Annotation

Supporting pupils in learning to learn is a condition for responsible teaching as well as sustainable learning. Relationship between support of learning strategies by teachers and strategy use by learners was investigated by quasi-standardised foreign language learning strategy inventories at lower and upper secondary level in the Czech Republic. Strategies were classified on the basis of four language skills and psychological functions of strategies in information processing. The results showed that teachers support strategies more that pupils use them. The most supported were reading strategies and the most used were translation strategies. Learners differed in strategy use based on different teachers. Further results from this research are expected to enrich our current knowledge about strategies in connection to language skills and teacher support of strategies in the school conditions.

Introduction

Supporting pupils in learning to learn is a key part and condition for both, responsible teaching as well as sustainable (i. e. lifelong learning) learning. Relationship between support of learning strategies by teachers and strategy use by learners is a basic question of theory and research in second language acquisition (SLA) and instruction (see Mandl, & Friedrich, 1992, 2006). Most of the researches in the field use (quasi)experiments to show the effectiveness of direct or indirect, explicit or implicit, short or long-term strategy instruction or task-based approach oriented on single or groups of strategies.

The concept of foreign language learning strategies (FLLS) nowadays captures a wide range of linguistic behaviours in the SLA. Strategies are mostly defined as sets of potentially “conscious thoughts and actions that learner take to achieve a learning goal” (Chamot, 2004). There are different criteria for classifying learning strategies. In our research we combined two main approaches, i. e. classification of strategies on the basis of four language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) and two means (vocabulary, translation) by Cohen and Weaver (2006); and classification based on function of strategies in the information processing (cognitive – including compensatory strategies, metacognitive, and socio-affective strategies) by O´Malley & Chamot (1990) or Oxford (1990).

Our research questions were: Is there a statistically significant congruence among strategy use by learners and strategy support by teacher? What does the congruence look like? Can we confirm dependence of strategy use (at levels of single strategies and groups) on teacher?

More detailed and new results of further analyses will be presented and will focus on the questions: What strategies do pupils use and teacher don’t support? What strategies do teacher report to support and pupils don’t use? What strategies are used as well as supported? And what strategies are neither used nor supported? What do the results look like when we use the classification of strategies based on the information processing?

Our research seeks the answers for these research questions by the means of teacher and learner on-line strategy inventories which were included in a national school self-evaluation project. Pupils, teachers and schools were provided their results.

Chamot, A. U. (2004). Issues in Language Learning Strategy Research and Teaching. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 1 (1), 14-26. Cohen, A. D., & Oxford, R. L. Young Learners´ Language Strategy Use Survey (2002). In Cohen, A. D., & Weaver, S. J. (2006). Cohen, A. D., Oxford, R. L., & Chi, J. C. Language Strategy Use Survey (2002). In Cohen, A. D., & Weaver, S. J. (2006). Cohen, A., & Weaver, S. (2006). Styles and Strategies Based Instruction. Minnesota: The Board of Regents. Mandl, H., & Friedrich, H. F. (1992). Lern- und Denkstrategien. Analyse und Intervention. Göttingen: Hogrefe. Mandl, H., & Friedrich, H. F. (Eds.) (2006). Handbuch Lernstrategien. Göttingen: Hogrefe. O'Malley, J. M. & Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition, CUP. Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language Learning Strategies. What Every Teacher Should Know. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Vlckova, K. & J. Prikrylova (2011). Strategie učení se cizímu jazyku. Dotazník pro žáky (manual k nástroji). (Foreign Language Learning Strategies. Pupils inventory – Manual). Praha: NÚOV, 2011. Vlckova, K. (2010). Žákovské strategie učení cizímu jazyku ve všeobecném vzdělávání (průřezový výzkum). (Pupils´Foreign Language Learning Strategies in Comprehensive Education. A cross-Sectional Research).Brno: PdF MU. URL: http://is.muni.cz/do/rect/habilitace/1441/Vlckova/habilitace/HABILITACNI_PRACE_2010.pdf