Successful Thai EFL Students and their Language Learning Strategies for Acquiring English If Clause

Abstract

The fact that English if clause is too difficult does not entail impossibility for EFL students to master it. In the Thai context, a few have managed to use it correctly despite persistent failure among many. The present study principally aimed to find out how successful Thai EFL students learned to acquire this grammatical structure by virtue of the language learning strategies (LLS). A group of 32 university English majors were individually given an oral test in which different types of if clause were under investigation, and afterwards a questionnaire to complete about their application of the strategies. Findings show an overall poor performance with only seven students passing the test. Mismatch between verb forms and meaning constituted the general typology of mistakes hypothetically as a consequence of negative mother tongue transfer, as well as a lack of deep understanding and acquisition of the structures that was supposed to be internalized. Regarding LLSs, the use of mental pictures was found to be significant – successful and less successful students applied it differently (p = 0.029) – hence the probable strategy that helps with their acquisition of the structures. Pedagogical guidelines for incorporating the LLSs into an EFL classroom were provided.