Strategy Definitions
Primary
Reflection on what has been learned. (ESL Program)
Evaluating one’s own progress in the new language, for instance, by checking to see whether
one is reading faster and understanding more than before, or whether one is understanding a
greater percentage of each conversation. (Oxford, 1990, page 140)
It is a strategy to help the student evaluate the success of his/her learning. Students can use
self-evaluation at the end of an activity to check on how well they have accomplished a
learning task. It can also be described as: checking back, keeping a learning log, reflecting on
what you have learned. (Chamot and O’Malley 1994, page 62)
Checking back, reflecting on what one has learned, judging how well the task has been
accomplished. Self-evaluating helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses so that you
can do better next time. (Chamot et al. 1999, page 28)
Évaluer ses habiletés à accomplir une tâche langagière ou un acte de communication :
évaluer le résultat de sa performance langagière. (Cyr, 1996, page 46)
Making intelligent guesses based on all available cues such as context, cognates, known
words and expressions, visual clues, contextual cues, intonation, patterns. (ESL Program)
Inferencing can be called guessing. It involves using a wide variety of clues – both linguistic
and non-linguistic to guess meaning when the learner does not know all the words. All levels
of language-learners employ guessing as a strategy, even native speakers. Guessing is a
way that we process new information, we make intelligent guesses based on previous
knowledge and the language context we are in. (Oxford, 1990, page 48)
Making Inferences is a cognitive strategy. It involves using context clues, guessing from
context, predicting. Students use information in the text to guess meanings of new words, fill
in missing information or predict upcoming information. (Chamot et al 1999, page 24)
Utiliser les éléments connus d’un texte ou d’un énoncé afin d’induire ou d’inférer le sens des
éléments nouveaux ou inconnus; utiliser le contexte langagier ou extralangagier dans le but
de suppléer aux lacunes dans la maîtrise du code linguistique et afin de comprendre le sens
ou la signification globale d’un texte ou d’un acte de communication; recourir à son intuition,
deviner intelligemment. On utilise également le terme devinement pour désigner cette
stratégie cognitive. (Cyr, 1996, page 50)
Reading through a text quickly to get an overview of it. (ESL Program)
Getting the ideas quickly. Within getting the ideas quickly is the strategy of skimming. Using
skimming to determine the main ideas…. This strategy helps learners understand rapidly
what they hear or read in the new language. (Oxford 1990, page 80)
It is described as previewing, skimming, getting the gist. By skimming, students can preview
the main ideas and concepts of a text and identify the organizing principles. (O’Malley and
Chamot 1994, page 62)
Skimming consists of quickly running one’s eyes across a whole text. This strategy helps the
student predict the purpose, main topic or message. It gives the student a ‘head-start’ as they
embark on more focused reading. (Brown, 1994, page 293)
This is a compensatory strategy that includes requesting assistance, repetition or precision.
(ESL Program)
This strategy involves asking someone (a peer, the teacher) for help. This strategy is similar
to asking for clarification. It could also mean asking the speaker to repeat, rephrase, explain,
talk more slowly or give examples. (Oxford 1990, page 169)
Clarifying is a problem-solving strategy that involves asking for explanations, verification,
rephrasing or examples. Students should use this strategy whenever something important
does not make sense or when they don’t know how to say something in English and there is
someone available to help them. (Chamot et al. 1999, page 26)
Questioning for clarification is a strategy that involves getting additional explanations or
verification from a teacher, peer or expert. (O’Malley & Chamot 1994, page 63)
Les questions de clarification et de vérification: demander de répéter; solliciter auprès du
professeur ou d’un locuteur natif des clarifications, des explications ou des reformulations.
(Cyr, 1996, page 55)
Buying time to think out a response. (ESL Program)
Taking time to think out a response. (Cohen, Weaver, and Tao-Yuan 1996, in Cohen, 1997,
page 154)
Stalling or time gaining strategies. Use of fillers/hesitation devices – using filling words or
gambits to fill in pauses and to gain time to think (e.g. now, let me see, uh, as a matter of
fact…). (Dornyei, 1995, page 58)
Fillers can be used in cases of problem communication when the speaker needs a little more
time to get whatever he or she was going to say worked out. (Edwards, 2002 – personal
communication)
Questioning the pronunciation of new words read or heard, using and selecting the
appropriate strategies, checking and adjusting one’s ongoing performance. (ESL Program)
Identifying errors in understanding and producing the new language, determining which ones
are important (those that cause serious confusion or offense), tracking the source of important
errors, and trying to eliminate such errors. (Oxford 1990, page 140)
Monitoring speech by paying attention to vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation while
speaking. (Cohen, Weaver, and Tao-Yuan 1996, in Cohen, 1997, page 155)
Checking one’s comprehension during listening or reading or checking the accuracy and/or
appropriateness of one’s oral or written production while it is taking place. (O’Malley and
Chamot, 1991, page 63)
Vérifier et corriger sa performance au cours d’une tâche d’apprentissage ou d’un acte de
communication. (Cyr, 1994, page 45)
Drawing on one’s background knowledge as a source of information. (ESL Program)
Overviewing comprehensively a key concept, principle, or set of materials in an upcoming
language activity and associating with what is already known. This strategy can be
accomplished in many different ways, but it is often helpful to follow three steps: learning why
the activity is being done, building the needed vocabulary, and making associations. (Oxford
1990, page 138)
The learner recalls background information or schemata relevant to the particular context and
subject matter. A lifetime of experiences and knowledge are used to perform cognitive
associations in order to bring a plausible interpretation to the message. (Brown, 1994, page
235)
Activating background knowledge - what is already known about the situation or task. (Cohen,
Weaver, and Tao-Yuan, 1996 in Cohen, 1997, page 153)
Making use of human and material resources: word and expression banks, graphic
organizers, posters, checklists, quick references, books, thematic and visual dictionaries,
information technology. (ESL Program)
Using print or nonprint resources to understand incoming messages or produce outgoing
messages. Using resources to find out the meaning of what is heard or read in the new
language, or to produce messages in the new language. To better understand what is heard
or read, printed resources such as dictionaries, word lists, grammar books, and phrase books
may be valuable. Nonprint resources include tapes, TV, videocassettes, radio, museums, and
exhibitions, among others. (Oxford, 1990, page 81)
Using target language reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, or textbooks.
(O’Malley and Chamot, 1991, page 119)
Looking for specific information in a text. (ESL Program)
Quickly searching for some particular piece or pieces of information in a text. Scanning
exercises may ask students to look for names or dates, to find a definition of a key concept, or
to list a certain number of supporting details. The purpose of scanning is to extract certain
specific information without reading through the whole text. (Brown, 1994, page 293)
Searching for specific details of interest to the learner. (Oxford, 1990, page 80)
Asking oneself: What am I supposed to do? In what order? What resources do I need?
What could I listen to or read? What should I say or write? How will I say it or write it? (ESL
Program)
Previewing the organizing concept or principle of an anticipated learning task
(advance organization).
Proposing strategies for handling an upcoming task; generating a plan for the parts,
sequence, main ideas or language functions to be used in handling a task (organizational
planning). (O’Malley and Chamot, 1990, page 137)
Se fixer des buts à court ou à long terme;
Étudier par soi-même un point de langue ou un thème qui n’a pas encore été abordé en salle
de classe;
Prévoir les éléments linguistiques nécessaires à l’accomplissement d’une tâche
d’apprentissage ou d’un acte de communication.
(On peut favoriser l’utilisation de cette stratégie lorsque l’on amène l’apprenant à formuler
ses objectifs d’apprentissage ou les niveaux de compétence qu’il désire atteindre. Il est bien
connu également des enseignants de L2 que l’on a de meilleures chances de susciter
l’engagement et la participation active des apprenants lorsque le but et les séquences d’une
activité de classe ou même d’un cours leur sont clairement explicités. À force de répéter cet
exercice, il est probable que l’on aide l’apprenant à prendre conscience par lui-même de la
raison d’être des activités d’apprentissage qui lui sont proposées. On fait encore appel à ce
type de stratégie lorsque l’on demande à ses élèves de prévoir le contenu ou le déroulement
d’un échange, à l’écoute ou à l’oral, dans le cas d’une simulation. De même, à la lecture, on
peut encourager ses élèves à prévoir le contenu d’un article de journal à partir du titre ou à
faire un survol de l’article en vue d’en saisir les points importants). (Cyr, 1996, page 43)
Repeating, rehearsing, regrouping, integrating and assimilating key functional language and
expressions. (ESL Program)
Repetition : Repeating a chunk of language ( a word or phrase) in the course of performing a
language task.
(Chamot, Küpper and Impink-Hernandez 1988 A study of learning strategies in foreignlanguage instruction : the third year and final report. McLean, Va. : Interstate Research
Associates as quoted in O’Malley and Chamot, 1990, page 138)
Saisir les occasions qui sont offertes de communiquer dans la langue cible;
Repéter des segments de la langue;
Penser ou se parler à soi-même dans la langue cible;
Tester ou réutiliser dans des communications authentiques des mots, des phrases ou des
règles appris en salle de classe;
Répondre silencieusement aux questions posées à d’autres en salle de classe;
Répéter à haute voix. (Cyr, 1996, page 47)
Working together, learning together, helping each other. (ESL program)
Working together with one or more peers to solve a problem, pool information, check a
learning task, model a language activity, or get feedback on oral or written performance.
(O’Malley and Chamot, 1990, page 229)
Work with others to complete tasks, build confidence, and give and receive feedback.
Working with other people gives you a chance to share your strengths so that you can all do a
better job. (Chamot, Barnhardt, El-Dinary, Robbins, 1999, pages 16, 24)
Interagir avec ses pairs dans le but d’accomplir une tâche ou de résoudre un problème
d’apprentissage; solliciter de la part d’un locuteur compétent des appréciations au sujet de sa
performance ou de son apprentissage. (Cyr, 1996, page 56)
ACCEPTING NOT BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND
EVERYTHING LISTENED TO OR READ
Essentiellement, la tolérance à l’ambiguïté consiste à ne pas se sentir gêné, mal à l’aise ou
même menacé face à des informations vagues, incomplètes, fragmentaires, incertaines,
inconsistantes, contraires ou apparemment contradictoires. (Ely, 1989, page 438 as quoted in
Cyr, 1996, page 85)
Tolerance of ambiguity – that is, acceptance of confusing situations – may be related to
willingness to take risks (and also reduction of both inhibition and anxiety). Moderate
tolerance for ambiguity, like moderate risk-taking, is probably the most desirable situation.
Learners who are moderately tolerant of ambiguity tend to be open-minded in dealing with
confusing facts and events, which are part of learning a new language. (…) Again, selfencouragement and anxiety-reducing strategies help learners cope with ambiguity in
language learning. (Oxford, 1991, pages 142-144)
In studies on tolerance of ambiguity (Budner, 1962) ambiguous situations were identified as
characterized by novelty, complexity, or insolubility; and tolerance of ambiguity was defined
as the tendency to perceive such situations as acceptable. (Stern, 1983, pages 382-383)
Foretelling based on prior knowledge, topic, task at hand, title, pictures, glancing through a
text. (ESL Program)
Anticipate information to prepare and give direction for the task. Predicting involves thinking
of the kinds of words, phrases and information that you can expect to encounter based on
your background knowledge and/or on information you encounter during the task.
Anticipating information gives you direction for doing the task because you will be attuned to
certain types of information. (Chamot, Barnhardt, El-Dinary, Robbins, 1999, pages 15, 19)
Daring to speak English only, experimenting with known language, attempting to integrate
new language. (ESL Program)
Pushing oneself to take risks in a language-learning situation, even though there is a chance
of making a mistake or looking foolish. Risks must be tempered with good judgement.
(Oxford, 1990)
(…) to take calculated risks in attempting to use language – both productively and receptively.
(…) to attempt to produce and to interpret language that is a bit beyond their absolute
certainty. (Brown, 1994, page 24)
Making up for the lack of a precise word or expression. (ESL Program)
Suppléer au manque de vocabulaire par la circonlocution ou la paraphrase; en cas
d’incompréhension de la part de l’interlocuteur, choisir d’autres mots ou d’autres phrases de
la langue cible pour réaliser l’acte de communication. (Cyr, 1996, page 53)
This strategy involves substituting known words or phrases when you do not know or cannot
remember a specific word or phrase. Substituting allows you to quickly solve a problem so
that you can keep communication going because it is difficult to know every word in the target
language and constant use of a dictionary can impede and slow down communication.
Substituting also helps you communicate correctly because you are relying on language that
you know. (Chamot, Barnhardt, El-Dinary, Robbins, 1999, page 26)