The Strategy Inventory for Second Language Learning: Tested, Adapted, and Validated in the Slovenian Higher Education Context

Abstract

In administering the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) survey, our research focused on the use of second language learning strategies (SLLS) among higher education students, ascertaining what SLLS they use, the relationships between the strategies, and how the use of one group of SLLS can explain the use of other groups of strategies. This study examined the validity of the SILL (Oxford, 1990: 293-300) in a specific context by performing an exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses based on the survey response data of 225 students learning English at the Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The results show that most of the fit indexes used to test Oxford’s SILL provide an unacceptable fit, so a modification is proposed on the basis of the results of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The adapted strategy inventory model with validated fit is introduced and discussed. It shows that basic cognitive and metacognitive strategies explain 58% of the variance of social learning strategies. The results also show that certain SILL strategies are out-dated, possibly due to advancements in information technology and language learning. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of future study areas of SILL and SLLS research.