16. STRATEGIES-BASED
INSTRUCTION
Teaching by Principles
By
H.D. Brown
STRATEGIES-BASED
INSTRUCTION
The persistent use of a whole battery
of strategies for language learning
 Sometimes these strategies are
subconsciously applied
 Often learners have achieved their
goals through conscious, systematic
application of a battery of strategies

STRATEGIC INVESTMENT
Strategic investment
 Strategies-based instruction (SBI)
 Teachers might overlook their mission
of enabling learners to eventually
become independent, autonomous
 Students need to have the necessary
strategy competence for the give and
take of meaningful communication

GOOD LANGUAGE LEARNERS
By Joan Rubin and Irene Thompson
 Good language learners;
1. find their own way, taking charge of
their learning
2. organize information about language
3. are creative, developing a “feel” for
the language by experimenting with
its grammar and words

GOOD LANGUAGE LEARNERS
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
make their own opportunities for
practice
learn to live with uncertainty
use mnemonics & other memory
strategies
make errors work for them
use linguistic knowledge
GOOD LANGUAGE LEARNERS
9. use contextual cues to help them in
comprehension
10. use contextual cues to help them in
comprehension
11. learn to make intelligent guesses
12. learn chunks to help them perform
“beyond their competence”
GOOD LANGUAGE LEARNERS
13. learn certain tricks that help to keep
conversations going
14. learn certain production strategies
to fill in gaps
15. learn different styles of speech &
writing & vary their language
according to the formality of the
situation
STYLES OF SUCCESSFUL
LANGUAGE LEARNING
Styles : the consistent and enduring
traits, tendencies, or preferences that
may differentiate you from others
 Strategies : specific methods of
approaching a problem or task for
controlling and manipulating certain
information

STYLES OF SUCCESSFUL
LANGUAGE LEARNING
successful second learners are usually
people who know how to manipulate
style as well as strategy levels
 the number of personality
(extroversion, self-esteem, anxiety)
and cognitive styles ( left/right brain
orientation, ambiguity tolerance, field
sensitivity) that lead toward successful
learning is finite.

DEVELOPING STUDENT SELFAWARNESS OF STYLES
1.
2.


Informal self-checklists
Formal personality and cognitive
style tests
any self-check test is a product of a
test-taker’s own self image
their responses may reflect a bit of
self-flattery
DEVELOPING STUDENT SELFAWARNESS OF STYLES
3.
4.

Reading, lectures, and discussion
Encouraging “good language learner”
behavior
through frequent impromptu
reminders of rules for good language
learning and encouragement of
discussion or clarification
HOW TO TEACH STRATEGIES IN
THE CLASSROOM
Direct or cognitive strategies
- learners apply directly to the language
itself
 Indirect or metacognitive strategies
- learners manage or control their own
learning process

HOW TO TEACH STRATEGIES IN
THE CLASSROOM
Teach strategies through interactive
techniques
ex) information-gap listening technique
2. Use compensatory techniques
3. Administer a strategy inventory
4. Make use of impromptu teacher-initiated
advice
 seize the opportunities to teach your
students how to learn
1.
“PACKAGED” MODELS OF SBI
1.
2.
3.
Textbook-embedded instruction
Adjunct self-help guides
Learning centers