Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Research Background
The present study is carried out with the aim of examining the general level ofChinese non-English majors' tolerance of ambiguity, the overall situation of theirstrategy use in second language learning and the correlation between their level oftolerance of ambiguity and learning strategies use.With the great development of language teaching theory and practice, researchersin language teaching field at home and abroad begin to realize the status and importanceof language learners as independent individuals, so their research focus is graduallyshifted from teachers' teaching to students' learning. In addition，the educators andteachers who work in the front line also notice that although students leam foreignlanguage in similar language learning environment, their language achievements mayvary very much. Some students can perform much better in language learning thanothers. Therefore, they begin to pay more attention to learners' individual characteristics.It is recognized that language learners' individual differences play a very important rolein second language learning, and numerous previous researches show that learners'language learning strategies are greatly related to their final learning achievements. Theuse of learning strategies is influenced by various factors such as environment factors(cultural background，learning conditions，teaching environment, teachers' ability，learning tasks, etc.) and learners, individual factors (motivation，attitude, personality,age, intelligence, language aptitude, sex, cognitive styles，etc.). Tolerance of ambiguityis considered as one of the personality variables and a very important part of learners'cognitive style. Therefore, tolerance of ambiguity may affect learners，use of learning.
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1.2 Purpose and Significance of the Study
Based on the valuable contributions that have been done by the researcherspreviously, the present study is supposed to achieve the following purposes:Firstly, it aims to find out the overall situation of non-English majors' TOA levelsand their language learning strategies use.Secondly, the possible correlation between non-English majors' TOA level andtheir strategies use in second language learning will be analyzed.Thirdly，some practical pedagogical implications for improving students' learningand teachers, teaching in second language are expected to be put forward in the presentstudy.It is expected that the findings of the study can be helpful for the future research inthe comprehension of the relationship between tolerance of ambiguity and languagelearning strategies use. The study will be of theoretical significance because tolerance ofambiguity has great effects on second language learning, and the related researches willbe beneficial to the theoretical development. The research results can also provide somepractical significance. The findings from the research results of the study will contributeto the effectiveness of English learning and have some pedagogical implications whichwill benefit language teachers and learners in their teaching and learning practice. Forlanguage teachers，they can have a better understanding of how tolerance of ambiguityinfluences learners' choice of learning strategies，thus they can choose appropriateteaching methods ^nd select the teaching materials according to their individualdifferences.
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Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 Tolerance of Ambiguity
This part gives a brief introduction of tolerance of ambiguity, including thedefinition, related researches in both psychological field and second language learningfield and the measurement of tolerance of ambiguity. The research on tolerance of ambiguity originates from the study on intolerance ofambiguity proposed by Frenkel -Brunswik who was the first psychologist whoconducted a comprehensive study in this field. In her point of view，intolerance ofambiguity should be considered as an emotional and perceptual personality variable.Frenkel-Bmnswik (1949:115) pointed out that "intolerance of ambiguity is a tendencyto resort to black-white solutions，to arrive at premature closure as to valuative aspects,often at the neglect of reality, and to seek for unqualified and unambiguous overallacceptance and rejection of other people".Inspired by Frenkel-Brunswik，s research on intolerance of ambiguity, Budner(1962) perceived intolerance of ambiguity as a personality variable. He definedintolerance of ambiguity as 'the tendency to perceive (i.e. interpret) ambiguoussituations as sources of threat，，，tolerance of ambiguity as "the tendency to perceiveambiguous situations as desirable" (1962:29). Apart from giving definition to toleranceof ambiguity, he also made great efforts to construct a proper measurement and figureout the situations in which intolerance of ambiguity may be a significant variable.
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2.2 Language Learning Strategies
The interest on the traits of successful language learners contributs a lot to thestudy of language learning strategies which then become an essential part of theresearches on second language acquisition. Numerous investigations have proved thataffective use of learning strategies is beneficial to language learning. In this part, thebasic knowledge of language learning strategies will be introduced, including thedefinition, classification and the related researches. Weinstein & Mayer (1986) "Learning strategies are the behaviors and thoughts thata learner engages in during learning that are intended to influence the learner's encodingprocess."Chamot (1987) “learning strategies are techniques，approaches or deliberate actionsthat students take in order to facilitate the learning, recall of both linguistic and contentarea information."Rubin (1987) "learning strategies are strategies which contribute to thedevelopment of the language system which the learner constructs and affect learningdirectly."Oxford (1990) "Language learning strategies are behaviors or actions whichlearners use to make language learning more successful, self-directed and enjoyable."
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Chapter Three Methodology......... 29
3.1 Research Questions......... 29
3.2 Subjects.........29
3.3 Instruments.........30
3.4 Procedures.........30
3.4.1 Pilot Study.........31
3.4.2 Data Collection.........31
3.4.3 Data Analysis.........31
Chapter Four Results and Discussion.........32
4.1 Description of Subjects' Tolerance of Ambiguity.........33
4.2 Description of Subjects' Language Learning Strategy Use.........35
4.3 Differences of LLS Use among High TO A Students and Low TOA Students.........37
4.4 Correlation between Subjects' TOA and Language Learning Strategy Use.........39
Chapter Five Conclusion.........40
5.1 Major Findings of the Study.........40
5.2 Implications of the Study.........42
5.3 Limitations of the Present Study and Suggestions.........45
Chapter Four Results and Discussion
4.1 Description of Subjects' Tolerance of Ambiguity
According to Ely' SLTAS questionnaire, the total score of SLTAS ranges from 12to 48，the higher the score is，the lower a learner's TOA is; the lower the score is，thehigher a learner's TOA is. The mid-point of the scores is 30，so the learners who getscores from 30 to 48 will be defined as learners who have low degree of TOA，and thosewhose scores are from 12 to 30 will be defined as learners who have high degree ofTOA. Table 4-1 is result of the tendency of the participants' TOA level. It can be seen from the table that 34 participants get the scores from 21 to 30，sothey belong to the high TOA group, accounting for 25.37% of all the participants; 100participants get the scores from 31 to 43，so they are defined as the low TOA group，accounting for 74.63% of all the participants. The average scores of the two groups are28.09 and 35.14 and the lowest and highest scores of the participants are 21 and 43respectively. From the analysis of the collected data of participants' TOA，we can tellthat most of the participants have a relatively lower level of TOA and a minority ofthem have a higher level of TOA.
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Conclusion
The present study has examined the TOA level of non-English majors and exploredthe relationship between learners' TOA and their language learning strategies. In thischapter, the conclusion drawn from the analysis will be presented. Firstly，the majorfindings of the study are presented. Then，the theoretical and pedagogical implicationsto language learning and teaching will be introduced. Finally，some limitations of thepresent study and suggestions for the further research are stated. The investigation on 134 non-English majors' tolerance of ambiguity revealsthat a majority of non-English major students have relatively lower level of tolerance ofambiguity. The statistics shows that 25.37% of the subjects have high TOA level while74.63% of them have low TOA level. It is suggested that they should make efforts toimprove their level of tolerance of ambiguity.
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Reference (omitted)
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