Language Learning
Strategies
王立非
[email protected]
Outline:
•Definitions
•Controversial
•Classifications
Why bother about learning
strategy?
What is learning Strategy?
Changes in paradigm:
Teacher/teaching-centered
to
Learner/learning-centered
Stern (1983):
Strategy is general tendencies or
overall characteristics of the
approach employed by the
language learner, leaving
techniques to refer to particular
forms of observable learning
behavior.
Winstein (1986):
Learning strategies are the
behaviors and thoughts that a
learner engages in during
learning that are intended to
influence the learner’s
encoding process.
Chamot (1987):
Learning strategies are
techniques, approaches or
deliberate actions that
students take in order to
facilitate the learning, recall
of both linguistic and content
area information.
Rubin (1987):
Learning strategies are
strategies which contribute to
the development of the
language system which the
learner constructs and affect
learning directly.
Oxford (1990):
Language learning strategies
are behaviors or actions
which learners use to make
language learning more
successful, self-directed and
enjoyable.
Cohen (2006):
Learners’ conscious and
semi-conscious thoughts and
behaviors, to improve the
knowledge and understanding
of L2, as well as strategies for
using the language that has
been learned or for getting
around gaps in language
proficiency.
Controversial:
• observable behavior or mental
activities, or both?
• general tendency or specific
techniques?
Controversial:
• conscious or unconscious?
• direct or indirect?
No Unified Answer yet
•Strategy
•Method
•technique
Strategy:
•Cognitive
•Learner perspective
•Communicative
Classifications (Cohen 2006):
By goal:
By function:
By skill:
Others
By goal: Language learning
strategies (e.g., translating,
memorizing) or language
use strategies (e.g., retrieval,
communicative, and cover
strategies).
By function: Metacognitive,
cognitive, socio-affective.
By skill: listening, speaking,
reading, writing, vocabulary,
or translation strategies.
Others: Strategies by
proficiency levels, by specific
cultures (i.e., learning the
language of a specific culture), or
by specific languages.
Two-way classification
Language Learning Strategies
(a) identifying material to be learned,
(b) distinguishing it from other material,
(c) grouping it for easier learning,
(d) engaging in repeated contact with it,
(e) formally committing it to memory (e.g.,
using rote memory or mnemonics).
Language use strategies
a) rehearsal strategies – strategies for
practicing target language
structures (e.g., rehearsing “would
you mind…” in a request to a
teacher to be excused for the day).
b) retrieval strategies – strategies to call
up language material from storage
(e.g., calling up the correct verb in
its appropriate tense).
c) communication strategies –
are the verbal (or nonverbal)
first aid devices used to deal
with problems or breakdowns in communication.
Communication strategies serve to:
steer conversation away from
problematic areas,
express meaning in creative ways (e.g.,
by paraphrasing a word/concept),
create more time to think (e.g., by using
fillers or other hesitation devices),
negotiate the difficult parts of the
communication until everything is clear.
Three-way classification
Metacognitive
Cognitive
Social
O’Malley & Chamot
(1990)
Cognitive strategies –
the learning strategies of
identification, grouping, retention,
and storage of language material,
as well as the language use
strategies of retrieval, rehearsal,
and comprehension or production
of words, phrases, etc.
认知策略(cognitive)
l
重复（repetition）
l
翻译（translation）
l
归类（grouping）
l
记笔记（note-taking）
l
利用关键词（key word）
l
利用上下文情景（contextualization）
l
拓展（elaboration）
l
迁移（transfer）
Metacognitive strategies –
 processes learners consciously use
to supervise or manage their
language learning.
 allow learners to control their own
cognition by planning what they
will do, checking how it is going,
and then evaluating how it went.
元认知策略(Meta-cognitive)：
l
提前准备（advance organizers）
l
集中注意（directed attention）
l
选择注意（selective attention）
l
自我管理（self-management）
l
事先练习（advance preparation）
l
自我监控（self-monitoring）
l
延迟表达（delayed production）
l
自我评价（self-evaluation）
Affective strategies –
strategies for regulating emotions,
motivation, and attitudes; strategies
for reduction of anxiety and for
self-encouragement.
Social strategies –
strategies for interacting with
other learners and with
native speakers for practice.
社交/情感策略(social/affective)
l
协作（cooperation）
l 提问澄清（question for
clarification）
l 求助（question for help)
Multi-way classification
Receptive skills -- listening and
reading.
Productive skills -- speaking and
writing.
vocabulary learning.
Grammar.
translation.
Assessing
Your Strategy
Thank You