Learning Strategies in Language Acquisition

Learning Strategies Research

• Research on learning strategies began with "good language learner studies"
• Hundreds of studies explore different aspects of learning strategies
• Oxford (1990) categorizes learning strategies: cognitive, metacognitive, affective, and social

Cognitive Strategies

• Involve remembering, understanding, and retrieving language elements
• Examples: using memory-enhancing strategies like keyword methods to learn new words

Metacognitive Strategies

• Plan, monitor, and evaluate language learning activities
• Examples: developing plans for monitoring progress, constantly comparing current skill level to course goals

Affective Strategies

• Regulate emotions, attitudes, and motivation
• Examples: reading simplified books to foster positive attitudes towards reading

Social Strategies

• Actions learners take to interact with native language speakers
• Examples: deliberately seeking out opportunities to use the target language with native speakers

Implications for ESL Instruction

• Learning strategy training can significantly increase proficiency
• Strategy training should be an integral part of regular classroom events
• Students should be taught to identify and analyze their preferred learning strategies
• Teachers should provide explicit explanations and modeling of strategy use
• Teachers should provide ample opportunities for practice
• Strategy training takes time; it may take months or even years to use strategies effectively
• Teachers should conduct ongoing research in their classrooms to understand the factors that affect strategic learning choices

Action Research for Learner Engagement

• Nunan's research project aimed to make students more active learners
• Project focused on making students aware of their own learning process to gain control over learning
• Tasks and activities that encourage self-reflection were incorporated into the curriculum
• Students developed skills in self-checking, monitoring, and evaluation
• By the end of the project, students were more concerned with "how to learn" rather than "what to learn"