The paper reports on a re-analysis (labeled “ADEQUA-RE”) of video data of the ADEQUA laboratory study (Finkbeiner et al., 2012; Ludwig et al. forthcoming).

The target of the ADEQUA study („Adequacy of Learning Strategy Use”) is to gather empirical evidence as to how autonomous learning in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom can effectively be supported during text-based classroom activities. This calls for answers to the following questions: a) What kinds of strategies are commonly used adequately vs. inadequately? b) Which students are doing particularly well in selecting and carrying out certain strategies? c) Which subgroups of students are in special need of additional teacher support?

Learning strategies are deemed significant to successful learning of students. Prominent models of self-regulated learning raise this claim (e.g. Zimmerman/Schunk, 2001; Boekaerts/Pintrich/Zeidner, 2000). Despite its well-established plausibility, empirical studies conducted in Australia, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA to corroborate this assumption initially produced in majority only weak support for this assumption (cf. Murayama et al., 2012). Meta-analyses draw a similar picture of the state of the art (Dent et al., 2012). More recently, one line of strategy research predominantly conducted in central European countries has attempted to capture learners’ strategies through data collection procedures which are more proximal to specific learning situations, such as observation, think-aloud and stimulated recall. In studies employing these procedures, strategy use has been found to correlate more strongly with (situation-specific) achievement (cf. Donker et al., 2012). The ADEQUA study picks up this trend in learning strategy research.

To date, strategy research has typically focused on how frequently certain types of learning strategies (e.g. repetition, elaboration) are used (e.g. Lahtinen/Lonka/Lindblom-Ylänne 1997; Murayama et al. 2012, p. 5). The frequency of the use of particular strategies does however not at all reveal whether the learner has decided upon the “correct” action for coping with his or her learning tasks and problems in a given micro-context of a learning process (Cohen, 1998). ADEQUA explores an innovative approach to the mainstream of international studies in this research line: Instead of collecting the frequency of strategy use as an indicator of the quality of the learning process and hence as a predictor of the learning outcome, ADEQUA assesses the adequacy of each discrete strategy used during a given task directly by high-inferential ratings (cf. Leutner/Leopold/den Elzen-Rump, 2007; Schwinger et al. 2012). Adequate strategy use is conceived of as being situationally appropriate, that is, the strategy chosen has the potential to facilitate task completion or problem resolution while considering constraints such as task requirements, time and resources available, and learners’ capabilities. Hence, the study adopts a micro-analytic approach to assessing the quality of strategy use. Thus, we aim to acquire a more thorough understanding of the impact of specific strategies at the micro level of students’ actions. These insights are intended to guide the optimization of high-quality strategy use in student-centered learning environments.

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