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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 

Within the area of foreign language research, a number of studies (Nisbet et al., 2005; Wu, 2008; Lai, 2009) have shown that language learning strategies (LLSs) play a  significant  role  in  successful  language  learning.  These  strategies  may  improve learners’  learning  in  the  forms  and  functions  which  are  required  for  comprehension and  production  (Rubin,  1981).  Furthermore,  reading  proficiency  for  EFL  learners  is paramount  for  success  in  EFL  academic  settings  among  the  language  skills  of speaking, listening, reading and writing (Li & Wang, 2010). Fotovatian & Shokrpour (2007, p. 59) state that “in the case of our EFL students, reading is the most important skill  in  their  academic  or  learning  context.”  In  reading,  especially  in  reading comprehension,  readers  have  been  found  to  use  a  wide  range  of  strategies (Ghavamnia et al., 2013). So it is essential to study the relationship between the use of LLSs and students’ reading proficiency.  

1.1 Background of the study 
For  a  long  time,  researchers  (Nuttal,  1981;  Widdowson,  1990)  have  been focusing  on  language  teaching  and  the  subjects  in  the  process  of  language  learning, the  learners,  have  always  been  neglected.  Since  the  1970s,  the  focus  of  second language acquisition (SLA) has been changed from how to teach a language to how to learn a language. Then, a great number of researches (Green & Oxford, 1995; Bedell &  Oxford,  1996;  Oxford  &  Cohen,  2004;  Tercanliogu,  2004)  on  second  or  foreign language  have  devoted  to  exploring  the  individual  differences  in  language  learners, for  many  language  researchers  and  teachers  (Skehan,  1989;  Abraham  &  Van,  1990; Dreyer  &  Oxford,  1996)  have  long  observed  that  some  learners  acquire  a  target language as the second or foreign language more quickly and effectively than others. One  variable  of  individual  differences  is  language  learning  strategies  which  have become  very  popular  and  hot  issues  among  researchers  and  teachers  interested  in understanding  how  languages  are  learned  (Chamot  et  al., 1999;  Cohen,  2000;  Hsiao, 2002). In the past decades, an increasing number of researches (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990;  Oxford,  1990;  Wen,  1996;  Wharton,  2000)  abroad  and  at  home  have  been conducted  to  study  language  learning  strategy  use  (LLSU本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。