Chapter 2 .

- Learning strategies as cognitive

skills
2.1. Introduction

As we saw in the Conclusion to Chapter 1, learning strategies can be considered as part of

procedural knowledge in language learning. Ellis (1985: 165, cited in Nunan 1991: 168) broke down
procedural knowledge into the following components, in which we see certain types of learning
strategy clearly located:

Figure 2.1: Typology of procedural knowledge (after Ellis 1985: 165; in Nunan 1998:168).

2.2. Learning strategies and a constructivist view of learning

One of the basic principles of the cognitive theory outlined in Chapter 1 is the idea that learners do
not merely acquire knowledge, but rather that they construct it by using their previous experience
to understand and shape new information. The role of the teacher is no longer to simply supply this
information, but to take an active part in the process of knowledge formation together with the
learner. Knowledge, in other words, is constructed and shared. This means that instruction (or input)
is not transformed directly into output, but that individuals build up their knowledge actively and
meaningfully through the activation of mental processes. The cognitive theory that is based on these
assumptions is called constructivism. According to this view of learning, individuals make their
personal constructions from the information they receive and develop a certain degree of intellectual
autonomy. In other words, students are seen as active co-constructors of knowledge. As such,
constructivism provides a rationale for teaching by negotiation:

a constructivist approach to education is best put into practice by presenting issues, concepts and
tasks in the form of problems to be explored in dialogue rather than as information to be ingested
and reproduced.
(Williams and Burden 1997: 49)

Teachers foster the development of higher-order thinking skills through challenging tasks, modelling
the learning process, and engaging in interactive dialogue with students. This form of learning is
more demanding for the teacher, who should have not only a thorough understanding of the subject
matter but also the ability to connect it with the students' cognitive networks - their previous concepts,
experiences and schema. This requires the teacher to transcend the transmission view of
communication derived from behaviourist theories, and to apply the principles of cognitive
psychology (see Madrid et al., 1998).
As Valcárcel et al. (1996) have argued, for learning to take place the learner must actively participate
in the process. However, participating does not mean simply listening to the teacher or looking at
the textbook. Taking part in the process of learning requires the activation and regulation of many
additional factors such as:

- motivation

- beliefs about learning

- previous knowledge

- interaction

- new information

- abilities and strategies

Learning is considered as a process of processes; this means that the acquisition of knowledge
involves the activation of certain mental activities which must be suitably planned in order to fulfil
initial expectations. However, not all learners know or possess these learning processes (known as
learning strategies), or they use them incorrectly, which could lead to poor learning or no learning
at all. For this reason the field of cognitive psychology, in recent years, has tried to identify learning
strategies employed by subjects as they learn, and they have become the major focus of educational
innovation in schools. The identification of these strategies, and their application to learning, will, it
is assumed, lead to improved learning.

In this view, learning depends on:

- what the learner does,

- the processes he/she uses when learning,

- the strategies which develop these processes.

The Key Competences paradigm, developed by the EU (2006), refers to learning in similar terms,
citing 'Learning to Learn' as one of its eight key competences:

"learning to learn" is related to learning, the ability to pursue and organise one's own learning, either
individually or in groups, in accordance with one's own needs, and awareness of methods and
opportunities; (Europa: Summaries of EU Legislation, 2007).

2.3. Definitions of Learning Strategies

What exactly are learning strategies? The discussion above has mentioned 'mental processes' and
the like, which are rather vague terms that we now need to define in a little more depth. The use of
the term "learning strategies" has provoked much heated debate, and a number of alternative terms
have been proposed over the years. We will be looking at the reasons for this debate a little later,
and in the meantime offer the following selection of terms:

tactics, techniques, potentially conscious plans, consciously employed operations, learning skills,
functional skills, cognitive abilities, processing strategies, problem-solving procedures, basic skills.

In the interests of brevity, some of the most popular LS definitions and the theorists who propose
them are presented in the following table:
 AUTHORS LS DEFINITIONS

Rubin Techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire second language knowledge. "What
(1975, 1987) learners do to learn and do to regulate their learning" (1987:19).

O'Malley and Learning strategies are "the special thoughts or behaviours that individuals use to help them
Chamot (1990) comprehend, learn, or retain new information".

Weinstein and
"The way in which the learner selects, acquirers, organizes, or integrates new knowledge".
Mayer (1986)

Tarone (1981) LS are "attempts to develop linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in the target language".

"...operations employed by the learner to aid the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of
information". "Learning strategies are specific actions taken by the learner to make learning
Oxford (1990)
easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferrable to
new situations".

Dansereau Special thoughts or behaviours that learners use to help them comprehend, retain and/or use
(1985) the information.

Learning Strategy: learners engage in activities to achieve certain goals, ...a choice of
Stern (1992)
procedures, ...some form of long term planning.

"Strategies can be defined as those processes which are consciously selected by learners and
Cohen (1998) which may result in action taken to enhance the learning or use of a... language, through the
storage, retention, recall, and application of information about that language" [1998: 4].

Generally the concept can be seen as a way of describing behaviors and thoughts in which a
Hoskins & learner engages and which are intended to support the learner's learning process.
Fredrikkson
(2008) Therefore learning strategies could be any behaviors or thoughts that are assumed to facilitate
the learning process.

The general features of LS, according to Oxford, are the following (1990:9-13):

1. Contribute to the main goal: communicative competence. For example, metacognitive

strategies help learners to regulate their cognition and to focus, plan and evaluate their progress.
Affective strategies develop self-confidence and perseverance needed to become involved in
language learning situations. Social strategies increase interaction and empathy in communication.

2. Allow learners to become more self-directed. Learners do not need to have the teacher around
to guide them all the time. They are trained to rely more on themselves and to be more responsible
for their learning. They are expected to gain more confidence, involvement and proficiency.

3. Expand the role of teachers. The traditional roles of teachers as authority figures, managers
and directors of learning, leaders, controllers and evaluators are changed into the roles of facilitator,
helper, guide, consultant, adviser and co-communicator.

4. Are problem-oriented. LS are tools which are used because there is a problem to solve, a task
to accomplish, an objective to meet.

5. Are specific actions taken by the learner. LS are specific actions or behaviours accomplished
by the students to enhance their learning. Examples of these actions are: taking notes, planning for
a language task, self-evaluating, etc.

6. Involve many aspects of the learner, not just the cognitive. LS are not restricted to cognitive
functions. They also include metacognitive functions like planning, evaluating, and arranging one's
own learning, and emotional and affective functions as well.
7. Support learning both directly and indirectly. Some LS involve direct learning, but others
(such as metacognitive, social or affective strategies) have an indirect effect.

8. Are not always observable. Some LS are not observable to the human eye. For example,
the act of making mental associations cannot be seen. So, we need the learner's cooperation to
explore non-observable LS.

9. Are often conscious. LS are often conscious, but as Oxford suggests, after a certain amount of
practice and use they become automatic or subconscious (i.e. part of procedural knowledge).

10. Can be taught. Another important hypothesis stated by Oxford is that LS are easy to teach and
modify through strategy training. This training is most effective when students learn why and when
specific strategies are important, how to use these strategies and how to transfer them to new
situations.

11. Are flexible. LS are not always found in predictable sequences. There is a great deal of
individuality in the way learners choose, combine and sequence strategies.

12. Are influenced by a variety of factors. Many factors affect the choice of strategies: degree of
awareness, stage of leaning, teacher expectations, age, sex, general learning style, personality
traits, motivation level, etc.

At the end of this chapter we will be examining in more detail several of the factors which are said
to affect LS use.

2.3.1. Processes, strategies and techniques

Researchers do not use terms like process and strategy consistently. Sometimes they are used as
synonyms for general mental operations, and at other times to differentiate operations involved in
language processing.

A widely accepted definition of process and strategy is that put forward by Faerch and Kasper
(1980), according to whom a processimplies a sequence of operations in the development of a
plan, as in reception or production processes, and a strategy is defined as a single operation or
feature of that process (see LS taxonomy by Valcárcel et al.) Processes constitute the goals of the
various learning strategies. For example, a learner classifies semantic elements into groups (the
strategy) in order to retain them in memory and store this new knowledge (the goal/process).
Strategies consist of behaviours or concrete mental operations related to a specific goal which are
carried out by students at the moment of learning. These behaviours are observable, either directly
or indirectly, during the learning process.

Given the lack of agreement among theorists and researchers, Valcárcel et al. (1996) have opted
for the following terminology:

- Processes are a general category of actions directed at the acquisition and transfer of information.

- Strategies are defined as the special actions or behaviours that learners use to help them learn.

- Tactic or technique is used to refer to specific learner activities.

Techniques can be said to activate strategies in that they are observable behaviours which reveal
the presence of particular strategies in learners. Strategies play a mediating role between processes
and techniques and set out to develop a particular learning process for which specific techniques
are employed (Valcárcel et al. 1996: 86-87).
As we can see from Valcárcel et al's hierarchy of terms above, it may be useful to merely consider
strategies in terms of their specificity, from general strategies to very specific strategies, on a
continuum. Cohen (1998: 9) has this to say on the topic of terminology, incidentally providing us with
a useful summary of the terminology debate:

the issue is one of how to refer to these various cognitive or metacognitive processes. The literature
includes the terms strategy, technique (Stern 1983), tactic (Seliger 1984), and move (Sarig 1987),
among other terms, and also includes the split between macro-strategies on the one hand
and micro-strategies on the other (Larsen-Freeman and Long 1991). A solution to the problem would
be to refer to all of these simply as strategies, while still acknowledging that there is a continuum
from the broadest categories to the most specific or low-level.

2.3.2. Studies into Learning Strategies

In the literature on LS there is a significant lack of agreement over terminology which can be
misleading. As Oxford puts it:

there is no complete agreement on exactly what strategies are; how many exist; how they should
be defined, demarcated and categorized; and whether it is possible to create a real, scientifically
validated hierarchy of strategies.

(1990: 17)

As Valcárcel et al. (1996) have argued, one cause for this confusion is the fact that LS research
findings depend on the areas of study investigated, the age of subjects investigated, research data
techniques, etc. Consequently, unless LS researchers find a consistent conceptual framework in
which linguistic acquisition, language learning in classroom settings, and cognitive psychology are
combined and their scope limited, biased taxonomies of language learning strategies will continue
to be offered.

With this caveat in mind, in the following sections we will briefly comment on some of the LS studies
most often referred to in the literature.

2.3.3. Early studies in LS: Rubin (1975) and Naiman et al. (1978)
As you will recall from the subject Individual Factors, the literature on learning strategies in SLA
emerged from a concern to identify the characteristics of effective learners. Research efforts
concentrating on the good language learner (Rubin 1975; Naiman et al. 1978) identified strategies
reported by students that appeared to contribute to learning. The list of strategies identified by Rubin
and Thompson (1982) can be summarised under these statements.

Effective learners...

- find their own way,

- organise,

- are creative,

- make their own opportunities,

- learn to live with uncertainty,

- use mnemonics,
- make errors work,

- use their linguistic knowledge,

- let context help them,

- learn to make intelligent guesses,

- learn some utterances as whole chunks,

- learn formalised routines,

- learn production techniques,

- use different styles of speech.

In fact it was Joan Rubin (1975) who first introduced the idea that the behaviour of successful
language learners might be different in some way from that of others. This early work, (the
article What the 'Good Language Learner' can teach us', (which you read in the subject Individual
Factors), proposed that competent individuals are effective because they have special ways of
processing information. There was also the suggestion that these could be learned by others who
had not discovered them on their own. Rubin's research mostly used young adults as subjects,
students who happened to be taking ESL classes at the University of Hawaii. Based on this
research, Rubin proposed a classification scheme which she called 'Primary Strategies', which
consists of two groupings of LS. Her scheme is summarised in the table below:

STRATEGIES THAT DIRECTLY AFFECT LEARNING (RUBIN, 1975)

- Clarification/verification: Asks for an example of how to use a word or expression, repeats words to confirm
understanding.

- Monitoring: Corrects errors in own/other's pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, style.

- Memorization: Takes notes of new items, pronounces out loud, finds a mnemonic, writes items repeatedly.

- Guessing/inductive inferencing: Guesses meaning from key words, structures, pictures, context, etc.

- Deductive reasoning: Compares native/other language to target language; Groups words; Looks for rule of co-
occurrence.

- Practice: Experiments with new sounds; Repeats sentences until pronounced easily; Listens carefully and tries to
imitate.

PROCESSES THAT CONTRIBUTE INDIRECTLY TO LEARNING

- Creates opportunities for practice: Creates situation with native speaker; Initiates conversation with fellow
students; Spends time in language lab, listening to TV, etc.

- Production tricks: Uses circumlocutions, synonyms, or cognates; Uses formulaic interaction; Contextualizes to
clarify meaning.

Table 2.2. Rubin's LS taxonomy (1975).

Naiman et al. (1978), whom we also came across briefly in the subject Individual Factors, proposed
an alternative classification scheme which contained five broad categories of learning strategies and
a number of secondary categories. Again, in the interests of brevity and clarity we have summarised
their work in the table below. The primary strategies were found to be common to all good language
learners interviewed, whereas the secondary strategies were represented only in some of the good
learners:

PRIMARY STRATEGY CLASSIFICATION AND REPRESENTATIVE SECONDARY STRATEGIES

(NAIMAN ET AL. 1978)

- Active task approach:

1. Responds positively to learning opportunity or seeks and exploits learning environments.

2. Adds related language learning activities to regular classroom program.

3. Practices

- Realization of language as a system:

1. Analyses individual problems

2. Makes L1/L2 comparison

3. Analyses target language to make inferences

4. Makes use of fact that language is a system

- Realization of language as a means of communication and interaction:

1. Emphasizes fluency over accuracy

2. Seeks communicative situations with L2 speakers

- Management of affective demands:

1. Finds sociocultural meanings

2. Copes with affective demands in learning

- Monitoring L2 performance:

1. Constantly revises L2 system by testing inferences and asking L2 native speakers for feedback.

Table 2.3. Naiman et al's LS taxonomy (1978).

Naiman et al. (1978) also identified what they referred to as "techniques" for second language
learning, which differed from strategies in their scheme by being focused on specific aspects of
language learning. The techniques, with selected examples of each, are as follows (see Valcárcel et
al. 1996: 90):

Sound acquisition: repeating aloud after a teacher, a native speaker, or a tape; listening carefully;
and talking aloud, including role playing.

Grammar: Following rules given in texts; inferring grammar rules from texts; comparing L1 and L2;
and memorizing structures and using them often.
Vocabulary: making up charts and memorizing them; learning words in context; learning words that
are associated; using new words in phrases; using a dictionary when necessary; and carrying a
notebook to note down new items.

Listening comprehension: listening to the radio, records, TV, movies, tapes, etc.; and exposing
oneself to different accents and registers.

Learning to talk: not being afraid to make mistakes; making contact with native speakers; asking
for corrections; and memorizing dialogues.

Learning to write: having pen-pals; writing frequently; and frequent reading of what you expect to
write.

Learning to read: reading something every day; reading things that are familiar; reading texts at
the beginner's level; and looking for meaning from context without consulting a dictionary.

Reflective task 2.1.

Look at the techniques proposed by Naiman et al. (1978) above and then look at the activity from a
coursebook below, which encourages learners to think about ways of learning new vocabulary.
Relate each point in the activity below to Naiman et al's techniques.

Think about the way you learn vocabulary.

Maybe you will want to try new ways.

- Do you write words in lists?

- Do you speak a new word aloud when you hear it?

- Do you organize words under topics, for example:

TRAVEL: train, coach, arrive, despart... ?

- Do you use diagrams like this?

- Do you do "vocabulary tests" with your friends?

- Do you learn five words a day?

- Do you underline new words?

- Do you see what other words go together with a new word?

- Do you practise the spelling of new words?

 Figure 2.2: From Madrid, D. & McLaren, N. (1997): Making Progress 2, (p. 38).

To see the comments on this task you will find the “Assessment” section of the subject (virtual
campus).

Although Rubin (1975) and Naiman et al's (1978) classification schemes were substantially
different, and did not have any grounding in theories of second language acquisition or cognition,
and their studies did not specify which strategies are fundamental to learning and which ones might
be most useful, they did, however serve as a basis for further research. For example, although not
explicitly, they did give recognition to metacognitive and social strategies. In fact many teachers will
see their own classroom experiences reflected in this early research and will be able to recognize
the techniques and strategies used by 'good language learners'.

2.3.3.1. O'Malley and Chamot's studies (1990)

One of the best known investigations into LS was conducted in the 1980s by O'Malley, Chamot,
Stewner-Manzanares, Kupper and Russo (1985) in the United States, with an explicit theoretical
background in cognitive theory. In a first study, O'Malley et al. (1985) collected strategy data on
the basis of interviews with secondary-school ESL learners, interviews with their teachers,
observations, and from situations outside the classroom. In this study they identified 26 strategies
(O'Malley & Chamot 1990: 119). After completing their initial study with ESL students, O'Malley et
al. extended their research to students studying a foreign language in high school and college
settings to determine if the strategies discovered in ESL students would be the same as those
used by native English-speaking students learning a foreign language. The results of these studies
provided a refinement of their previous definitions of learning strategies, an analysis of strategic
differences between effective and less effective students, longitudinal comparisons of students,
and a description of preferred strategies for different types of foreign language tasks. Below is the
taxonomy produced after their foreign language longitudinal study (O'Malley and Chamot
1990:137-139).

A. METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES:

These involve thinking about the learning process, planning for learning, monitoring the learning task, and
evaluating how well one has learned.

1. Planning: 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.

2. Directed attention: deciding in advance to attend in general to a learning task and to ignore irrelevant distractors;
maintaining attention during task execution.

3. Selective attention: deciding in advance to attend to specific aspects of language input or situational details to
assist in performance of a task; attending to specific aspects of language input during task execution.

4. Self-management: understanding the conditions that help one successfully accomplish language tasks and
arranging for the presence of those conditions; controlling one's language performance to maximize use of what is
already known.

5. Self-monitoring: checking, verifying, or correcting one's comprehension or performance in the course of language
task.

6. Problem identification: Explicitly identifying the central points needing resolution in a task or identifying an aspect
of the task that hinders its successful completion.
7. Self-evaluation: checking the outcomes of one's own language performance against an internal measure of
completeness and accuracy; checking one's language repertoire, strategy use, or ability to perform the task at hand.

B. COGNITIVE STRATEGIES:

These involve interacting with the material to be learned, manipulating the material mentally or physically,
or applying a specific technique to a learning task.

1. Repetition: Imitating a language model, including overt practice and silent rehearsal.

2. Resourcing: Using available reference sources of information about the target language, including dictionaries,
textbooks, and prior work.

3. Grouping: Ordering, classifying, or labelling material used in a language task based on common attributes;
recalling information based on grouping previously done.

4. Note taking: Writing down key words and concepts in abbreviated verbal, graphic, or numerical form to assist
performance of language task.

5. Deduction/Induction: Consciously applying learned or self-developed rules to produce or understand the target
language.

6. Substitution: Selecting alternative approaches, revised plans, or different words or phrases to accomplish a
language task.

7. Elaboration: relating new information to prior knowledge; relating different parts of new information to each other;
making meaningful personal associations to information presented, in the following ways:

a. Personal elaborations: making judgements about or reacting personally to the material presented.

b. World elaboration: using knowledge gained from experience in the world.

c. Academic elaboration: using knowledge gained in academic situations.

d. Between parts elaboration: relating parts of the task to each other.

e. Question elaboration: using a combination of questions and world knowledge to brainstorm logical solutions to a
task.

f. Self-evaluative elaboration: judging self in relation to materials.

g. Creative elaboration: making up a story line, or adopting a clever perspective.

h. Imagery: using mental or actual pictures or visuals to represent information; coded as a separate category, but
viewed as a form of elaboration.

8. Summarizing: making a mental, oral, or written summary of language and information presented in a task.

9. Translation: rendering ideas from one language to another in a relatively verbatim manner.

10. Transfer: using previously acquired linguistic knowledge to facilitate a language task.

11. Inferencing: using available information to guess the meanings or usage of unfamiliar language items
associated with a language task, to predict outcomes, or to fill in missing information.

C. SOCIAL AND AFFECTIVE STRATEGIES:

These involve interacting with another person to assist learning or using affective control to assist a
learning task.

1. Questioning for clarification: Asking for explanation, verification, rephrasing, or examples about the material;
asking for clarification or verification about the task; posing questions to the self.
2. Cooperation: Working together with peers to solve a problem, pool information, check a learning task, model a
language activity, or get feedback on oral or written performance.

3. Self-talk: Reducing anxiety by using mental techniques that make one feel competent to do a learning task.

4. Self-reinforcement: Providing personal motivation by arranging rewards for oneself when a language learning
activity has been successfully completed.

Table 2.4. O'Malley & Chamot's LS taxonomy (1990

O'Malley and Chamot's work also came up with some very important conclusions about LS:

- Foreign Language (FL) students and ESL students showed similar patterns of metacognitive and
cognitive strategy use.

- Students at all levels reported using far more cognitive strategies than metacognitive ones.

- In metacognitive strategy use FL students predominantly reported using planning strategies, such
as selective attention, organizational planning, and self-management.

- In cognitive strategy use, students at the beginning level of language study relied most on
repetition, translation and transfer, whereas more advanced students relied most on inferencing.

- Use of social and affective strategies was reported much less frequently than use of metacognitive
strategies.

- FL students of all ability levels were found to use learning strategies. More effective students used
learning strategies more often and had a wider repertoire of learning strategies than did less effective
students.

- Strategies which involve simple operations on linguistic material, such as repetition and
memorization, or the use of formulaic language, seem to be the first acquired and are the most
frequently used in secondary school classrooms (O'Malley et al. 1985a).

- More sophisticated strategies such as elaboration, monitoring, or grouping, etc. which involve the
transformation on material emerge later and are employed less frequently.

- Perhaps the simpler strategies are available to all and training can influence their frequency and
appropriateness of use.

- The more complex strategies might not be available to everyone, and their use may have to be
explicitly taught to some students.

- The use of metacognitive strategies, the most exciting development in recent strategy research,
may not translate directly into easy application, since such strategies may be the most demanding
of all to teach to students and implement effectively.

- The use of strategies reported by FL students is closely related to the type of instruction they
received in classrooms, as cognitive strategies are directly related to specific learning tasks. For
example, in a classroom in which grammar is emphasized, successful students would use deduction
as a strategy in applying rules to formulate correct sentences, and in a classroom in which
vocabulary acquisition or reading for details is emphasized, students would find translation as a
strategy to be effective. This brings into prominence the role of teachers and the type of instruction
students are involved in.

- O'Malley et al. report from their training study that it seems that strategy training can have a direct
influence on performance. Possibly the most trainable strategies are those which have the quickest
return and the less trainable strategies are those associated with aspects of language learning and
cognitive processes, and whose effects can only be observed if they are used over extended periods
of time.

2.3.3.2. Oxford's contribution (1990)

Oxford's (1990) work on strategies is perhaps the most widely known among language teachers in
the last twenty years. In her book, she presents a strategy system which is divided into two major
classes: direct and indirect. These two classes are subdivided into a total of six groups:

Direct class:

- Memory strategies

- Cognitive strategies

- Compensation strategies

Indirect class:

- Social strategies

- Affective strategies

- Metacognitive strategies

Figure 2.3: Oxford's direct/indirect LS taxonomy (1990).

According to Oxford, direct and indirect strategies support each other and each strategy type is
capable of connecting with and assisting every other strategy types, as follows (1990:15):
 Figure 2.4: Relationships between LS (Oxford 1990).

As Oxford (1990) herself pointed out, at that stage in the short history of language learning strategy
research, there was no complete agreement on exactly what strategies are, how many strategies
exist; how they should be defined, demarcated, and categorized; and whether it was -or ever will
be- possible to create a true, scientifically validated hierarchy of strategies.

Even though classification conflicts were inevitable, she proposed the following detailed taxonomy
(1990:18-21), based on her two groupings of direct and indirect strategies outlined in the table
above:

DIRECT STRATEGIES (Oxford, 1990)

(Memory, cognitive, compensation strategies)

Group I: MEMORY STRATEGIES

A. Creating mental linkages:

1. Grouping

2. Associating/elaborating

3. Placing new words into a context

B. Applying images and sounds:

1. Using imagery

2. Semantic mapping

3. Using keywords

4. Representing sounds in memory

C. Reviewing well:

1. Structured reviewing
D. Employing action:

1. Using physical response or sensation

2. Using mechanical techniques

Group II: COGNITIVE STRATEGIES

A. Practising:

1. Repeating

2. Formally practising with sounds and writing systems

3. Recognizing and using formulas and patterns

4. Recombining

5. Practising naturalistically

B. Receiving and sending messages:

1. Getting the idea quickly

2. Using resources for receiving and sending messages

C. Analysing and reasoning:

1. Reasoning deductively

2. Analysing expressions

3. Analysing contrastively (across languages)

4. Translating

5. Transferring

D. Creating structure for input and output:

1. Taking notes

2. Summarizing

3. Highlighting

Group III: COMPENSATION STRATEGIES

A. Guessing Intelligently:

1. Using linguistic clues

2. Using other clues

B. Overcoming limitations in speaking and writing:

1. Switching to the mother tongue

2. Getting help
 3. Using mime or gesture

4. Avoiding communication partially or totally

5. Selecting the topic

6. Adjusting or approximating the message

7. Coining words

8. Using a circumlocution or synonym

INDIRECT STRATEGIES
(Metacognitive, affective and social strategies)

Group I: METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES

A. Centring your learning:

1. Overviewing and linking with already know material

2. Paying attention

3. Delaying speech production to focus on listening

B. Arranging and planning your learning:

1. Finding out about language learning

2. Organizing

3. Setting goals and objectives

4. Identifying the purpose of a language task

5. Planning for a language task

6. Seeking practice opportunities

C. Evaluating your learning:

1. Self-monitoring

2. Self-evaluating

Group II: AFFECTIVE STRATEGIES

A. Lowering your anxiety:

1. Using progressive relaxation, deep breathing or meditation

2. Using music

3. Using laughter

B. Encouraging yourself:
 1. Making positive statements

2. Taking risks wisely

3. Rewarding yourself

C. Taking your emotional temperature:

1. Listening to your body

2. Using a checklist

3. Writing a language learning diary

4. Discussing your feelings with someone else

Group III: SOCIAL STRATEGIES

A. Asking questions:

1. Asking for clarification

2. Asking for correction

B. Cooperating with others:

1. Cooperating with peers

2. Cooperating with proficiency users of the new language

C. Empathizing with others:

1. Developing cultural understanding

2. Becoming aware of others thoughts and feelings

Table 2.5. Detailed direct/indirect LS taxonomy (Oxford 1990).

Reflective task 2.2.

Read Oxford's taxonomy again and then look at the five activities from an EFL coursebook
in Appendix 2.1. Which of Oxford's groups of strategies can you see reflected in each activity?

- Memory strategies - Social strategies

- Cognitive strategies - Affective strategies
- Compensation strategies - Metacognitive strategies

To see the comments on this task you will find the “Assessment” section of the subject (virtual
campus).

According to Valcárcel et al. (1996), Oxford's work lacked clarity in its treatment of cognitive
strategies, since the classification scheme she suggested failed to take into account the concepts
of processes, strategies and techniques, from the point of view we outlined above. However, it can
be seen as a good summary of all the possible strategies and techniques so far identified by other
researchers, with examples of each strategy linking them with each of the four language skills, rather
than a systematic approach to learning strategies with empirically valid research results to justify
this particular classification.

2.3.3.3. Valcárcel, Coyle and Verdú's taxonomy (1996)

For Valcárcel et al. (1996), the cognitive component of procedural knowledge in SLA included
mental processes such as hypothesis formation through reception of new L2 knowledge
(internalizing input), hypothesis formation through production (interaction) and automatization
through language use (output). In the following tables they offerered a tentative proposal of a
possible classification of these processes, strategies and techniques taken from the taxonomies
then available. They attempted to link the strategies which are closely related to the instructional
process (see Gagné 1974 and Beltrán 1993: 42) with those identified in the literature on SLA, and
which they considered as most applicable to the field of classroom-based foreign language learning.

PROCESSES STRATEGIES TECHNIQUES

I. SENSITIVIZATION (Motivation)

- Setting goals and objectives.

Planning learning tasks
- Identifying the purpose of a task.

- Planning the parts, sequence, main ideas, to be used in

Organizational planning
handling task.

1. PLANNING - Identifying and controlling one's language performance.

Self-management
- Evaluate one's own capacity.

Self-monitoring - Checking, verifying or correcting one's errors.

- Identifying the central points needing resolution in a

Problem identification
task.

Emotional control - Self-talk to lower one's learning anxiety.

- Making positive statements.

Encouraging oneself - Taking risks wisely.

- Rewarding oneself.

2. AFFECTIVE - Writing language learning diary.

Self-responsibility
- Discussing learning feelings with someone.

- Active participation in learning tasks.

Self-reinforcement
- Self-evaluation.

Decision taking - Giving priorities to learning needs.

Questioning for
- Asking for explanation, or verification.
clarification

Appeal for assistance - Asking for correction.

3. SOCIAL
- Working together with peers to solve a problem, pool
Cooperation information, model a language activity or get feedback on
oral or written performance.
 - Becoming aware of others' thoughts.
Empathizing with others
- Developing cultural understanding.

II. ACQUISITION (Codification)

- Exploring / setting aims of learning task.

Directed attention - Getting global information.

- Activation of previous knowledge.

- Physical response.
1. COMPREHENSION Intensive attention
- Underlining, ticking.

- Taking notes.
Selective attention
- Matching.

Guessing - Making associations: using clues.

- Grouping, semantic mapping.

- Key word method.

Memorization - Placing new words in context.

- Reviewing.
2. RETENTION
- Speaking to self.

- Repeating a language model (overt practice).

Imitation - Silent rehearsal.

- Using formulae & patterns.

- Recombining.

- Substitution.
Elaboration
- Note-taking.

- Paraphrasing.
3. CONSTRUCTION - Display & referential questions.
Interaction
- Practising patterns in pairs and groups.

- Analysing contrastively L1><L2.

Analysis
- Introducing meaning and rules from context.

Resourcing - Using dictionaries, grammar indexes, textbooks.

Translation - Rendering ideas from one language to another.

- Applying rules & meaning deductively.

Inferencing
4. TRANSFORMING - Deducing meaning from existing knowledge.

Extending - Building texts (oral/written) with help of cues.

Summarizing - Making reports from received information.

 III. AUTOMATIZATION

- Apply knowledge to seemingly similar tasks

Low level transfer
1. TRANSFER (semicontrolled production).

High level transfer - Apply knowledge to different tasks (free production).

- Guessing from context.

- Getting help.

- Code-switching.

- Foreignising words.
2. LANGUAGE USE FOR Overcoming limitations in
- Using mime or gesture.
COMMUNICATION speaking and writing
- Coding words.

- Planning discourse.

- Using a circumlocution or synonym.

- Simplifying or avoiding L2 rules.

IV. EVALUATION

Of products - Checking the outcomes of one's language.

Of processes - Checking strategy use.

1. SELF-ASSESSMENT Initial - Diagnosis and detention of abilities and requirements.

Formative - Interaction evaluation-learning.

Summative - Evaluation of goal achievement.

Table 2.6. Valcárcel et al. (1996).

2.4. Learning strategies and Learning styles

In the previous sections, in which we examined a number of LS taxonomies, we have been looking
at LS in a rather decontextualised manner. The use of LS by students varies enormously, and is
affected by a variety of factors, not just by whether they are 'good' or 'poor' language learners. Early
researchers such as Rubin were in fact very aware of this:

What is most significant about Rubin's conclusions concerning successful language learner
strategies is that strategy use will vary depending on the task; the stage of the learner in the learning
process; the age; the context of learning -whether inside the classroom or not; individual styles such
as auditory, visual or kinesthetic, and especially cultural differences in cognitive learning style.
(Kaylani 1996: 76)

In this section we will be examining the effect of learning styles on LS use. This is an important area
because:

Learning strategies do not operate by themselves, but rather are directly tied to the learner's
underlying styles (i.e. their general approach to learning) and other personality-related variables
(such as anxiety and self-concept) in the learner.
(Cohen 1998: 15)

The issue of learning styles has already been examined in some depth in the subject Individual
Factors, and you might want to turn back to the relevant sections of that subject in order to refresh
your memory on this topic. As a summary of learning styles, we will list the styles identified as
important by Oxford in her Styles Analysis Survey (1990):

1. the use of physical senses for study and work: visual (learning best through visual means -
books, videos, graphs) v. auditory (preferring listening and speaking activities - discussions,
debates, audiotapes, role-plays, lectures, meetings) v. hands-on (benefiting from doing projects,
conducting experiments, playing active games, working with objects, moving around the room);

2. dealing with other people: extroversion (enjoying a wide range of social, interactive learning
tasks such s discussions, debates, and role plays) v. introversion (preferring to do more
independent learning or working alone or with another person they know well);

3. handling possibilities: intuitive-random (future-oriented, able to find the major principles of the
topic, valuing speculation about possibilities, enjoying abstract thinking, and avoiding step-by-step
instruction) v. concrete-sequential(oriented to the present, preferring one-step-at-a-time learning
activities, wanting to know where they are going in their learning at every moment);

4. approaching tasks: closure-oriented (focusing carefully on all tasks, meeting deadlines,

planning ahead, preferring neatness and structure, and wanting rapid decisions) v. open (enjoying
discovery learning in which they pick up information in an unstructured way, accepting messiness,
putting off decisions, preferring to learn or work without deadlines or rules);

5. dealing with ideas: global (concerned about getting the main idea, guessing meanings, predicting
what will come next in a story or in an activity, and communicating even if they do not know all the
words or concepts) v. analytic(focusing more on details, logical analysis, and contrasts while they
are learning; they like to break broad concepts into units and prefer to have specific rules).

(Based on Cohen 1998: 15-16)

What role do 'learning styles' then play, when considering learning strategies? In fact, it is a vital
area for the competent teacher to be aware of, because LStrategies are of great potential use to
students:

Once learners have a sense of their style preferences, it may be easier for them to see why it is they
prefer using certain strategies and not others. For example, if the learners are more global in their
style preferences, they may enjoy using reading strategies which assist them in getting the gist of
an article - such as using inference when things are not spelled out in the text. If they are more
inclined to focus on details, they may feel uncomfortable when using a global approach, and may
prefer to have the meaning of particular items in the text spelled out clearly before they attempt to
put it all together into a gist.

(ibid)

As learners will typically have different style preferences, teachers need to be aware of these, and
then to provide a range of approaches and strategies so as to cater to all of these at various points.
This presupposes finding out early on in a course what style preferences our students actually have,
for example, by means of a questionnaire and/or whole-class discussions.
Reflective task 2.3.

The activity below is designed to help learners to discover their learning style and the way they
learn. Look carefully at the activity, then answer Question 1 below.

Figure 2.5: From Madrid, D. & McLaren, N. (1997): Making Progress 3, Workbook, (p. 12).

1. In Madrid's activity above, there are five categories of learning styles (dependent/independent;
formal/informal; reflective/impulsive; totalizer/partialist; visual/auditory/tactile). Oxford, in her Styles
Analysis Survey (1990), which we examined in section 2.4, also identifies five types of learning
styles. Do Madrid's learning styles categories correspond exactly with Oxford's? See if you can
match them up.

To see the comments on this task you will find the “Assessment” section of the subject (virtual
campus).

2.5. Other factors related to LS use

A number of research studies have identified various factors which appear to influence students'
use of learning strategies. These factors include: culture, gender, age, motivation, level of
proficiency, individual learning/cognitive styles (which we have already looked at), and the language
being learned. In the following sections we will be looking at only the first three of these factors in a
little more detail.
2.5.1. Culture

Rubin (1975) was one of the first researchers to mention the important role that culture plays in
determining LS use. Since then, culture has been identified as a significant variable in LS use in a
number of studies. Why should culture be so important? According to Kaylani (1996: 79):

Culture has been cited as an important variable in LS use because the culture of a student is, in
part, made up of prior formal and informal educational experiences. O'Malley and Chamot (1990)
describe students who come from a culture whose educational system emphasizes rote
memorization. Successful learners will have highly developed memory strategies, but most learners
from that background will probably have less-developed problem-solving and comprehension
strategies.

Kaylani herself conducted an important (1996) piece of research into the effects of culture on LS
use among EFL students in Jordan. Although her focus was primarily on how gender affects LS use,
she came to the conclusion that as gender (i.e. the social beliefs and values attached to being a
certain sex) is determined to a great extent by the social milieu, studying the cultural context is a
vital part of any attempt to understand LS use:

[There is a] need of background information on the social and cultural context of the students who
are being studied. Without it, little sense can be made of differences found..., when compared with
other studies conducted in different cultural contexts. [If researcher do not have] personal
experience [of the culture, they] must employ ethnographic research, which could provide needed
cultural information... at the very minimum research should incorporate in-depth interviews along
with less detailed questionnaires... Understanding the cultural factors that influence a student's
motivation and use of strategies is considered one of the processes that underlie and affect
successful language performance.
(1996: 88)

Kaylani found, for example, that in her study, gender (which is determined by cultural constructs)
did seem to have a significant effect on LS use. This takes us on to the next section.

2.5.2. Gender

Kaylani found that, on the whole, the more successful female students in her study in Jordan tended
to use the LS which were taught to them by their teachers, whereas male students used some of
the LS which were taught, among others. Kaylani provides an intriguing explanation for this
phenomenon:

One explanation... is that female students seek social approval more than male students and
therefore follow the teacher's advice on how to study as a way of gaining approval. This explanation
is well-suited to the Jordanian context where social approval is of utmost importance for females.
Women are socialized to be obedient to authority in the family context, whether that authority is the
parents, the older brother, or the husband... Thus, socialization of girls to exhibit obedience in both
private and public domains offers one explanation for female students' willingness to use strategies
sanctioned by the teacher.
(1996: 86)

As we see from the above, the factors of gender and culture are intimately linked, and difficult to
consider in isolation. In fact, one of the major influences in sexual differences in second language
learning has been identified as not only differences in social behaviour (as in Kaylani's Jordanian
study), but also differences in cognitive development, both of which are caused by socialization.
Kaylani provides the following explanation:
It is thought that social forces such as parental attitude and gender-related cultural beliefs influence
students' expectations for success, and consequently their motivation... Thus, if the study of foreign
language is seen as a women's subject, it may affect the motivation of male students to achieve...
(1996: 80)

Another important study on gender and success in learning was conducted by Cross in the USA in
1983. Cross hypothesized that the sex of the teacher, who serves a a role model, can affect foreign
language achievement. As the majority of foreign language teachers are female, Cross maintained
that female teachers usually acted as positive role models for girls, but as negative role models for
boys. This, it is argued, could account for boys in general scoring lower in foreign language
assessments than girls.

In more general terms, a great deal of research has been carried out in the field of cognitive
psychology on the issue of gender differences and social behaviour. Differences found include:
Females show more interest in social activities than males; females tend to use less aggressive
interaction than males; females are less competitive and more cooperative than males (Oxford
1990). In terms of studies and language, it has been found that: Females have a higher desire to
please and gain approval through good grades and social behaviour than males; verbal skills in the
first language usually appear earlier in females than in males; females tend to show greater ability
in articulation, are more fluent and utter longer and more complexly formed sentences than males;
girls usually score higher than boys in verbal ability and reading tests, especially from age eleven
on.

2.5.3. Age

Some authors have proved that learning strategies develop with age, and are used with increasing
sophistication by older students (Oxford 1990; O'Malley and Chamot 1990). However, it is worth
bearing in mind that age is a factor which will always interact with a number of other factors (such
as those we have examined above, and more). Thus it is certainly not a case of the older a learner,
the better his/her use of LS will be! This we all know from our own personal experience either as
second language learners, or as teachers, or as both!

2.5.4. E-Learning

This is particularly evident in the context of the internet revolution and the concomitant rise in 'digital-
competence'. Younger students, who are now referred to as 'digital natives' (Prensky, 2001) have
fewer problems exploiting computers and ICT for learning purposes, although these abilities should
not be taken for granted. The simple use of a search engine for research purposes requires cognitive
maturity, not mere digital skills. Nevertheless, the issue of 'digital immmigrants' (those who were
born before the internet and its parallel developments) is an issue, as is the problem of an older
generation teaching learning strategies to digital natives who may be more efficient than them, or
who might be developing a whole new series of strategies through constant contact with digital
technology. Whether this helps them to become more efficient language learners is a hot topic, but
there is little doubt that the internet generation is imbued with target-language opportunities that
previous generations could only fantasise about.

The idea that a new generation of students is entering the education system has excited recent
attention among educators and educational commentators. Termed 'digital natives' or the 'Net
generation', these young people are said to have been immersed in technology all their lives,
imbuing them with sophisticated technical skills and learning preferences for which traditional
education is unprepared. Grand claims are being made about the nature of this generational change
and about the urgent necessity for educational reform in response. A sense of impending crisis
pervades this debate.
(Bennet, Maton, 2008)
Does the ICT revolution mean a whole new range of learning strategies on the educational menu?
Claims are made for the contribuiton ICT can make to the development of autonomy in learners.
These seem coherent, given the increased tools and opportunities, but research is required to either
support or refute these claims. Students may be acquiring new skills, but are they acquiring and/or
using more strategies?

2.6. Conclusion

In this chapter we have linked some of the cognitive theory explored in depth in Chapter 1 directly
to LS. We have seen LS fits in with a constructivist view of learning, and we have spent time on
looking at exactly how LS have been defined in the literature. We have also provided several key
taxonomies of LS, namely those of Rubin, Naiman et al., O'Malley and Chamot, Oxford, and finally
Valcárcel et al. Lastly we closely examined several of the key factors that have been shown to affect
learners' LS use; for this reason we spent some time on learning styles, culture, gender and age as
important variables affecting LS use, and looked at some of the issues related the digital revolution.

Thus far we have defined the territory of LS. However, no matter how interesting LS research may
be, we are still left with a fundamental question: how does this affect the teacher in the foreign
language classroom? The issue of what LS research has to say to the classroom teacher is explored
in the following chapter.

2.8. Suggestions for further reading

1] Bialystok, E. (1990). Communication Strategies. Basil Blackwell. Oxford.

[2] Faerch, C. & Kasper, G. (eds.) (1983). Strategies in Interlanguage Communication. Longman. Harlow,
Essex.

[3] Manchón Ruiz, R. M. & Bruton, A. (eds.) (1993). Serie sobre estrategias de aprendizaje y uso del
lenguaje. CEP. Sevilla, Alcalá de Guadaira.

[4] McLaren, N. & Madrid, D. (1996). A Handbook for TEFL. Marfil. Alicante, Alcoy.

[5] Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What every teacher should know. New York. Newbury
House.

[6] Wenden, A. (1991). Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy. Prentice Hall. New York.

[7] Wenden, A. & Rubin, J. (eds.) (1987). Learner Strategies in Language Learning. Prentice Hall.
Englewood Cliffs, N. J.

2.9. Web readings

[1] Culture affects learning strategies - BBC. Link to webpage:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/642501.stm

[2] Problem-based learning. Link to webpage:

http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/hmelo_ep07.pdf

[3] Strategies, reasons and lesson examples. Link to webpage:

http://www.k12.nf.ca/fatima/define.htm

[4] Summary of strategies in language learning. Link to webpage:

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Hismanoglu-Strategies.html