Factor analysis of the ESL/EFL Strategy Inventory for Language Learning: Generation 1.5 Korean immigrant college students' language learning strategies

This study explores factors related to the language learning strategies of second language learners, specifically Generation 1.5 Korean immigrant students - the seventh-largest and one of the fastest growing foreign-born groups in the USA. Participants in this study were members of the Korean communities located in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia who completed a self-report instrument (English as a second language/English as a foreign language strategy inventory for language learning (SILL)) that assesses language learning strategies. Since there is currently no consensus regarding how many factors the SILL adequately measures, the data were examined with an exploratory factor analysis technique. Results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that a single SILL factor best describes the instrument, as the proposed six sub-domain indices demonstrate tenuous construct validity.