Session Information
31 SES 05, Teaching and Learning of Multlinguals
Paper Session
Contribution
Learner strategies have presented a basic concept within cognitive psychology since the 1960s. In the theory of second language acquisition they have been understood as “operations to acquire, retain, retrieve or perform” (Rigney, 1978) until nowadays. As conscious or potentially conscious “thoughts and actions that a learner takes to achieve a learning goal” (Chamot, 2004), they capture a wide range of linguistic behaviours like taking notes, planning for learning, guessing meaning and others. Learner strategies are most often classified according to their psychological functions into cognitive, metacognitive, and socio-affective (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990), or four language skills (Cohen & Weaver, 2006), i. e. reading, writing, listening, and speaking. In our research, Cohen and Oxford (2002, in Cohen & Weaver, 2006) and Oxford’s (1990) classifications are used. The last mentioned author, R. Oxford (1990), divided strategies into direct (memory, cognitive, compensatory) and indirect (metacognitive, affective, social) ones. One of the basic features of learner strategies is that they are naturally not used separately, but in sequences and clusters (Cohen & Weaver, 2006) and each strategy group supports the others (Oxford, 1990). Therefore the quality of their strategy orchestration is crucial for effective learning (Cohen & Macaro, 2007).
It is also possible to infer the relationship between learner strategies application and achievement of learners. As some results of the Czech Republic national testing show (NIQES, 2013), many students do not reach the expected level of English language communicative competence even after many years of learning the foreign language. According to an explorative research study Eurobarometer only 11 % of Czech people perceive own English language communicative competence as a good one, 27 % perceive it as basic, not sufficient for natural communication. Czech results unfortunately are the worst within the context of European Union, together with Spain and Bulgaria. On the contrary, more than 50 % of self-confident language users were identified in Sweden and Denmark; very good results were further achieved in Finland, Cyprus and Austria (Eurobarometer, 2013). The unsatisfactory results of the Czech population are not even increased by the young population, which is quite surprising in the context of Eurostat data showing that in ISCED 1-3 same (in some levels even higher) amount of Czech, Danish and Finish learners study English language, however, their results differ greatly (Eurostat, 2012). This fact might be caused by the lack of students‘ knowledge about how to learn a foreign language, i.e. lack of language learner strategies and their natural sequencing (Lojová & Vlčková, 2011).
As it is little known about natural sequences and clusters of strategies, especially in the learner terminology, our main research aim was to uncover the typical clusters and sequences of learner strategies in typical foreign language tasks for the four language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking). To fulfil the aim quantitative and qualitative data collection and data analysis are used. In this paper, the focus is put on the qualitative part in order to answer the following research questions: What strategies do students use in different language tasks in the four language skills? What clusters and sequences can be identified in the reported students’ strategies use? Furthermore, we will attempt to create a typology of learners based on their reported strategy use and their strategy clusters/sequencies.
This research was funded by Czech Science Foundation – Project GAP407/12/0432 Foreign Language Learning Strategies and Achievement: Analysis of Strategy Clusters and Sequences.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Artel, C. (2000). Strategisches Lernen. Berlin: Waxmann Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. London: Longman. Chamot, A. U. (2004). Issues in Language Learning Strategy Research and Teaching. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, vol. 1, Nr. 1, pp. 14-26. Cohen, A. D. (1998). Strategies and Processes in Test Taking and SLA. In: L. F. Bachman & Cohen, A. D. (Eds.), Interfaces Between Second Language Acquisition and Language Testing Research (90-111). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cohen, A. D., Macaro, E. (Eds.) (2007). Language Learner Strategies: Thirty Years of Research and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cohen, A. D., & Oxford, R. L. (2002) Young Learners´ Language Strategy Use Survey. In Cohen, A. D., & Weaver, S. J. (2006). Cohen, A. D. & Weaver, S. J. (2006). Styles and Strategies-Based Instruction. A Teachers´ Guide. Minneapolis, USA: Centre for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. (2001). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ellis, R., & Sinclair, B. (2004). Learning to Learn English. Cambridge: CUP. Eurobarometer. (2013). http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb79/eb79_en.htm Eurostat. (2012). http://www.czso.cz/csu/2012edicniplan.nsf/t/2000306762/$File/1607120704.pdf Grenfell, M. & Harris, V. (1999). Modern Language Learning Strategies in Theory and Practice. London: Routledge. NIQES (2013). Závěrečná zpráva o přípravě, průběhu a výsledcích druhé celoplošné generální zkoušky ověřování výsledků žáků v počátečním vzdělávání (ve školním roce 2012/2013 pilotovaném na úrovni 5. a 9. ročníků základních škol). [Final report on preparation, procedure and results of the second nation-wide general rehearsal verification of students’ results in primary and lower secondary education (in the school year 2012/2013 piloting in the 5th and 9th grade of primary and lower secondary schools)]. O’Malley, J. M., Chamot, A. U. (1990): Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Omaggio Hadley, A. (2001). Teaching Language in Context. USA: Thomson Heinle. Oxford, R. L. (1990): Language Learning Strategies. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Rigney, J. W. (1978): Learning Strategies: A Theoretical Perspective. In: O’Neill, jr., H. F. (Ed.), Learning Strategies. New York: Academic Press, pp. 165-205. Rossiter, M. J. (2005). Developmental Sequences of L2 Communication Strategies. Applied Language Learning, 15 (1&2), 55-66. Rubin, J. (1975). What the “Good Language Learner” Can Teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9, 41-51. Tarone, E. (1980). Communication Strategies, Foreigner Talk and Repair in Interlanguage. Language Learning, 30 (2), 417-431. Lojová, G. & Vlčková, K. (2011). Styly a strategie učení ve výuce cizích jazyků [Learning Styles and Strategies in Foreign Language Instruction]. Praha: Portál.
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