单选题 A number of researchers have examined the variables/strategies that affect students' learning English as a second language. This report identifies some of the learner variables/ strategies used by two students in a Hong Kong Technical Institute. The instruments for data collection included observation, interviews and questionnaires. The findings are discussed and some implications highlighted.
What makes a "good" language learner "good", and what makes a "poor" language learner "poor"? What does this imply for the teaching of language in the Hong Kong context? These are the central questions of this assignment. The existing body of research attributes the differences between language learners to learner variables and learner strategies. Learner variables include such things as differences in personality, motivation, style, aptitude and age (Ellis, 1986: Chap. 5) and strategies refer to "techniques, approaches, or deliberate actions that students take in order to facilitate the learning and recall of both linguistic and content area information" (Chabot, 1987: 71). It is important to note here that what we are considering is not the fact that language learners do and can learn, but why there should be such variations in speed of learning, ability to use the target language, and in achieving examination grades, areas which generally lead to the classification of students as being either "good" or "poor".
Learner variables and strategies have been the focus of a number of research projects, (O'Malley et al, 1985, Oxford, 1989). However, to the best of my knowledge, this area has not been researched in Hong Kong classrooms. Since I am a teacher of English working in Hong Kong, gleaning a little of what learner variables and strategies seem to work for local students seems to be a fruitful area of research.
In discussing learner variables and strategies, we have to keep in mind the arbitrary nature of actually identifying these aspects. As the existing research points out, it is not possible to observe directly qualities such as aptitude, motivation and anxiety. (Oxford, 1986). We cannot look inside the mind of a language learner and find out what strategies, if any, they are using. These strategies are not visible processes. Also, as Naiman and his colleagues (1978) point out, no single learning strategy, cognitive style or learner characteristic is sufficient to explain success in language learning. The factors must be considered simultaneously to discover how they affect success or failure in particular language learning situation.
Bearing these constraints in mind, the aim of this assignment is to develop two small scale studies of the language learners attempting to gain an overall idea of what strategies are in use and what variables seem to make a difference to Hong Kong students.

单选题 In Paragraph 2 "learner variables" and "strategies" are defined by reference to other writers ______.
A. because these writers are authorities in the field and these are recognized as important concepts
B. because these writers are authorities in the field and these are recognized as important definitions
C. because the present author is not sure what these terms mean
D. because the present author wishes to redefine the scope of research in this area

单选题 The main point of Paragraph 2 is ______.
A. to define technical terms
B. to define terms and scope of the study
C. to outline the main sections of the report
D. to summarize the area to be covered in the article

单选题 In Paragraph 3 the writer uses the phrase "to the best of my knowledge..." because ______.
A. she has good knowledge of this area
B. she is not sure if the area has been researched in Hong Kong
C. she thinks the area has been researched in Hong Kong
D. she does not wish to take responsibility for any omissions in the bibliography

单选题 The reference to "Naiman and his colleagues (1978)" in Paragraph 4 is made ______.
A. to point out the advantages of an analytical approach
B. to point out that language learning strategies can be identified
C. to point out that different learners learn differently
D. to point out the uniqueness of language learning situations

单选题 The main point of Paragraph 5 is ______.
A. to describe the existing research in the field
B. to point out the limits of research in this area
C. to describe learning strategies identified as so
D. to summarize the scope of the present article

单选题 According to this passage, research in this area is characterized as ______.
A. empirically observable
B. often impossible to observe directly
C. poorly defined in the research literature to date
D. easier to theorize about than to carry out directly