Presently, the importance of culture and context is becoming a significant feature of
research in the field of learning strategies. To date, there has been little
research into learning strategies utilized for reading and writing in Asian EAP
(English for Academic Purposes) contexts, and in particular in the Thai context.
With this in mind, this research investigated learning strategies employed by
undergraduate students at a Thai university studying EAP reading and writing
courses. The research aimed to identify the most frequently used strategies and
different strategy use between ‘successful’ and ‘less
successful’ learners. Learning strategies were classified following
Oxford’s (1990) six category taxonomy and an additional category of
negative strategies. The results revealed metacognitive, cognitive and compensation
as the most frequently used strategies overall. Differences in strategy use for
successful and less successful readers and writers were also demonstrated. A number
of affective and social strategies were identified in the quantitative analysis
which needed further investigation. Furthermore, various strategies investigated in
earlier learner strategy research seemed, based on this research, to be culturally
inappropriate in the Thai context.
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