The Influence of Note-Taking Strategy on Improving Students' Academic Achievement from English and TEFL Majors' Perspectives at An-Najah National University

This study aimed at investigating the influence of note-taking strategy on improving students' academic achievement from English and TEFL Majors' perspectives at An-Najah National University. The study examined the effect of the following variables: (gender, faculty, and academic level) on the students' perspectives. To achieve the purposes of the study, the researcher developed a 42-item questionnaire which included four main domains: Students' background of note-taking concept, Students' perspectives towards the benefits of note-taking, Influence of note-taking on listening comprehension, and Influence of note-taking on writing skills. The researcher distributed the questionnaire randomly on a sample of (301) English and TEFL Majors at An-Najah National University. A descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze the collected data, where the questionnaire validity was approved by consulting a jury in the field of TEFL from different universities in the West Bank. The results of the study showed that there is positive influence of note-taking strategy on improving students' academic achievement from English and TEFL Majors' perspectives at An-Najah National University. There were significant differences at the level (α ≤ 0.05 ) in the students' perspectives due to the students' gender in the first, and fourth domains in favor of males in the first domain, but in favor of females in the fourth domain. There were also statistically significant differences in the students' perspectives due to the student's faculty in favor of TEFL Majors in the first domain, but in favor of English Majors in the rest of domains. However; there were no significant differences in the students' perspectives due to the students' academic level. In the light of the results of the study, the researcher recommended including note-taking teaching in curricula syllabuses, and training teachers on different methods of teaching note-taking. The researcher also suggested conducting studies on note-taking difficulties and how to deal with them.