependent, there is a need to construct a new strategy assessment tool which can reflect the actual LLS use of the specific learners under study. This paper reports on the construction of the English Language Learning Strategy Questionnaire (ELLSQ), which was employed in a mixed-methods research study on LLS among Vietnamese tertiary learners. Firstly, the need for the ELLSQ construction is examined. Secondly, various steps in the adaptation and development of the ELLSQ are described in detail. Thirdly, the validation of the ELLSQ is addressed through the processes of conducting informal expert reviews and field pretests. The reliability and validity of the LLSQ are then clearly articulated with statistical evidence. Finally, practical implications for future attempts are provided regarding the construction of reliable and valid questionnaires which are culturally and contextually relevant.